Dragonkeeper coming November 11!

Her quest complete, Dri has returned the dragons to the corporeal realm, but everything is different than she expected. So much has shifted, and she must discover where she fits in the world now... much like the dragons, who are struggling to be accepted by the people of Cretala.

Still a captive in Neart, Estrella uncovers the king’s dangerous plot. Content to massacre an entire land to get what he wants, the king aims to find Dri and claim the dragonkeeper for himself. Estrella is determined to stop him, even if it means forming an alliance with his daughter Phin.

As the king prepares his army to invade, both Dri and Estrella must set out across Cretala once more on a quest to forge new connections. But time is running out, and with the fates of all Scriossians in their hands, it feels like nothing they do will be enough.

Keep reading to preorder, check out the map and pronunciation guide, and read the first two chapters!

Where to Preorder

Dragonkeeper's preorder is coming soon! In the meantime, click here to find where to buy Dragonslayer! Dragonslayer is published wide and available across many retailers. The Books2Read website automatically links to all of them at once and customizes your link to your country, and it is completely free to use!

Map of Cretala

Pronunciation Guide

Dragonkeeper Preview

Dragonkeeper explores the intricacies of mental health and trauma. In order to be true to my story, this tale contains themes and descriptions that may prove unsettling or distressing for some readers. The following topics are explored: death, intrusive thoughts, suicide and suicidal thoughts, anxiety, grief, murder, war, and transphobia.

Triggers are a complex matter. I have done my best to include all potentially distressing content, but not all might be listed here. Make the best choice for yourself on whether or not to proceed. If at any point, you feel my dragons hitting too close to home, please reach out to loved ones or professionals for support.

WARNING: Dragonkeeper is the second book in the Dragons of Cretala series. If you have not already read Dragonslayer, head there first because here there be spoilers.

Chapter 1: Dri

THE EVENING WAS A STILL ONE, but Andriette Feighli’s hair billowed. She braced herself as though she were caught within a storm, her arms outspread and wide, welcoming. Her eyes were unblinking, either in awe or in fear.

“I see you,” she breathed but, in the stillness, everyone heard her. They were no longer watching her mother’s body burn into bone and then ash. Instead, they watched as her sorrow faded and her jaw hardened. They watched as she was thrown backwards multiple feet into the cooling sand. They watched as a horde of dragons flew through a rift in the air where she had been standing moments before.

Many cried out as the forceful, unanticipated winds buffeted them. The gale clutched at her mother’s ashes, lifted them up into its dance, and blew them out across the Scriossian sands and amongst the dragons filling the sky. Some of the attendants rushed back into Sempala to seek shelter. Others stood, slack jawed as they watched the legend-bound creatures reemerge. Even her friends looked elsewhere.

Not one saw as the beldam crossed back into the corporeal realm, the last of all the creatures to pass. They did not see as the rift stretched outward behind her, expanding as both realities combined once more. They did not see her begin to crumble as she closed the distance to the girl, her descendent, her heir.

“Thank you, agra,” the crone managed to say. She smiled down at the one who had managed to finally set right what she had done centuries before. Then she knelt and sat as her legs buckled and crumbled. She held out her hand in farewell as her aged body broke down and disintegrated before catching in the wind to be spread throughout her homeland.

“Goodbye, Ifeya,” Dri murmured, though her ancestor was now gone. “May your ashes join the sands.”

two chills later
Dri heard Abyl open the door to her small home, and she rolled over in her bed to face away from him. Her best friend, the one she made during her recent quest to Arlyss, did not approach, but he would know she was there. She was always there when he returned. Ifri, she was always there when he left, too.

She closed her eyes and listened, piecing the sounds from the kitchen together into a scene:

the rough, sharp flick of a sparked flame,

the quick, metallic cadence of a knife chopping vegetables and the more precise slices of cut meat,

the bubbling of the leata hanging over the flame as it began to boil,

the sizzle of the meat in the pan and later the vegetables as he mixed them in,

the deep clank of stone before he slid the meal onto their plates.

That meant it would be night now which meant she had lain here through another day. She had given up on hoping that one day she would wake up ready to get out of bed. Day after day since she had returned, she felt stuck. Her body ached whenever she tried to move, and she did not think she could bear more. All she wanted was to drift off into sleep and leave the pain, the memories, and everyone’s expectations of her behind.

The sounds stopped and then she sensed his gaze on her back as he stared down on her from the doorway. Did he believe she was sleeping, or did he know better by now?

