Page 86 of Golden Queen
A scream tore from my throat as we rose.
The wind was maddening. It stung my eyes and stole my breath, but only for a moment, and then calm descended over us.
I blinked, not understanding.
Veles was still climbing, the wind catching in his wings like sails billowing, but my hair was not even rippling in the breeze and the cold, bracing wind no longer bled through my clothes.
I glanced back at Io, and he smiled with a half grin. He was shielding me from the wind with his magic.
Veles stopped climbing. We leveled out, the dragon extending his wings out on either side to catch the wind, gliding on the current. I worked up the nerve to look down from the endless blue sky to the ground so, so far below.
My eyes drank in the sight of the world unfolding under me. I hardly dared to believe it could be so beautiful from such a distance.
The city and the Mercury District were nothing but a dark smudge on the golden plains sweeping out in all directions. It was breathtaking—even if the city was an unsightly dark gray smudge on the otherwise uninterrupted golden hills.
The smile on my face threatened to make my cheeks cramp as I delighted in a freedom that I had never dared imagine being within my grasp.
I saw a streak of white to my right and followed it, realizing my dragon had joined us in the sky.
When I turned to see if Io had seen her, the look on his face was odd. He looked wistful—almost sad. "What?" I said, marveling that his shield could let our words carry so well when flying so fast.
"You aren't afraid of anything, are you?" he asked, studying my face intently.
"That's not true," I said.
He shook his head. "I think it is."
"How could I be afraid of this?" I said, letting go of the strap and waving my hand to acknowledge the wonder around me.
"You would be amazed how long it takes a dragon rider to feel half as comfortable as you are after only a few minutes."
"Well, you did say you would not let me fall—and you are holding me quite securely."
I ran my fingers down his arm, across the back of his hand, just as I had wanted to do when we rode together to that damned party.
He laced his fingers with mine momentarily and then surprised me by removing his arm and leaning back, leaving me seated alone in the saddle.
It was not scary. In fact, him releasing me only made me realize that I felt completely secure in my own seat. I would not fall.
I looked out along the powerful neck of the dragon—that creature of myth and magic that was carrying me through the sky, and felt Io release the shield a little. The wind rushed past me, filling my lungs with some deep, primal urge to shout.
So I did. I screamed my joy into the sky, feeling the rumblings of something deep inside me, something I had never been brave enough to acknowledge, come to life—searching, fumbling for the light.
I reached for that faint ghost of power, but as though it was trying to evade me, it shrank back just as Veles banked, angling downward.
Io's arm came around my waist, his shield going back into place.
He pressed a kiss to the skin where my neck and shoulder met, saying, "You belong up here, Aelia of Windemere. You were born to fly."
We landed in the godsgrass outside a camp of large canvas tents arranged in a circle. The grasses had been cleared in the center, and I could see several cook fires burning. They filled the air with the delicious scent of roasting meat.
"How many men do you have here?" I asked as Io helped me down from Veles. Dragons of every size and color were lounging around the camp, some with their necks crossed over each other companionably.
"Only forty," he replied, giving me an apologetic grin. He had apparently not traveled into Windemere with only Aben, Britaxia, and the mysterious fourth person I had yet to meet. He had an entire regiment hidden in the middle of the plains.
Speaking of Aben and Britaxia, I saw them coming from inside one of the canvas tents.
Aben gave me a look, then directed one to Veles behind us, who was now slinking across the grass in the direction of what I thought was Britaxia's red and black dragon.
