Page 97 of To Fight and To Fold

"And what?" Aaryn snapped, advancing.

"Aren't you… angry?" Thea asked.

Aaryn blinked. "You have no idea.” For weeks she’d harbored not only her own anger but the anger of a dragon. Her own dragon.

She remembered how it had filled her chest, and attacked with vigor. "My entire life is a lie." Thea blocked her. "Evergale lied." Aaryn pressed on. "Is lying, to everyone." She kicked a leg out, and Thea caught her by the ankle, holding her off balance. "To the Tethered." Her throat went tight, and Thea released her.

Aaryn caught herself and met Thea's gaze. "And this?" she said, holding up her hand. "It's not what I've coveted my entire life, and been honored to carry for the past three years. It's something…" The shiny pink scars glinted in the light. "Something wrong." It was a barrier between her and Starspark, not a manifestation of their connection.

And suddenly the kind of anger that a dragon held didn’t seem so out of touch after all.

"And what are you going to do about it?"

Aaryn hesitated. "This? Learn to fight, access my magic."

"And after that?" Thea prompted, and motioned for her with a flick of her fingers. "Think and spar with me at the same time. You've got enough brain behind that pretty face to do so."

Something in Aaryn bloomed to life, and she knew it was obvious on her face, so she leaned into it, baring her teeth in a wicked grin, and went after Thea. "You think I'm pretty?"

Thea blocked. "Scales, is that all it takes to distract you? No wonder the prince had you wrapped around his little finger."

Aaryn's jaw flexed with a tick. Thea smirked.

And as they sparred, Aaryn thought over her question.

In fact, she thought over the question a lot. What would come next, after she awakened her magic? What would she use her magic for? What kind would it be? What would it feel like? What would she do with it?

All of these things rattled around in her brain, morning to night, and even in her dreams.

Like whenever Thea took her to the many kitchens for a tasty, spicy, filling type of meal that Aaryn tried under Thea's rapt attention. Or as she visited the Archives, absorbing whatever Willow recommended, Thea's friendly chatter with Willow softly filling the space as she read, sometimes a little too loud, a little too… giggly.

Aaryn blocked it out by learning about Evergale's latest crime in a long list of them. How they'd offered Timberscale a downright pitiful trade deal, and once Timberscale had declined they'd…. attacked. The text withheld nothing. Not how they used the dragons for their breath to force Timberscale into submission. How the druids had tried to fight back with them, but ultimately had cut their losses and rescued who they could. Two thousand refugees had been taken in. An entry after that led Aaryn to another book dedicated to the ever-growing circle, describing a need for a new isle, the efforts it required. It listed the location of the land they needed, the date and time it had been added, and the ones that had helped lift it from the ground below.

Thea was listed.

"You helped with the new isle?" Aaryn asked, glancing up.

Thea picked her head up from the table, blinking drowsily, before guilt seeped into her expression. "Yes. That's why it took me so long to come back for you again. I'm sorry." Aaryn felt the need to look away, but she didn't give in. "I was going to come sooner, but…"

"Don't… apologize," Aaryn murmured. "Arguably more important things needed your attention."

Thea was quiet, and her gaze felt heavy. Her lips parted, but she ultimately swallowed her words and the moment passed.

“You named it New Leaf?” Aaryn asked a few moments later.

Thea’s lip twitched.

And still, Aaryn pondered what came next when she took care of Starspark, brushing his scales and using the bristles to scratch in his favorite places while Thea, always there, lounged in the sun and soaked up its rays like a dragon herself. She stretched, and one of the sleeveless shirts she often wore lifted, baring a pale lavender strip of skin along her stomach.

The question plagued her as she sank into the Thea-shaped dent in her bed each night and listened to the soft snore coming from the floor beside the mattress.

As the giant moon rose and as the bright sun awoke her.

As Thea trained her, putting her through drills to improve her stamina. As Thea introduced her to the healers, the chefs, the farmers and gardeners, and the other Awakened, their dragons, and even some of the druids Thea worked with, who—like Thea herself—had specific duties to fulfill.

"Don't let Thea work you too hard. We know she can be… intense," said one, with mischievous eyes and green horns.

"I am not intense," Thea snapped.