“I’m not bringing your plate in,” he told her, confirming her suspicion. His voice was soft, but she knew he would not be swayed.

Dri did not respond, and Abyl came to kneel at her side. She opened her eyes but kept her silence. She would not meet his gaze, instead choosing to look into the darkness behind him.

“It is time for you to be a part of the world again, Dri,” he said. There was no judgment in his voice. She knew, as much as she did not want to hear it, that his words came from love. Despite that, she still couldn’t bring herself to feel it.

Her world had been so small until she left Sempala.

J'.

Ma.

Her apprenticeship with Urd.

When her brother died, she swore to protect her mother from the same fate. At the time, she had thought the dragons were to blame, and she had traveled two kingdoms away looking for answers. She had wanted to become a dragonslayer. She had learned, to her dismay, that the dragons had a different role within the world than she had imagined. She learned that it was her burden to call them back into Cretala and care for them.

She had devised a way to manage all of those responsibilities while also saving her mother, but she had been too late. She had succeeded at everything expected of her, but had failed at the only goal that mattered to her.

And now, she did not know where she fit into the world anymore. Perhaps, like the dragons, she had a different role in Cretala than she had thought. Sure, she had the apprenticeship as a healer to return to, if she wanted, but…

Abyl repositioned himself from a kneeling position onto his bottom, making it clear that he was not budging. Talk to me, his actions said. I am here.

She pushed aside the veil attempting to obscure the truth of her feelings. She forced herself to acknowledge her fear for what it was.

Sure, her apprenticeship was waiting for her. But how could she continue to train as a healer when she had not been able to save the two most important people in her life? She was not sure she deserved that anymore.

Dri knew that if she told Abyl any of this, he would try to convince her of the opposite. He would encourage her to make the effort and try. He would insist that she had done everything she could and that there was nothing more she could have done.

In that moment, she longed for the silence of the water-carved cavern just inside of Neart. Essie had snuffed the fire lighting their path, offering a silence and darkness free from judgment. She had known that even reassurances could feel like a weight.

Her eyes met Abyl’s for the first time in days. Was she assuming what his response would be? Even if she was correct, could she ask for what she needed?

“Darkness?” she asked, her dry voice barely more than a whisper.

Abyl nodded once, understanding. “Here or at the table?”

Despite her reservations, she slowly climbed out of bed. She knew that she needed to drink first; her voice was too rough as-is. Abyl noticed how she wobbled and seamlessly supported her, looping one of his arms beneath hers as she walked. How long had it been since she had eaten?

Out of habit, Dri lowered herself into the chair that had always been hers, and Abyl sat to her left in J’s seat. Her gaze lingered on the chair for a moment before she forced herself to look away.

Abyl handed her a cup of hot water fresh from the leata and filled a tea bag with some of her dragon-infused nilakali tea grounds. He carefully swirled the inside of the jar, his face pulling into a grimace.

“You might have enough for the morning, but then you will be out,” he told her. The unspoken follow-up hung between them: she would need to visit Urd in order to make more, and Urd would want to know what her plans were.

“Do I still need it?” she questioned, her voice rasping. “I already brought the dragons back.”

“And your family’s work?” Abyl asked before pausing and restarting. “I never got the impression that you planned to give this path up. I thought that you wanted to continue as a healer and work with the dragons to build up Scrios.”

Dri looked down into the inky surface of the midnight blue tea, a lost family recipe that she had traversed kingdoms to find. Somehow, it allowed her to tap into a connection between herself and the dragons. Her ancestors had used it a millenia ago in order to help understand and care for the creatures. She had used it to call them back into their world.

Was that really to be the end of things?

Dri let go of her regret and settled back into the emotional void that she had cultivated over the last two Chills. “I thought the only rule of sharing within the dark was that you listen and support,” she replied, spearing a bite of meat.

Abyl sighed but did not speak.

She slowly chewed her food, pretending that she was in that cavern and choosing her words as she did.

“Before I left for Arlyss,” she began after taking another tentative sip of tea, “I went to see Nic. He asked if I would regret not staying here to spend what little time my mother had left with her.”

Abyl nodded. “I remember we asked you the same thing back in Neart.”

Her head dipped in acknowledgment. “I said that I could not give up without trying to save her. I felt responsible for J’, and I was determined to save her.”

“You did everything–” Abyl began, but Dri lifted her head and met his eyes, jolting him into silence. He pressed his lips together, remembering the rules of darkness. His job was to listen, to bear witness. She did not want comfort or consolation.

