“And how exactly do you presume we get to Elsiande? Isn’t it a few days’ travel by horse?”
She bit her lip and grinned up at him.
“Oh no,” he muttered. “That look usually precedes us being tortured.”
“I have an idea.”
“A bad idea?”
“How do you feel about stealing a dragon?”
* * *
“If someone catches us, we’ll probably be kicked out of the mountain,” Fordham reminded her as they crept through the dragon quarters.
“Where’s your sense of adventure, princeling?”
“Securely on the ground,” he muttered.
She turned around in surprise. “Are you afraid of heights?”
“Heights? No,” he said at once. “Falling from extreme heights—like off the back of a dragon, for instance…”
She laughed. “Dragons are perfectly safe, and riding one is the most exhilarating experience of my entire life. You’re going to love it. Or… at least, you’ll get used to it since you’re trying to get a dragon in a few weeks’ time.”
“Fine,” he muttered.
Kerrigan grinned at him and then continued through the cavernous rooms where she had spent so much of her time, growing up. She could name practically every dragon as they passed. Some twitched an eye open at her approach, saw it was her, and then went back to sleep. This place was warm, welcome, and familiar.
“What are you afraid of?” Fordham asked behind her.
“Nothing,” she lied quickly.
“Everyone is afraid of something.”
“Someone once told me that if you master your fear, you’ll do great things. So, for most of my life, I’ve walked right into every fear I’ve had. I face them and embrace them. I don’t want to have any fears holding me back on my way to greatness.”
“Hmm,” Fordham said.
“What?”
“Well, that doesn’t sound like you aren’t afraid of anything. It just sounds like you’ve learned to live with your fears every day of your life. Which means… you’re afraid all the time… of everything, but no one can see it.”
Kerrigan stopped walking as a shiver ran down her back. How was it that she had only known him for a few weeks, and already, he saw straight through her like no one else in the world?
“Yes,” she breathed, turning to look at him. “But isn’t that life?”
“Where I come from… yes,” he said softly. “Here though? I don’t think everyone else is afraid all the time.”
“Everyone else isn’t a half-Fae who was abandoned when they were a child and has had to fight for their place in this world every day of their life.”
Fordham just watched her. He didn’t say anything. Didn’t try to soothe her. He saw exactly who she was down to, and accepted that.
Kerrigan swallowed and kept moving until they came before the plum-purple dragon she had been looking for. “Tavry,” she whispered.
A golden eye opened. Kerrigan, this is most unexpected. His eye swiveled to Fordham. Prince Fordham Ollivier of the House of Shadows, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
Fordham bowed deeply at the waist. “As it is to make yours, great one.”
Tavry looked back to Kerrigan. I like this one.
Kerrigan laughed. “So do I.”
I assume you did not disturb my sleep just to introduce me to the prince of the Dark Depths. What is it that you require?
The dark depths. Well, that was different. She wondered what it meant as Fordham stiffened at the words.
“I received a letter from Ellerby of Elsiande, and I am in deep need of a way to get to Archdale as fast as I can.”
Tavry looked startled. What is the purpose of this visit?
She swallowed and persevered. She decided to go with the truth. Anything else, and Tavry would be able to see right through it. “I have been investigating a murder, and I believe that Ellerby has important information to prove what truly happened to Lyam.” She rubbed Lyam’s compass in her pocket. “I have been following the leads. I was almost killed twice. Whoever did this is going to great lengths to make sure they are not discovered. I will see justice for Lyam.”
Is this true? Tavry’s eye fixed on Fordham.
He nodded. “Yes, great one. I have been assisting her in these matters, and Ellerby is our last hope to rooting out a murderer in our midst.”
Tavry closed his eye, and Kerrigan thought they were done for. Then, Tavry straightened to his considerable height. His wings crested as he lengthened his figure.
We must be back by dawn, Tavry told them.
Kerrigan calculated the time they had left as she dragged her cloak tightly around her. “It’s a three-hour flight on a good day. That will give us hardly any time to find and speak with Ellerby.”
Then, we must hurry, child.
Kerrigan ground her teeth and nodded. By dawn. Gods, was that even possible?
She decided not to think about it until they were on their way home. Right now, she knew she was doing the right thing. Rules be damned.