Page 19 of The Sapphire Dragon Prince
“I’ve never seen a golden cherry pit before,” he said in awe, studying the tiny thing. He then glanced up and looked down the row of cherry trees, which were being harvested by the workers. “Imagine that our prize after doing so much work is something so small.”
“Small but important,” I said, taking Misha’s free hand and leading him away from the trees so that the workers could finish the harvest. Already, the trees at the end where we’d started were dissolving into more saplings. It seemed somehow fitting that more trees and more cherries should be created from our labors.
“So what do we do now?” Misha asked, still studying the cherry pit as we walked back to where we’d left our packs earlier. “We have the first item Queen Gaia asked for. How do we find the rest?”
“We keep traveling,” I said, nodding to where the path we’d taken to reach the cherry orchard now seemed to stretch off toward the sunset. “Although I think we should find somewhere to make camp for the night first.”
Misha dragged his eyes away from the cherry pit, which he stared at as if it by itself could heal his soul, and looked at me. He breathed out a sigh then said, “I could use a rest. Planting magical cherry trees is exhausting.”
“Anything worth doing comes with its own level of exhaustion,” I agreed, hoisting my pack onto my back and picking up Misha’s as well. “Come on. I’m sure Mother will have arranged some sort of place for us to stay for the evening. The only way to find it is to travel on.”
Misha glanced at the cherry pit once more, then took his pack from me. He stashed the pit carefully in a pocket of his pack, then swung it onto his back.
“I’m ready,” he said with a satisfied sigh. “Whatever awaits us next, I think I can handle it.”
I beamed at my sweet omega. Yes, Misha was far stronger than he thought he was, and I loved him for it. I didn’t need magic for that, and if I was fated to lose mine forever, I was resigned to that, as long as I had him.
Chapter
Seven
Misha
We had the cherry pit. It was one step in the right direction. I’d been uncertain about the quest Queen Gaia had sent us on when we’d first set out, but successfully obtaining the cherry pit had given me hope that between me and Azurus, we would be able to obtain the other two items and Queen Gaia would be able to fix me.
One thing was certain, though. I wouldn’t have been able to do anything without Azurus.
“We should make camp for the night,” he said as the sun dipped low to the horizon, about an hour after we’d started away from the cherry orchard. “I know you’re in a hurry to finish the quest so that Mother can make you well again, but I don’t think she would have wanted us to walk all through the night.”
“I don’t mind walking with you,” I said, smiling up at my mate. I even reached over to take his hand.
So far on our journey, Azurus had reached for my hand whenever I had a moment of doubt or anxiety. It was nice to reach for him just because I liked being with him and wanted that physical contact. It gave me hope that my heat might finally come and we could bond the way fated mates were supposed to.
Azurus smiled back at me. I hoped it was the promise of a perfect future between us that had me warming and almost shivering at the emotion contained in his smile. Azurus really was gorgeous. He was tall and had broad shoulders and strong muscles, like most alphas. Unlike most alphas, he had a kindness in his eyes and a ready smile that always made me feel like there was hope the world could be righted again.
“I love walking with you, too,” he said, then laughed lightly and added, “but I would like resting for the night with you even more.”
I laughed as well, happy in the moment.
Queen Gaia must have somehow been watching us or known where we were in our journey. No sooner did Azurus and I make the decision to stop and make camp for the night when we came across the perfect clearing in a glade of trees by the side of the road. It was ideal for camping, complete with a circle of stones that had logs already stacked to build a fire.
“I think your mother is helping us,” I said with a cheeky look as we stepped off the path and into the clearing. “She has to be the one who created this spot for us.”
Azurus chuckled as he shrugged the pack he wore off his back. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Mother is the essence of love and caring. She wants us to succeed in this, and she wants us to be happy together.”
That raised a few questions in my mind. “Why didn’t she just cast some sort of spell or lay her hands on me to make mestronger and braver?” I asked as I, too, shrugged off my pack and placed it beside a stump off to one side of the circle of stones. “Why send us on a quest instead?”
Azurus grinned as he went to check on the fire pit. “It’s Mother’s way,” he said. “She could fix everything with a smile if she wanted to, but there’s always some higher purpose to the way she does things. I’m certain there is more to this quest than either you or I know.”
I tilted my head to the side, considering that. It was true, and so far, I hadn’t been disappointed in the quest. Planting a hundred cherry trees had been a challenge, but looking back on the day, it hadn’t been unpleasant. I’d been together with Azurus, working and chatting with him the entire time.
More than that, I’d been out in the sunshine and fresh air all day, using my body and working my muscles. The same couldn’t be said for my life as a captive in the bedchamber I shared with my brothers in our father’s castle. Sometimes, that sense of confinement that Father had subjected us all to was so strenuous in its own way that I’d wanted to scream. At least my brothers and I had had Papa’s garden for fresh air and exercise. At least until the last few months.
Come to think of it, my fear and anxiety had started to grow exponentially as soon as Father had confined us to the bedchamber and forbidden us from going outside. If we hadn’t been able to escape into the magical world through the enchanted door under Rumi’s bed every night, I wasn’t certain I’d’ve been able to keep my sanity.
“Do you suppose that?—”
I turned to where Azurus stood next to the firepit, but my question died on my lips. Something was wrong. Azurus had his hand stretched over the pile of logs and he wore an expression of concentration, but that was it. His concentration turned intoa frown. He shook his hand and held it over the logs again, but again nothing happened.