When his silence held, she looked back down into her tea. “Whether my actions were my best or not, they were not enough. I was not enough. I did absolutely everything, but she still died.”

She paused, looking up at her friend once more before continuing. “I told Nic that I needed to know I had done everything. I thought that knowledge would make me feel… better? As though her death would not hurt as much as J’s had. As though I would be less at fault?”

Abyl reached out and took her hand, offering what he could. He understood now. He had thought she was merely grieving for her mother. The reality was much deeper.

“None of this is any better,” she managed to add.

Afterwards, the two friends ate in silence, lost in their thoughts. As Dri chewed, she looked around the room. Something was missing, but it was something less obvious than her mother and brother. She narrowed her eyes, studying each feature of her home. Nothing was out of place.

Then she realized.

The dragons that used to weave their way amongst them all, unseen but feeding, were gone. Sure, they were out in the world doing whatever it was they did now, but they could not make it through these walls on their own.

That should have reassured her, but she felt something deep inside of her chest sink and she sagged at the weight of it.

Shouldn’t she feel better now?

Wasn’t everything supposed to be peaceful without the creatures feeding on her emotions?

But no, that was never the way of things, was it? She had assumed so in the beginning, had blamed them for being the cause, but the emotions had always been there on their own. The dragons fed on them. Perhaps at most, the dragons could escalate the intensity of the feelings, but they remained what they were.

Her pain was her own.

She allowed that thought to settle within her. Her mind began to wander through her past, reevaluating memories, blame, and motive.

After a time, Dri felt a pulling within her mind, and she paused to study it. She sensed sorrow and longing and grief, but it was not her own. It tugged on her, calling her back to the present.

Suddenly she looked to the door. The sensation was coming from just outside. She rose, walked the few steps to the door, and pulled it open. Abyl stood to get a better view.

There, just outside the threshold, sat Ember. The orange whelp had grown over the last two Chills.

Dri knelt down and held out a hand to the dragon, hesitant to hope for a response. “You are not bound to me anymore,” she said. “That all changed when I brought your kind back.”

She had let the dragon, her symbiont, go because she deserved more. She deserved a full life amongst her own. She had not wanted Ember to feel obligated to stay.

At least, that is what she had told herself.

Ember nuzzled into Dri’s hand. She never sensed words from the dragons, but feelings and emotions conveyed just as much.

“I want to be here,” she seemed to say.

“She has been there at the door most evenings to check in on you,” Abyl said, his soft voice offering a gentle reminder. “I think if she were still able to shift incorporeal, she would have been at your side.”

Dri shook her head, cocking it to the side as she pushed her feelings back. “You don’t want me,” she insisted.

Ember studied her, and Dri wondered if she found that she agreed with her statement. Instead, the whelp skirted around Dri and stepped into the small home. Dri stood, taking in the dragon’s decision with caution. She had expected her to go.

Abyl met her gaze and smiled. “We care about you, Dri. Ember and I aren’t the only ones.”

Dri closed the door and turned away from her friend, avoiding his comment. “How are the dragons?” she asked. While she was unsure if she wanted to accept the legacy of dragonkeeper, she had been the one to call them back into the corporeal realm. Whatever had happened as a result of her work was her fault.

Abyl sighed, fully aware that she was dodging his words. “They’ve been staying out amongst the sands mostly. They aren’t sure what to make of us, and the people haven’t fully come to terms with them yet either.” Some hunters had attempted hunting the beasts, but they had not been successful and he did not really want to tell Dri about that quite yet.

Ember flapped her wings and alighted onto the table. Dri had finished her meal, but there were a few small bits remaining. Or there had been, she noted as she watched the whelp finish them off without hesitation. She sighed; the dragon always had been enamored with eating.

“How have you been getting food?” Dri asked Abyl without looking away. Scrios worked on a bartering system. The people traded what they had available for what they needed, be it good or service. The two friends did not have anything worth trading, and Abyl was too new in Sempala to have established himself well.

When he did not respond, she glanced over. She expected the truth, and she did not want to let the question hang unanswered.

“Everyone has been pitching in, Dri,” he admitted. “Urd, your mother’s friends Ona and Neti, J’s friends. They understand, and they care.”

She crossed her arms across her chest, uncomfortable. Scriossians did not have extra to spare. It was always on families to survive on their own… or not. She was not surviving and she had not been trying to. Her family, the people who had a right to care about her… they were dead and gone. But Abyl was here telling her there were other people who wanted her to make it. They cared about her enough that they found resources to spare.

She did not feel worth it.

