Page 68 of A Lick of Flame

We spend the next while untacking the horses and making sure that they are settled and happily grazing.

“What’s the plan?” Maya asks. “How long are we going to stay here before heading to the Windsar Forest? To this witch.” Then she gasps. “Is this it? Is the witch close by?”

I chuckle. “We’ll rest up for a while first. This isn’t Windsar Forest. Are you that eager to be rid of me? Of Raila, too?”

She smiles, but it is sad. “I will miss Raila and our tether. Now that I know how to work our connection, it feels fine. I feel bonded to her in a way I can’t explain.”

“I understand. It will be hard for you initially. You will miss her and your bond, just as she will miss you.”

I see her eyes cloud further. She is truly happy to be tethered to Raila. I can see that she doesn’t want the tether broken. It is a great pity that she isn’t a strong fae female. I feel bad just thinking it because Maya is perfect just as she is.

“Yes, I will miss her terribly,” she says simply. Then she looks me in the eye. “I need to know why I’m expected to keep my maidenhead. Why was it a prerequisite to my bounty?”

Damn it all to Hades.

I didn’t want to have this conversation, so I sigh.

“Tell me already. This is my body. I deserve to know why it is so important,” she insists.

“Your tether with Raila will more than likely break if you lose your virginity. The only thing that I can think of is that Snow has decided that your tether with the whelp will benefit her in some way. Perhaps she sees you as a new plaything. A human tethered to a dragon… Who ever heard of such a thing? Whatever her reasoning, she clearly wants the tether to remain in place. That is all we ultimately know. Therefore, she wants your maidenhead to remain intact to be sure.”

Her cheeks go pink. “So, we didn’t have to travel all the way out here, risking life and limb? Nor do we have to meet with any crazy witch and barter for her to help us? Are you saying that all I need to do is to have sex? That this whole thing will be over if I do?”

“More than likely, but that isn’t what you want, though, Maya. You don’t want to just lay down with any man to…to break this tether. Surely?”

“Well, no, but it would be the easy thing to do.”

“Easy isn’t always the right thing. Besides, you’re too modest. Far too shy to take a tumble with just any man.”

She puts her hands on her hips and glares at me in a way that is just plain adorable. Maya doesn’t say anything because she knows I’m right.

I turn sober. “In all seriousness, you’re special,” I finally settle on. “The first time you make love should be for the right reasons…not to break a tether. At this point, there is another option. The witch is less than a day’s ride away. We should explore those options first. You haven’t been unwell…I think we still have time.”

Her shoulders relax. “I thought you were going to say that I need to wait to be married.”

“You need to do whatever it is that you want to do, but it should be on your terms and for the right reasons. Also, we still have no idea how any of this will play out since you are a human.”

“How did it happen for you?” she asks, sitting on a nearby log. She offers me some of the dried meat, which she starts to chew. “Your tether with Delphine, I mean.”

I sit next to her, taking the meat.

“How did your bond with your dragon come about?” she elaborates.

I smile, taking a small bite, chewing, and swallowing. “I was young. A boy of only fifteen summers. To think I thought myself a man already.” I laugh softly to myself. “I remember the day well. It was the first day of winter. There was a chill in the air. All the more gifted children of the court were summoned to the white cliffs to meet the dragons. Delphine came straight to me. Her scales were as black as the night itself. The streaks of gold shimmered in the light. Her eyes locked with mine, and I felt a connection unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It was as if she could see into my very soul, and I knew at that moment that we were meant to be tethered. Without fear or hesitation, I stepped forward and reached out my hand to her. She nuzzled against me, her warm breath washing over my hand. I got my mark, and from that day on, we were inseparable. We flew together, fought together, and protected each other with a fierceness that defied all reason. At least until I was lost. Until a terrible spell was cast over me and all of the lands.” I pause for a moment. “Now she doesn’t want to know me anymore.”

“I think, given time, that she will come around,” Maya says.

I lower my head. “I hope so. A beastfae king is nothing without his dragon. I remember how my mother and father held their breath that day. I would not have been permitted to take the crown without a dragon at my side. As is the way of my people. I fear I will not be able to reclaim it without her.”

“She’ll forgive you, Orion, I’m sure of it.”

“I abandoned her and the others. I allowed the entire realm to fall to rack and ruin.”

“You didn’t! It isn’t your fault,” she insists.

“I know that I am harping on when I say this, but I spilled the blood of all those innocent creatures. I can’t seem to get over it.”

“Are you ever going to forgive yourself for that?”

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