“The best thing would be for you to leave. Now,” Esha said. “Those who want you as a friend are trying to dissuade the others from attacking.”
Kendrick fisted his hands as he briefly closed his eyes. There was already a war brewing on the dragons’ eastern border. They didn’t need to worry about someone else coming after them. All because he had thought he could cross onto someone else’s land and be welcomed. It didn’t matter how many times he said he wanted peace, there would always be those who thought he lied.
“If any elves cross the border, we will attack,” he cautioned her.
Esha swallowed. “That’s another reason. We’re not allowed to go onto your land without reprisal. The Conclave feels the same should apply to any dragon or King who comes onto ours.”
As much as it irked Kendrick, it was only fair. The dragons had wanted to be left alone, and Eurwen and Brandr had guaranteed that. Then the Kings found the dragons and remained on Zora. Instead of continuing that peace, their actions had pushed other beings into fear and attack mode.
“You understand, don’t you?”
He nodded slowly, trying to find his voice in the emotions clogging his throat. “I’m sorry. For all of this. You’re right. I need to leave immediately. If you think it would help, I can talk to the Conclave myself.”
“It won’t. Not now, at least. I’m not sure it ever will. You must understand, we’ve not seen a dragon in generations. Some have been pushing to send Rangers to Idrias to see if any remained.”
“Doona do that. Make sure you tell them that no one can cross. Please,” he pressed.
“I will.”
Kendrick took a step toward her. This wasn’t how he’d wanted their time to end. He’d assumed he had at least one more day. How he wished he could halt time. This could be the last time he saw Esha, the last time he touched her, held her. Kissed her. He had one chance to do and say everything he’d thought he had a day to do. There wasn’t time for pretty words. Just the simple truth.
Would it be enough? He prayed it would. But what if it wasn’t? What if she refused him? It was too much for Kendrick to even contemplate, even though there was a real possibility it might happen.
He looked into her eyes and struggled to find the right words, ones that would convey the depth of his feelings. “Before I go, there is something I need to tell you. Do you remember when I said dragons know their mates?”
“Yes.”
“It wasna a lie. I need you to believe that.”
“I do,” she said softly.
Kendrick took her hands in his. He glanced down at them, remembering how it’d felt to hold her in his arms. It seemed like a lifetime ago. When he imagined never touching her again, the agony took his breath away. He pushed that aside and focused on the words. “I found my mate in you. Before you argue,” he said when she parted her lips to speak, “I know what I feel. You may think it’s too soon, but I would argue that we’ve been through a lot in a short time. We fought side by side, opened up about ourselves and our people, and shared our bodies. You know there’s something between us. You felt it, too, or you wouldna have come to me.”
“I’m not denying it. To do so would be to belittle the best night of my life.” She smiled, though it held a note of sadness. “But that’s all it can be. One night.”
“There could be more. So much more.” He was reaching for anything, even as he felt himself tumbling into an abyss of darkness and anguish.
“If we had met under different circumstances, and if we were different people, I would say you’re right. But we aren’t. You are a dragon. I’m an elf.”
He was losing her. He could feel it. “We need more time.”
“Our time is over. You must leave now to prevent a war, and I have a duty to help others calm those who want to cross into Idrias.”
“I love you, Esha. Come with me,” he said in a last-ditch effort to keep them together.
Esha looked at the ground and shook her head as she pressed her lips together. “You’re asking me to leave my land, give up my position, and forfeit everything I know and love to go to a place I’m not welcome.”
“You’d be with me.”
She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. “My place is here. Your place is with your people. Please, Kendrick. Go. Now.”
He could do nothing but stand there as she pulled her hands out of his and walked away. “Esha!” he called. But she didn’t slow.
Kendrick watched her walk away, each step feeling like the turn of a dull knife being shoved into his heart. He was a dragon of great power, yet he had never felt so helpless, so…powerless.
“If you change your mind, you know where to find me!” he shouted after her. Then, in a whisper, he added, “Look back at me. Please, look back at me.”
She entered the forest without a backward glance.
Kendrick looked around in a daze, hardly believing that his mate had just left him. He contemplated taking Esha and convincing her of his love, but he knew how ridiculous that sounded. He shifted and thought about flying to the cities to talk to anyone who would listen, but he would likely only make things worse. Esha was right. The only thing he could do was leave, even though it killed him to do it.
He spread his wings and took to the air. As he rose, he spotted the Ranger camp. He wondered if Esha was looking up through the trees at him now. But the thought only brought him more pain. Kendrick turned his gaze to the east and flew fast to the border. He didn’t pay attention to the landscape below him. He didn’t look for the invisible entity who had attacked both dragons and elves. All because he was drowning in anguish and heartache.
When he flew through the barrier that separated the dragon lands from the elves’, he wasn’t surprised to find Con on patrol. Con’s gold scales flashed in the sunlight. As soon as he saw Kendrick, he headed toward him. The last thing Kendrick wanted to do was talk, but the sooner he got it over with, the sooner he could be alone. Kendrick landed and shifted.
When Con arrived, he did the same. The King of Dragon Kings took one look at him and frowned. “What happened?”
Kendrick ran a hand down his face. “Too much. No’ enough.”
For the next thirty minutes, he relayed everything that had happened since his last check-in, including the nightwraith attack.
“Bloody hell,” Con muttered. He glanced away as he shook his head. Then his black gaze settled on Kendrick. “Leaving was your only option. We doona need a war with another group.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“I know you’re hurting, brother. I remember the pain of no’ having my mate well.”
“Aye, but you and Rhi are together now. I lost my chance with my mate,” Kendrick argued.
Con stared at him silently for a long moment. “Let things settle down with the elves. We’ll try again.”
Kendrick was suffering now, and Con wanted him to wait? Most likely years. How would he survive? “They’re right. We shouldna be allowed to cross without the same retaliation we threaten them with.”
“I could argue that Erith created this realm for dragons and no’ anyone else.”
“Be that as it may, other beings are here. We might be the strongest, or we may no’, but that doesna mean we can pick and choose what we want to apply to us.”