Why did they think she was worth it?

Was she worth it?

“Come with me on my walk tomorrow, Dri,” Abyl said when his friend did not respond. She was not sure if it was a demand or a request.

“It is time,” he continued. “You can see how the dragons are doing. You can see the people who are looking after you. If you are up to it and want to, you can talk to Urd about going back or preparing some more tea or both.” He was rambling, and he stopped himself.

Time stretched as the boy watched the girl study the dragon as she made herself at home. Finally, without a sound, Dri nodded once before returning to her bed, spent.

In the morning, Ember began trilling far earlier than Dri wanted to wake. She rolled over to face the opposite direction, but the dragon simply climbed over her form to face her once more.

If she had been in Neart or Arlyss, Dri would have covered her ears with a pillow. She did not have that luxury here, but she still attempted to burrow deeper within herself.

Ember booped her nose with her own, insistent. “I am not going away,” her actions said.

Dri sat up in one swift movement, both frazzled and disoriented. “I’m up,” she pronounced.

Ember jolted before regaining her composure and hopping to the ground. She looked back up at Dri, ensuring that she followed. Dri grunted but assented.

It had been Chills since she had heated the leata and prepared tea. Doing so felt strange, but she was still able to complete the task by rote. As she sipped her midnight blue tea in silence, her senses began to respond to the familiar buzz. It felt like a tingle along her skin, humming with anticipation. She was full of all of this potential energy when, in reality, she had no interest in doing anything with it.

She knew she did not want to die because she had fought too long to save her mother and regretted not doing the same for her brother. She would not throw her own life away. Ember settled herself down onto the table beside her. Nothing changed in her expression, but Dri still understood her as though she had.

Within her mind, she sensed the dragon raise her eyebrow. “You’re not dead… but isn’t that exactly what you are doing?” she seemed to point out.

Dri narrowed her eyes at her symbiont. “I may not be doing anything of substance to you, but surviving is enough,” she attempted to tell her telepathically. “I’m surviving.” And she was, she realized. To most people, she probably seemed like she was wasting away and giving up on life. In honesty, she had felt like that too. She had been raised here in the deserts of Scrios where, if you did not work, you did not survive. Productivity was essential.

But now? She had been tasked with traveling across Cretala to learn about the dragons, discover how to call them back to her world, and right the missteps of her ancestors. She had thought doing so would save her mother in the process, but she had been wrong.

All of that had been too much to ask of her, but she had done it. All of the pressure had weighed down on her until she could barely make it. Even though she had wanted to give up, she hadn’t. She had persisted, and now she needed rest. She deserved it. She had earned it. This was survival.

At the same time, she could not continue to allow others to go without on her behalf. She had not asked them to, had not expected them to, but they still took it upon themselves to care for her in this way. As much as she felt… appreciated? Valued? Cared for? As much as that was true in ways she had not foreseen, she could not continue to allow them to go without.

So, she decided with certainty as she finished her tea, she would walk with Abyl and return to Urd. Not because she deserved it or because she wanted to but because not doing so meant others would not have enough. She may not feel worth it, but they thought she was. She could do this for them, if not for herself.

After tea, she went back to her room and changed. She wore loose fitting pants with breathable tan fabric. Her top was more form fitting but comfortable. It was important not to have excess fabric in the way along the arms as a healer. Otherwise, it would be common to get blood and bodily fluids along the arms, something unsanitary for both the healer and the injured.

Urd, her mentor, cared about small details like that and instilled the same in their apprentices. Prevention was always the first topic they taught. It had been countless Chills since she last stepped into the shop, but she still followed Urd’s lessons without thought. She imagined she always would as long as she lived whether she returned or not.

Last, she lifted her bag across her shoulders. It had been resting in the far corner where she had left it after returning. It used to seem like a part of herself. Wearing it had been second nature. Now the weight felt as though it belonged to a different person.

Could she be that person again? In so many ways, she couldn’t and did not want to be. She would not go back to hiding herself away. Could she return to being a healer? Even if she could, did she want to? She was uncertain, but she decided she would try. That mattered, right? It was enough?

Dri found Ember waiting for her at the door. The dragon had spent the last two Chills outside on her own. Before that, she had been able to shift incorporeal and fly through the walls. Now she had to wait to be allowed out.

Dri wondered to herself where Abyl was. Her friend had not been there when Ember had woken her. She wondered if he had left for the day, expecting her to stay in bed again all day. How many days had he done that? Determined, she opened the door anyway. If he had gone, she could still go on her own. Sempala was her home. She had walked the streets on her own countless times. She could do so again.

