They stared at me.
“Right,” I said hastily. “That… probably doesn’t matter to either of you. The point I’m trying to make—wait, I totally forgot the point I was trying to make. Shit. Okay. Give me a minute. It’ll come back to me. Okay. Think, Sam. Fairy tales, riding in to save people, love confessions—gods, he’s still an asshole for doing that—and then… oh! Right. Slaying the fearsome beast!”
The feathered dragons didn’t seem to be very impressed. Well, Pat wasn’t. Leslie looked as if she wanted to mother all over my face. It was oddly disconcerting.
I shook my head. “I don’t know if we ever set out to slay Kevin—or the dragon, because we didn’t know who he was then. I was always taught that dragons were to be revered, that their numbers were so few that they were… special. I know that humans and dragons haven’t always had the best histories, but even though Kevin had taken the Prince for his hoard, I didn’t want to hurt him.”
“What was your plan, then?” Leslie asked, stretching her claws out in the snow. “If you weren’t there to hurt him, how were you planning on saving your Prince? Especially since a dragon’s hoard is the most precious thing to them. All else pales in comparison.”
I blinked. “Um. I don’t… know if we really had a plan.”
“What,” Pat said, no inflection whatsoever. It was terribly impressive.
I shrugged awkwardly. “I guess we were just going to kind of show up and wing it?”
“Wing it,” Pat repeated.
“Ooh,” Leslie said. “I like this human. Winging it plans are my favorite kind of plans.”
“Look,” I said. “You don’t know me. And that’s okay. I know I don’t look like much. I know I’m only an apprentice. Sure, I can talk to you and help others do the same, but really, in the end, that’s not all that impressive. I’m young, and Randall would tell you that I’m unpracticed and uncoordinated. Maybe even dangerous. I’m told I have more magic in me than anything else in the known world, and if I’m not careful, it can be used against me. There is a man who betrayed the two wizards I admire most who wants to eat part of my soul. I’m scared sometimes. Other times I’m angry. Because this shouldn’t be happening to me. This is too much for one person to carry on their own. I hate the gods sometimes for putting this all on me.”
The dragons were silent. Watching, waiting.
“But that’s just it,” I said quietly. “The gods may have chosen me. They may be testing me. They may be using me. To what end, I don’t know. Maybe I’m needed to course-correct the way of things. Maybe Myrin is an aberration. Or maybe I am. Maybe I’m not meant to win, maybe I’m being lied to for reasons hidden in shadow. In the end, though, I am not alone. I have Gary and Tiggy. I have Morgan and Randall. I have my parents and the King and Justin. I have my cornerstone.”
“And Kevin,” Pat said.
“And Kevin,” I agreed. “He may aggravate me. His relationship with Gary is probably an affront to the gods. Sometimes I want to punch him in the eye when he asks me if I need help with my homework, and also with a blow job. I mean, what the fuck, Kevin? Why are you like that? But he’s my friend. Ever since that day we showed up at his keep to do… something, he’s been my friend.
“Look, I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. I’m loud and obnoxious and I try really hard to make sure everyone likes me. Probably more than I should. But I didn’t have to do that with them. Even though it might have taken me a long time to see it, eventually I did. They like me for me.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, suddenly embarrassed at the impromptu speech I was giving. “But you have to know that not everyone feels that way. There are people in Verania who hate me. Because of my position with the Crown. Because of the color of my skin. Because I dared to look upon the stars and wish for something more. I don’t know if they’re jealous or if they genuinely look at me and see someone to despise. I don’t know that it matters. Well, I don’t know that most of it matters. Lady Tina DeSilva is another story. One day, and one day soon, I will stand before her and have my revenge. She will plead for mercy, and I will deny her request and say unto her, ‘Behold, you cankerous bitch! I stand before you as your ending!’”
I began to cackle evilly.
That lasted only a few seconds, because it sounded as if a small chicken was being strangled.
I made a mental note to work on my evil laugh.
I coughed. “Um. Where was I? Uh… oh! Friendship. Right, friendship is super important to me and I love them and they love me and that’s why I didn’t slay Kevin. The end.”
I bowed, expecting thunderous applause.
There was none.
I might not have stuck that landing as much as I thought I had.
I looked back up at them.
The dragons stared down at me.
“The end?” I said again, trying not to make it sound like a question but failing miserably.
“What was it talking about?” Leslie whispered to Pat.
“I don’t rightly know,” Pat said. “It certainly was loud.”
I threw my hands up. “Oh, come on! That was passionate.”
“Is that another word for loud?” Leslie asked. “Because if it is, it was so passionate. You might just be the most passionate thing I have ever met.”
“Dragons are such assholes,” I muttered. “What the fuck.”
“Step forward, child,” Pat said.
“I’m not a chi—you know what? Doesn’t even matter.” I took a step forward. “Please don’t murder my face.”
Pat crouched down in front of me until she was at eye level. Leslie did the same at her side, her feathers brushing against her mate.
They really were quite beautiful, now that I wasn’t mostly filled with fear that they were going to kill me. The feathers atop their heads looked soft to the touch, whereas the ones along their backs and wings appeared to be hard as steel. I marveled at how different they were from Kevin or Zero and wondered just how many types of dragons there used to be. The fact that these two found each other seemed to be a minor miracle.
“We asked him about you,” Pat said. “While you were inside the castle.”
“Randall? Now wait a minute. You probably shouldn’t believe a single word he says about me. He tends to overexaggerate my faults! I didn’t mean to turn his nose into a dick—”
“I’m talking about Kevin.”
“Oh. Oh! Right! Ignore everything that I just said.”
“I believe that’s not going to be an issue.”
“Good. Good, that’s—hey!”
“So precious,” Leslie whispered.
“We asked him about you,” Pat said. “Because a dragon’s trust is not something that is handed out lightly. There is a choice in everything, human. The gods may have dictated your path, but they have not dictated ours.”
“You’re telling me,” I mumbled. “They’re kind of jerks that way.”
“We were to be given a choice,” Leslie said. “That’s what he told us.”
“He?” I asked.
“The star dragon,” Pat said, surprising absolutely no one.