“Affiliate Elea!” a guard said in surprise.
“Yes, Captain. What can I do for you?” she asked in a voice so unbelievably superior that it actually grated on Cyrene’s shot nerves.
“We heard voices in here. The curfew is in effect.”
“Obviously, I am exempt from the curfew. The king has already made that perfectly clear.”
“Yes, he has. But still, we will have to search the room. If you could stand aside?”
Elea huffed in disgust. “Fine. But, if you touch my wedding dress or even so much as look at it wrong, then I am going to tell the king. I don’t have time to have another commissioned, especially with all hands on deck for the additional uniforms.”
The guard grumbled something at her, and then Cyrene could hear a patrol stumbling around inside the dressing area. She held her breath as footsteps approached the back wall.
“I said, not my dress!” Elea shrieked as he got ever closer.
The footsteps stopped. “Sorry, Affiliate,” the man said.
Then the man retreated. A couple of minutes later, the patrol was insisting on escorting Elea back to her quarters after the suspicious activity. She made a big fuss but eventually went with them. The door snapped closed behind her.
“That’s our cue,” Lady Cauthorn said.
“I can’t believe she’s going to do this. It’s so idiotic.”
“Well, she’s in love with him.”
Cyrene frowned and followed the dressmaker. “How can she love him?”
Lady Cauthorn raised an eyebrow. “You, of all people, ask me that?”
“I don’t love Kael Dremylon,” she said sharply.
The dressmaker just smiled. “You are connected beyond comprehension. What you feel for him is more complicated than a simple yes or no.”
That was true at least. Even if she did not want to admit it.
They continued off the castle grounds with ease, thanks to Lady Cauthorn’s prominence at court. No one even looked at Cyrene as she passed in her dark cloak. But, when she thought that she would be directed into the city, Lady Cauthorn headed up into the mountains. Cyrene didn’t bother asking where they were going. The way up was backbreaking work. Her legs burned, and her lungs felt as if they couldn’t get enough air. She was surprised that Lady Cauthorn seemed adept at the trek. As if this was not the first time she had made it.
They traveled like that for about an hour until the bond between she and Kael seemed to blur and she could no longer pinpoint exactly where he was. Which meant that he wouldn’t be able to do that for her either. Just a general direction.
Without food or water for twenty-four hours, Cyrene was about to eat her own arm after this hike. “Do you have…supplies?”
Lady Cauthorn nodded. “Just over this next rise.”
True to her word, they came upon a cave in the mountain pass. Inside, Cyrene dug into the food and took a long drink of the water provided. She thought she was going to collapse from exhaustion and fatigue. But she knew that she still needed to reach out to Sarielle to let her know.
Before she could do so, Lady Cauthorn asked, “Do you remember when you first commissioned a dress from me?”
Cyrene glanced up at her and nodded. “Of course. It was magnificent.”
“I didn’t take payment.”
“Right. You wanted…a favor.”
Lady Cauthorn nodded. “Yes. I would like to call that favor in.”
Cyrene’s jaw dropped. “Right now?”
“Indeed.”
“But…”
“Are you going to go back on your promise?” Lady Cauthorn asked.
And Cyrene sighed. No, of course she wasn’t. “Okay. What…what is the favor?”
“I need you to take me to my granddaughter.”
Cyrene narrowed her eyes. “You have a granddaughter?”
“Yes. Her name is Isabylle. She will be fourteen now, and I have not seen her since she was a babe.”
“That’s horrible,” Cyrene whispered.
“Quite a tragedy really.”
“Where has she been all this time?”
Lady Cauthorn smiled sadly. “The Fallen Desert.”
Cyrene blinked at Lady Cauthorn. “No one lives in the Fallen Desert. How could she be there?”
“That is what they have made you believe all this time. But I know the way. I can show you how to find the ones who escaped. Just like my Isabylle did. So, will you take me?”
It seemed impossible. The Fallen was one of the most dangerous places in all of Emporia. You could die of the heat and lack of water as quickly as the cold and altitude in the Haeven Mountains. She had never heard of anyone surviving crossing it. But she also was bound to her promise to Lady Cauthorn. Even if it meant delaying her own journey, she would do it.
“Yes, I will take you to her.”
14
The Fallen
Cyrene tugged on the bond with Sarielle to let her know that she had gotten out and to give her the position to reach her. Within the hour, Sarielle landed in the mountains. And, to Cyrene’s shock, another dragon landed next to her—Halcyon.
Her heart soared. It couldn’t be. Halcyon had to be with Dean back at the army.
But then Dean slid off of Halcyon’s back and strode confidently toward her. Something shifted in her chest. An ache that she had ignored until he stood before her.
I found this surprise for you, dragon bound, Sarielle said affectionately.
“Dean,” she muttered.
“Cyrene,” he said with a smirk, “I said I would always find you.”
“I don’t even want to know how,” she said as she flung her arms around him. He startled at the embrace and then wrapped his own arms around her waist, holding her tight. “I’m glad that you’re here.”
“I am sorry for what happened back at camp. I’ll have you know, I told everyone off for their idiocy and declared myself for you and you alone.”
She released him and looked back in shock. “But…you’re a captain in the Eleysian army.”
“I am a captain in your army. If that coincides with Eleysia, then that is where my place is. And nowhere else.” He gave her a meaningful look.
“Thank you. That means so much.” She turned to Sarielle. “And thank you for bringing him.”
Of course. You were taking too long, and I thought two dragons and a bolt of lightning might be better than my storming in alone.
“Oh, do you need help now?”
Sarielle puffed smoke at her. Hardly. I am fearsome alone.
Halcyon whipped his tail at her. Admit, Sarielle of the wild, you were nervous.
I would have torn the world asunder to get to her. That is different than worrying. Did all go as planned? You retrieved what you were after?
“Yes,” Cyrene said, revealing the diamond to Sarielle. “Yes, all as planned.”
Dean looked at her quizzically. “Why were you in Byern to begin with?”
“I had to retrieve this.” She touched the diamond at her throat. “The Domina diamond.”
“The…Domina diamond,” he breathed. “You are the Domina?”
She swallowed and nodded her head.