Jovari the Blue

Chapter 37: A Fated Surprise

The Gable Mountains

Leah blinked against the morning light, shouldering her pack. Just a few more days and they'd reach the capital. If only it weren't in the hands of a tyrant. She wanted more than anything to settle in to her new life, but there would be no rest upon their arrival. They had a kingdom to reclaim.

"You can tie that to my harness once I'm in form," Jovari said, striding by. He didn't stop to look at her. She watched him seek out Talon, speaking to the king in low towns. His gaze darted in her direction, then quickly away. She frowned.

Things were better between them, sort of.

Whatever the king said made Jovari huff and stomp off. Was he trying to get out of flying with her? To be fair, she was apprehensive about it too. It meant they'd be closer than ever. She'd be touching him. For days.

"I'm fighting the urge to run back inside." Claire came to a stop beside her, shouldering her own pack. "I'm not ready."

Leah reached for her hand. "Aren't queens supposed to be fearless?"

Claire scoffed. "I'm not. Never have been."

"Well then, let's go back inside. I'm not all that eager to fly with a certain someone, and you're not ready to return to the capital. Might as well slink back into the safety of the cavern."

"Gods, that sounds so tempting."

"Not having second thoughts, are we?" Saffra came up beside them. "Because if so, I vote for more baby dragons."

The three of them laughed. That was definitely a better alternative than facing Kane, not that Claire would face him immediately. They would meet with the operatives in hiding, first.

Around them, the drengr began to transform. She homed in on Jovari's blue form and sighed, her shoulders dropping. Best to just suck it up and accept it. This would be her life for the next few days, then she could get far, far away from him and merely pretend to be friends. She wasn't actually going to survive being real friends. No, better to be amicable acquaintances.

It was summer, and though it was early morning, the sun was well above the horizon. It had taken longer than expected to say goodbye to the baby dragons. Irelia was staying. She'd worked with Claire over the past few days to better control her ability to hear the dragons speaking—because apparently that was a thing, and everyone had all these magical abilities, and she didn't.

She took a deep, steadying breath. She didn't need to be special. She just needed to be herself. She just needed to be strong and get through the next few weeks, then she could start fresh, no strings attached. Plenty of people were normal—plenty of people longed to be normal—she reminded herself.

"Well, I guess we'd better get going," Claire said, giving Leah's hand a final squeeze before walking over to Talon. She nuzzled Talon's forearm with her face before climbing up to secure her pack.

"Talk to you soon," Saffra said, walking off to do the same. Taylynn and Koldis were already settled and waiting.

"Right," she muttered, going over to Jovari. She slung her pack off her shoulder. She'd done this plenty now, though she'd always flown with Talon.

"Let's get this over with, yeah?" she meant to sound teasing but it came out slightly scoffing.

Jovari snorted, narrowing his eyes.

She stopped in front of him to regard him, then went to his proffered foreleg, gripping the strap of her pack. She reached for him and felt the warmth of his scales—