The Blood's Flame (The Dragons of Flareia Book 1)

Chapter 18 - Corrian

The Palace in the Air

26th Year of the Ocean

3rd Moon

"What is it?" Corrian grumbled, not moving any further into his betrothed's room than the doorway.

Maylif crossed her arms and stared at him as if he'd done something wrong. "What do you mean, 'what is it?'" She snapped. "Am I not allowed to want to see you?"

Corrian huffed. "I was busy." He said. "With my Dragonheir duties. You know, the actual reason we're both here slowly freezing to death in the Venti mountains?"

She scoffed. "You're not freezing to death, and you're also not really doing your Dragonheir duties. I'm not blind."

"How can you—" his brows furrowed and he shook his head in exasperation, "I was in the Wind Room, discussing matters with Davri and Crown Princess Varille. Or does that not count as a Dragonheir duty?" He spluttered. "What do you think constitutes being called a Dragonheir duty, Miss Fallow?"

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head slightly in a way that infuriated Corrian. Why couldn't she just tell him what he had done wrong? Were all girls so against simple communication? He groaned under his breath and pushed off from the doorframe, turning to storm off.

"You haven't told Bacchi our news of Tellus, have you?" She called out to his back.

Corrian froze and spun back to face her. "That's because there is no news of Tellus! I have nothing. What do you propose I tell him, that we know nothing but we really need to because he could die if Tellus is gone much longer? That there is a slim chance that Tellus could be in the most feared place in Flareia, but we have no evidence? That we're all chasing our tails and even Zero has no idea? Do you think that would make him feel better?"

"Won't he find out eventually? He can read your thoughts, can he not?"

"Maybe if I think about him not being able to read this, he actually won't be able to." Corrian muttered.

Maylif's features softened, her amber eyes suddenly warm. "He needs to know, Corrian. You need to tell him something."

"Would you be able to tell him?" Corrian snapped. "This isn't the same thing as telling someone their friend is missing or that their mother died. The connection between Bacchi and Tellus is hundreds and hundreds of years old, and is stronger than anything you could even dare to imagine. Would you be able to tell Bacchi we're just as clueless as before? That this whole journey was in vain?"

Maylif rose from where she sat on the edge of her bed and wandered over to him. "Corrian..." she placed her hand on his forearm very lightly. As if he was fragile. A pane of glass that would very easily shatter.

Something inside of him snapped and he pushed her away. He tried to ignore the way she stumbled, struggling to keep upright. "You may have the Dragon's Gift, but that doesn't mean you understand any of this. This is something for me to deal with, and for you to stay out of until I have something useful."

Her eyes were sad. "Let me help you, Corrian." She whispered.

"I don't need your help."

* * *

Corrian didn't know how long he had been lying face-down on the floor of his room. What he did know was that the heating in the Palace in the Air seemed to come from the floor, and that if he tried hard enough, he could pretend the rough grey carpet beneath him was the short grass of the Evergreen. If he closed his eyes, the pillars between the wall panels became century-old trees, the flowers on the windowsill became a garden of lilies – the garden Bacchi grew for Corrian's grandfather, the fourth Dragonheir. He could almost feel the wind on his face, could almost hear the birds flitting through the trees. He could almost convince himself Bacchi was there, too, growing another rock sculpture.