Yet, when she opened the door, she found him standing at the rail where J’ had always stood looking out over the town. She smiled despite herself, though the similarities between her friend and her brother did unsettle her.

“You waited?” she asked.

“I did,” he responded. “You said you would come with me today.”

“I did,” she agreed, and a small bit of happiness leaked out from where it had been hiding, from where she had locked it away.

Chapter 2: Estrella

ESTRELLA LIATH, PRINCESS OF ARLYSS, dropped down onto the large, fancy bed that sat in the center of the dungeon cell disguised as a guest room. Her best friend Darrow sat down at her side, an easy smirk dancing across his features.

“If I had not decided on my own to come here and bring peace to our warring kingdoms, there would be no peace talks going on down there,” she proclaimed, “and yet, I am the one not welcome in the discussion.” Her chin was held high and her jaw was clenched.

“I came all this way with you, and I am not even allowed in the room,” Darrow pointed out.

“Yes, but I am the princess, and peace was my idea,” she replied before softening her voice. “Besides, my father has never liked you because I am fond of you.”

“Not in the way he thinks that you are,” he chuckled.

The princess snorted. “Never.”

“That’s what Phin is for,” he added.

She narrowed her eyes, her mirth dissipating. “Princess Delphinium and I are enemies. Nothing has changed since the failed beheading.”

“But you came to make peace,” Darrow pointed out, his tone serious despite the fact that she knew without a doubt that he said it in jest.

Estrella let out a groan of exasperation and stormed off to the balcony. She looked out over the city of Deyr, trying to get her argument with her father and her… situation with the enemy princess out of her mind. She was grateful that Darrow did not follow her. He had been her friend for most of her life; he knew her well and would understand that she needed space right now.

Her friends Dri and Abyl had been gone for nearly two Chills, two Chills within which the captive Arlyssian princess had wondered whether or not her friends had survived. When she looked up at the clear sky, the dragons flocking across the Neartian sky above were a sign that they had lived to accomplish their mission. They were also a reminder that she had not accomplished her own.

Her first instinct was to shout for joy, but instead she found herself wrapping her arms tightly around her stomach. Nobody here knew to expect the dragons’ return. They thought they were old stories, and those stories told of brave knights who slayed the monsters. Nobody here would shout for joy; they would attack.

Essie considered staying there on her balcony. She considered enjoying the magical sight, but she knew that she needed to do something. After all, she was the only one here who could.

She wrenched her arms free, made her way across her room past Darrow, and rushed down the stairs towards the large conference room where King Danthe of Neart had been conducting peace talks with her father, King Niwa of Arlyss. A part of her told her to turn back, reminding her that she was not wanted. Her father had arrived days earlier, and she had been removed from the room anytime she dared speak. Before that, her fate had balanced precariously on whether or not her father arrived. Her opinions, her thoughts, her feelings… none of it had mattered to anyone here.

And yet, that had never stopped her before.

“Essie!” Darrow called out from behind her, but she did not slow or stop.

“Dragons have been sighted over the city, Majesty,” one of the military commanders boomed as she entered. The man was standing at the far door, war and strategy dancing in his eyes.

Gairdea! she cursed to herself. They had gotten here before she had. At least nothing had been decided yet, she thought, taking the win.

“Dragons?” King Danthe scoffed. “That is preposterous!”

King Niwa, her father, caught sight of her standing frozen and pained just inside the room. He narrowed his eyes, knowing that she was somehow involved. She had been fascinated with the creatures since she had begun researching them, and she had confided what she learned with her father. He had treated her like a silly girl absorbed in fantasy. He had not believed her.

She pressed her lips together. Do you believe me now? she thought. Will you hear me now?

Do not interfere here, his expression ordered.

No. He would not believe her, but she would make him hear her. She needed to ensure that all of them heard her.

“We must prepare our defense immediately, Majesty. We must annihilate the monsters before they can destroy us.”

“No!” Estrella shouted, and all eyes turned to her.

“Get her out!” King Danthe ordered. “You will not speak here.”

Estrella straightened her posture, held her chin high, and stared down the approaching guards with as much regal fortitude as she could manage.

“I will speak and you will all listen,” she ordered, “because I know why the dragons have returned. I know why they left, where they went, and I helped bring them back.”

Delphinium Shressa, Princess of Neart, laughed once, all of her derision evident. “Is this another one of your tales?”

