Page 22 of Whispers of the Dragon
“Sure.” Swallowing hard, he placed the bottle in his pocket before leaving. He knew she had only requested him to pick up twigs to spare him of the answer.
Fearing that Eira might end up like his mother as he gathered the supplies, he realized how strong his father must be to continue life without his fated mate. While he and Eira had only just met and were yet to be mated, he was certain he couldn’t live a single moment in this life without her.
Entering the old place once again, he saw Itako rocking in her chair by the fireplace as she smoked a pipe.
“Thank you,” she said, blowing out her words with a puff.
Bending down, he began starting the fire for her when she asked, “Could you hand me a stick?”
Ryu nonchalantly held out a stick, knowing even though she was blind, she’d know where it was. “Here.”
“Do me a favor?” she asked, not taking it. “Break it.”
Ryu snapped the long, skinny twig in two.
Leaning forward, she pushed his hands together, making him grab the now two sticks together as one. “And again?”
When he went to snap the twigs again, this time it didn’t break. Instead, they bent together.
The witch rocked back in her chair, pleased. “Do you understand now, Ryu?”
“Yes, Itako,” he said, smiling with relief.
“You are not meant to rule as a broken king, but as an unyielding one with Eira by your side. That is the only thing that remains certain in each of your lives. The rest is determined by fate.” She puffed her pipe strongly, and the flame grew brighter. “You can be one of the greatest Tei kings in dynasty history because of this.”
The wetness spilled out of eyes and hit his cheeks, unbeknownst to him. “I can?” he asked hoarsely, not believing it.
She nodded. “Yes, but you must make what you will of your destiny.”
Understanding now, he tried to make light while wiping his tears away as he went back to starting her fire. “You can see all that, huh?”
“Well—” Itako laughed. “Let’s hope.”
Laughing with her for a moment made him start to feel better, but he had one last question …
“My father …” he started to ask. However, she already knew what he wondered.
“Yes.” She puffed an air of smoke. “When he passes, his spirit will travel with you in this life, but when it’s your time, your spirit must move on to meet Eira’s in the next.”
As he finished up, Ryu felt strong enough to finally leave and claim the woman he was born to be with in each and every life.
When he left his village this time, he knew upon his next return that not only would he never get the chance to leave it again, but his arrival would be with his fated mate.
12
A Full-Fledged Dragon
Eira sat down near the cliff’s edge to watch the sun rise. Before Ryu, she felt like this washerspecial place, but after Ryu, she felt like it wastheirspecial place. She thought maybe if she returned where they had first met and last seen each other, he might come back. But the longer she sat there as the sun traveled the sky, the more hope she lost.
Her instinct had told her that it would all quickly feel like a dream when he had first disappeared and, unfortunately, she had been right. The only proof he had been there was the bonsai tree Ryu had planted for her grandmother in their front yard.
The worst part was her grandparents didn’t even ask her where he had gone. She had prepared herself on what to say on the way back home, but when she had mentioned his name, it was as if they no longer remembered him. Ryu was gone, and so was their memory of him.
Feeling as if she had been locked in a bad dream, with only her memory remaining of him, Eira hadn’t fought sleep for the first time, hoping to meet him again in her dreams, but she had dreamed of nothing. Well,almostnothing. The second she hadstarted to finally dream, she had awoken to a noise before she even knew what it was she had been dreaming about.
Eira didn’t know what was worse: to know him only for him to leave, or to have never known him at all.
With all hope lost and the sun set to fall soon, she stood, wanting to keep her promise to her grandmother that she would come home before darkness fell.
