The main cavern felt even larger when they returned.
Or perhaps Cara simply felt smaller inside it.
Vyrisa did not release her midair. She did not toss her aside as she had before. When they landed at the mouth of the nest, the dragon queen kept her grip firm but controlled, descending the final few steps on foot instead of dropping her from even the smallest height.
It should not have mattered.
But it did.
The cavern quieted as they entered.
Claws stilled against stone. Conversations faded into low murmurs. Wings shifted, scales catching the late light like scattered embers.
Vyrisa walked through them without hurry.
Without explanation.
Cara limped slightly despite the bandages, her feet still tender, but Vyrisa did not drag her. She did not yank.
She adjusted her pace.
The difference was small enough that Cara almost thought she imagined it.
Almost.
When they reached the bone throne, Vyrisa did not push her to the ground.
Instead, she stepped forward, turned slightly—
—and set Cara down behind the curve of her wing.
Not at her feet.
Behind her.
Shielded.
Cara blinked.
The motion had been fluid. Thoughtless. Almost casual.
But she noticed.
Because from where she stood, Vyrisa's body blocked half the cavern from view.
Blocked half the dragons from her.
Blocked Lyris.
The purple-scaled dragon stood near one of the stone ledges, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. Her gaze moved slowly from Cara... to the placement... to Vyrisa's wings.
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
Cara felt the shift in the air.
Not hostility.
Assessment.
"You hover," one dragon muttered lightly from somewhere to the left.
Vyrisa did not turn her head.
"I lead," she replied.
The tone was even.
Final.
Silence followed.
Cara kept her eyes lowered, though she could feel Lyris staring at her. The urge to shrink pressed against her ribs, but something strange kept her upright.
Vyrisa's wing shifted slightly.
Not touching her.
Just... there.
A barrier.
Cara swallowed.
The cavern resumed its rhythm slowly. Conversations restarted. A few dragons lifted into the sky. Others settled into low clusters of movement.
But the space around the throne remained subtly wider than before.
No one stepped too close.
A warm pulse flickered at the mark on Cara's neck.
YOU ARE READING
Ashes Embraced
FantasyA Dark Sapphic Romantasy A century ago, the Red Dragon Queen burned Frairdale to the ground. Now she rules from the cliffs above the lake-untouched, unchallenged, and unrepentant. When Cara steps into dragon territory, she expects death. Instead, sh...