Estrella wanted to respond that the story of the chrianam bound was not hers and that she had no interest in being the warrior princess’s soul mate. She could not explain why Delphinium had been unable to behead her at her execution, why Phin’s sword had shattered on her neck. Nobody else had found an alternate explanation either but, just like the princess before her, she had no interest. It was not her tale. She was not responsible for any of it.

Instead, she ignored her and remained focused on her own message. “Centuries ago, our war began over the dragons. They were native to our mountains in Arlyss. They lived amongst our people, and we coexisted peacefully. Neart wanted the benefits they saw came from this relationship, but my ancestors did not want to share. War began. This same war that we fight now.

“In time, an Arlyssian king ordered the dragons to fight on our side. That’s where the Neartian stories of knights slaying dragons originated. Our Arlyssian dragonkeepers saw the dwindling numbers, and one of them acted. She sent the dragons to an incorporeal realm to protect them.”

She wanted to say more, but she stopped herself abruptly, remembering Alec’s training. Her mentor, the royal librarian and archivist back home, had taught her that she should not always reveal all she knew.

“That is enough, daughter,” her father roared, and she was not sure whether he realized the same and wanted to silence her or if he simply was not interested.

However, the Neartian king now studied her, lost in his thoughts. “So you are arguing,” he finally said, “that I should want the monsters to live here and that we should not kill them?”

Phin snorted, but the king held up his hand to silence her. Essie thought through her response, understanding that she needed to be precise. This king was a shrewd man. She did not like him, and she knew him to be callous, but his mind was sharp. She needed to convince them not to harm the dragons, but she could not reveal anything that was not vital to that end.

“We should not kill them,” she agreed without elaboration, refusing to meet his eyes.

King Danthe’s smile was small but knowing. “What benefits?” he asked, prompting her to continue.

Estrella glanced up. “Their presence has been linked to quicker healing and longer lives,” she said with a smile.

Phin narrowed her eyes, trying to make sense of the vague information. “How does that work?” she asked, skeptical. “How do you live longer because a flight of dragons decides to settle near you?”

Estrella swallowed. She could not very well tell them about the scales, could she? When she had come here to Neart to try to make peace, this opportunistic woman had captured her and attempted to publicly execute her for her own gain.

She wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. As Darrow had pointed out, she had come here in order to reconcile… but how could she choose honesty now? How could she tell them about the scales without wondering if they would capture or kill more dragons just to take their scales?

Was there any hope of making peace if she could not even consider trusting them with basic information? She wondered what that said about them, but it spoke volumes about her as well.

She did not trust them anymore

with information,

with the dragons,

with her life,

with her kingdom.

This would never work if things stayed the way they were. If she wanted peace, did she need to let this go and choose to trust them? There was so much at stake. Was there a balance to be found?

Estrella pursed her lips and looked up, facing this challenge. “It has something to do with their presence,” she said, deciding to explain what she could without giving out information that might endanger the creatures. “Our researchers called it nilakali. Somehow it would infuse into the water, and that would enrich the land.”

She could safely leave out details, she decided. For orbits, she would have been the only person that knew. Now, there were only three other people in Cretala who could contradict her, and they were not even in the same kingdom.

Niwa’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Though he did not speak, his rival king did.

“Your researchers?” King Danthe asked, questioning exactly what she imagined her father wondered.

She nodded once, taking this as an opportunity to say more. “Back when the dragons were here before, a family lived in our capital, Ripoba. They were able to communicate with the dragons and spent generations studying them. Our people referred to them as dragonkeepers.”

“Where is this family now?” King Danthe asked.

“Are you referring to the Feighli girl that ran off with you?” her father questioned at the same time. King Danthe looked to King Niwa before looking back to Estrella. “These dragonkeepers… they could speak with the dragons?”

She hesitated, unsure how much to say. “Not with words or voices to my knowledge, but they understood each other. It made them better suited to study them.”

“They could sway them,” he clarified, and she was not sure whether he was asking or stating.

She opened her mouth to speak before closing it again and thinking through her words first. “It is very well documented in their writings that they did not believe controlling the dragons was a good practice. In some ways, I believe it was to protect the creatures, but I also feel that they knew it would poison the relationship between humans and dragons if they did. A bond like that necessitates trust.”

Danthe turned to her father. “You said that there is a dragonkeeper still alive?” he asked.

Niwa raised an eyebrow, and she could tell he was also deciding how much to reveal. “Apparently,” he finally allowed. “I did not believe my daughter when she first came to me with all of this. I am certain you understand. Dragons?” He smirked.

