Page 241 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Kai opened his mouth, no doubt ready to offer a remark he would later regret, but Dawn moved quickly, stepping between them.
‘Have you ever seen dragons before?’ she asked.
Zaydan shook his head.
At that exact moment, one of the larger dragons turned its massive head and released a thunderous roar that rolled across the mountainside.
Zaydan stumbled back, his pale eyes widening with alarm. Dawn let out a soft laugh.
‘Do not be afraid,’ she said. ‘They will not harm you. I was frightened of them once as well.’
‘How did you overcome it?’ the prince asked, genuine curiosity bright in his voice.
Dawn’s attention drifted, almost instinctively, towards Kai.
He stood a short distance away now, deep in conversation with the two Dunayans. For a moment, warmth crept into her cheeks.
‘I had a little help,’ she said lightly, clearing her throat.
Zaydan looked as though he was about to ask morebut the great metal doors behind them began to open once again.
Dawn had visited Alina many times while the drakonian princess had lain in restless sleep. But since she had awakened, Dawn had kept her distance.
She could not quite explain why. Not aloud, at least. Yet somewhere deep within, she suspected that Alina would not welcome her presence. Not after everything that had been done. Not after everything Dawn had taken from her.
And so she stayed away.
Still, nothing had prepared her for the sight of Alina now.
Even though she had seen her lying still and pale upon the bed, seeing her standing, moving, was something else entirely.
Alina stepped out into the desert not as someone broken, not as someone maimed by loss, but as something sharpened by it.
Something dangerous.
It was almost unnatural, how quickly she had recovered. Only a handful of days had passed, and yet she walked as though her body had already forgotten the violence it had endured.
Dawn could not help but suspect that Mareena’s strange medicines played a part in that.
And her own blood.
She had not told Kai.
Mareena had come to her quietly, asking—no, pleading—for more. She had explained how she would mix it into the remedies she had prepared for Alina. It would strengthen her, she had said. Help the wounds close faster. Prevent infection from claiming what remained of her arm.
Dawn had refused.
At first.
There was a difference between offering her blood for weapons…and forcing it into someone’s body, making them consume it without their knowledge.
The thought had made her recoil.
But hours passed. And eventually, Dawn had returned.
She had found Mareena seated beside Alina’s bed, watching over her with that same unwavering focus.
And Dawn had given in.