Danthe chuckled. “Daughters,” he agreed. He turned back to Estrella, considering.

“This dragonkeeper,” he began. “Was that the girl that I allowed to return to Scrios?”

Estrella looked away, her muscles tensing. She had messed up. She was not sure exactly how or what this would mean; that depended on the king. She did not respond, but he knew that her silence was confirmation.

Danthe looked to Niwa. “Your daughter does not want us to slay the dragons. She claims they are beneficial and says that there is one person in all of Cretala that can make them do our bidding. You want peace? I want the girl.”

Niwa’s laugh was deep and barking. “And you expect me to go get her for you?” Her father seemed genuinely amused. Perhaps nothing would come of her mistake?

The Neartian king smiled, broad and wide. “That I do not!” he laughed. “However, I do think we would both find the benefits in expanding our lands into Scrios.” He raised an eyebrow as he studied his rival, appraising the man’s reaction.

“Scrios?” Niwa scoffed. “It is a land of exiles and criminals because nobody has ever seen value in the place. Its people barely survive.”

“All of that was true in the past, but now they have one of your dragonkeepers,” Danthe pointed out. “What was it that your daughter said? The dragons are able to infuse the land they live in. Do you think it will remain a desert wasteland for long?”

No, Estrella thought. If she had stayed on that balcony and kept control of herself. If she had listened to Darrow and stayed out of this room because she knew full well that she was not welcome. Ifri, if she had stayed in Arlyss and never came here at all, maybe they would all be better off. Not one good thing had come from traveling here. And now, devastation could come from it.

She had tried to do good. She wanted to make a difference. She aimed to right the wrongs of her ancestors. Now these sgail were making it all worse in ways she never would have imagined.

She felt the anger rising through her legs and up into her body, a heat that made her want to scream in rage and attack. She wanted to tell them what fools they were and how their actions would cause ripples through time that their ancestors hundreds of orbits from now might face.

Instead, she clenched her jaw and stormed out because Alec had taught her better than that. Speaking in anger gives away your power, he taught her.

She would give them nothing more of herself.

Estrella wandered the halls, aimless and lost in her thoughts, until she found herself at a large window looking out over a military training courtyard. A group of recruits were there now, practicing a specific set of motions that seemed like simple blocks and thrusts with wooden swords.

She had watched Darrow in the same way when he began training. She knew that even though they may seem basic, the muscle memories that these drills created mattered. Despite the fact that they were on opposing sides of a war that had lasted nearly a millennium, the training seemed eerily similar. Shouldn’t there be a difference?

As she studied them, she wondered if they had enlisted to fight her kingdom, her people. She wondered if they knew that their enemy’s king sat in this very castle discussing peace… for all the good that would do.

She had always disagreed with her father on certain topics, but she had never expected him to go along with something like this. She was finding more similarities between her people and those here the closer she looked. She had hoped for that, but now she questioned that desire.

Estrella wrapped her arms around her body, wishing that she had just stayed at home in Arlyss. This forsaken war could last another millenia and they would still be better off. She had thought her enemy would be more like she was, deep down. She had given them credit for a basic decency that she assumed they would possess. She had thought that, at their core, people were good.

She was wrong.

“You and Phin are more alike than I had imagined,” a gruff voice said from behind. The captive princess turned to find an old man with a kind smile studying her with twinkling eyes. His clothes seemed like those of a civilian, but they were as pressed and tidy as a formal military uniform would be. His hair was white but close cut. He stood tall, his posture not impacted by age. Everything about the man could be described with a single adjective: precise.

“Excuse me?” she asked. He was comparing her to her rival, a princess that she knew to be cruel and ruthless?

His smile was small but knowing. “She used to come here when she was overwhelmed, too. Most would not find combat calming, but she enjoyed the…” he began, trailing off and motioning as though attempting to conjure up the specific word he sought.

He waved the effort off, giving up. “She enjoyed the routine of it. She found it far more beautiful and graceful than ballroom dancing, music, or art.”

Estrella let the frustration in her expression fade. “I can understand that,” she said, an offering.

His smile grew. “So you are the one who crossed kingdoms for peace.”

“I am,” she said, lifting her chin. “And you?”

“Most call me Master Sergeant Gray even though I have been retired for many orbits. I spent my career fighting your people and then training recruits towards the same goal.”

“You must find me just as ridiculous as the others do,” she replied, keeping her voice calm and even.

His lower lip pulled upwards and he shook his head as he assessed her. “Decisive. Determined. Honorable.”

She laughed. “And yet your life has revolved around the very thing that I came to dismantle. I do not expect you to understand or agree.” Her words were not aggressive and she felt no malice towards him; she had become used to Neartians disagreeing with her.

“On the contrary,” he replied. “I spent my life believing that princesses were only meant to marry for alliances and to maintain bloodlines, after all. Then I got to know Phin better and trained her to become the warrior that she is today. Perhaps it is time for another change. Perhaps it is time for peace.”

Estrella shook her head. “If it is, it will come at the expense of Scrios, the dragons, and one of my dear friends. That is not a price that I would want to pay, but I am not allowed to be a part of that decision.”

“That is what Phin has been fighting against for most of her life,” he pointed out. “Princesses in Neart are not traditionally allowed opinions. Ifri, most women aren’t. She would be a good ally for you.”

“When my friends and I ate in Thardrum before meeting the princess, we noticed how the girls and women were treated. We had hoped that her changes would alter things for the better, but it seems that she only had her own interests in mind. That is what happened with me. I do not see how she could be an ally. I do not think she would even want to be.”

Master Sergeant Gray chuckled. “She is young. Her strategy needs work. I am sure that you can relate.”

Estrella supposed that she could admit, at least in the privacy of her own mind, that she could understand that. She seemed to have a tendency to see the best in people, or at least what she hoped they could be. She had done so with Delphinium. She had thought that the woman might see reason and at minimum hear her out. She had not considered that the princess might not be willing, might have her own struggles and motives to do the exact opposite.

She peered inwards at herself. When people let her down and did not behave as she expected them to, did she also have a tendency to strip them of their humanity and see them merely as lacking? Delphinium, King Danthe, and now her own father. She did not stop to think what they might be thinking, what their strategy might be. Could they just be flawed people doing their best… or was she just seeking the silver lining again? Did it matter where they were coming from when the cost was so high?

And where did this man land? He was an important former member of her enemy’s military and a mentor to her rival and yet, when he showed up to speak with her, she let down her guard. She listened, evaluated his words, and began to allow him to sway her.

She narrowed her eyes at him. What was his motive? What was he planning? Was he really as irrelevant and unsuspecting as he wanted her to believe or did he have an interest here? He had shown up, offering up a friendly and kind vision of himself, and she had accepted it and opened up to him. Was he sincere or calculated?

“I strive not to make that same mistake,” she replied and walked off, back towards her decorative cell. Estrella found Darrow standing on her balcony, staring up into the skies. She had been gone for hours, but he was still here, consistent. When everyone else failed her, she could count on him.

“Did they listen?” he asked, his voice barely audible.

She sighed. “No.”

“Will they kill them?” he asked.

“Not the dragons,” she replied. “They want to invade Scrios and capture Dri so that she can control the dragons for them or something.”

His shoulders slumped and he nodded as though he expected nothing less, but she did not see how he could have predicted this. She stared at her oldest friend, incredulous.

“You could not have known, Darrow,” she told him.

He shook his head but did not look at her. “They have been nothing but cruel since we arrived, and it has not improved, Essie. I called after you when you ran off. There is no getting through to them, but you wouldn’t hear it.”

“I–,” she began, but he cut her off with a raised hand.

“No, Essie,” he said. “I have always done everything that you have asked. Even what you didn’t. I abandoned my duties to travel here with you, to protect you. I made myself come to your execution so that I could be there for you. I stand by while you continue to try to get through to them.”

Darrow turned to look at her and pushed past the sudden regret he felt when he saw her stunned expression. “You expect me to always be here when you need me because I always am. I will continue to be here,” he paused to admit. “But you don’t see me as anything more than that. You don’t hear me. You don’t value what I have to say unless I agree with you. My place in your life is merely to support you, and I realize that now.”

When she did not respond, he looked back to the dragons circling above. He had spent his whole life watching Estrella Liath. He knew that she understood to some extent how he felt about her, but he also knew that she did not know the depth. Nobody did, though the king suspected. If her father had known that his love was unrequited, he might not have fought so hard to keep him away.

Darrow knew that she did not feel the same way, but he had thought she valued him. He had believed that she considered him a confidant, an equal. Their time in Neart had shown him, however, that she did not even seem to hear him. It was time, he supposed, that he accepted his role in her life for what it was.

“I don’t know what to do,” she said. “I don’t know what you want me to do. I am doing my best, but none of it seems to matter.”

Though she wanted him to respond, he stayed silent. He knew exactly how she felt, but it would make no difference.

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