His forelegs gave her a squeeze.
He must have heard her. Her cheeks grew warm with embarrassment. It hardly seemed fair that he could hear all her thoughts when she heard only what he wanted to tell her.
She gasped as a sudden jumble of thoughts raced through her mind, so crowded with her own thoughts, she could hardly keep herself separate. And even more powerful was the sudden surge of emotion that swept over her like a flood. Love. Anxiety. Determination. Love. Desire. Frustration. Love. A longing so great, it made her heart ache. Pain.
Silas. He’d opened his mind completely, and most of his thoughts and feelings were focused on her. With a shock, she realized the pain he felt was real. He hadn’t been joking about rule number two and a dragon’s extra-large heart.
Just as suddenly he shut the mental door, and she felt an immediate sense of relief. There had been too much in her mind all at once.
Gwen, now you know how I feel.
Tears came to her eyes. He loved her. He loved her something fierce. Her heart filled with so much love and longing for him, she thought it might burst. “Silas.”
Snookums.
She snorted. The rascal. She nestled against him and watched the lovely scenery go by. He swooped along a valley with high mountains on each side. Wind whistled off the snowcapped peaks, but she remained warm against his chest. “I love flying with you.”
Rule number six, he told her with his deep voice. If you fall in love with a dragon, don’t be afraid to fly. He can take you higher.
She smiled to herself. Higher. With Silas, she definitely felt as if she was flying higher. She was becoming the best that she could be.
As they flew into the sunset, the blue sky was painted with shades of pink, yellow, and orange. And down below, there were different shades of green. They were surrounded by color, and Gwennore was suddenly struck by how lovely the world was. The death of the queen and her narrow escape faded away, leaving her with a feeling of peace.
We’re almost there.
They were approaching a wide expanse of glittering ice that reflected the rays of the setting sun.
“What is that?”
A glacier. My cabin is nearby. His wings beat the air, lifting them higher to the mountain on the north side of river of ice.
She spotted a rocky cliff, then a stretch of green pasture. A log cabin sat by itself, its roof covered with grass.
Silas swooshed down and released her onto the grass. It was cool against the palms of her hands as she pushed herself to her feet.
He landed neatly, then folded his wings as he turned slowly to face her. The last rays of the sun made his scales gleam green and purple.
She smiled at him. “You make a very handsome dragon.”
His golden eyes glimmered as he stalked toward her. Thank you.
When she reached up, he lowered his head so she could touch his face.
Come, I want to show you something. He walked toward the edge of the cliff, then settled on the grass.
She followed him. “What is it?”
Patience. It will come.
She sat next to him. Darkness fell around them, and the air grew chilly. The wind picked up, whisking down the glacier, and she shivered.
Cold? He unfolded his left wing and draped it over her to block the wind.
With a smile, she snuggled up close to his warm body. “What are we waiting for?”
Look and listen.
She glanced up and as the sky grew dark, millions of bright stars filled the sky. “It’s beautiful.” The twin moons looked closer than they had ever been before. She reached up a hand. “I feel like I could almost touch them.”
An odd, hauntingly beautiful sound filled the air.
“What is that?” she whispered.
It’s the music of the glacier.
She peered over the cliff at the river of ice that gleamed under the light of the two moons. “How?”
In the summer, some of the glacier melts and the water bores holes through the ice, forming pipes. When the wind blows through the pipes, the glacier makes music.
She listened for a while. “It’s amazing.”
I will always love you, Gwennore, whether we’re flooded with rain or shining as brilliant as the stars.
She smiled. “That’s lovely. Thank you.”
My love for you will burn like an eternal flame deep in my chest.
She stifled a laugh. That sounded like a bad case of heartburn.
I heard that. A puff of smoke shot from his nostrils as he huffed. You think it’s easy to confess how much I love you? You give it a try.
Should she? He could already hear her thoughts. Did he need her to say the words out loud? “All right. My love for you will last longer than the Kings of the Forest.”
He made a rumbling sound in his chest that sounded almost like a purr. My love for you is like this massive glacier.
Her mouth twitched. “Icy cold?”
Let me finish. My love is mighty and enduring, powerful enough to wear down any mountain in our way.
“I like that.”
And if anything bad tries to bore holes into our love, I’ll do like the glacier and use them to make music.
She laughed. “Now you’re getting cheesy again.”
You love it.
“I do.” She leaned against his chest, wiping away a tear of joy. “I can honestly say this is the happiest moment in my entire life.”
It’s about to get even better.
“How?”
Look up.
As she glanced up, a greenish ribbon of light wavered in the night sky. Mesmerized, she watched as glowing lights of green and purple floated in waves across the sky. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”
This is the life I want to share with you.
“Oh, Silas.” She watched until her eyes burned with exhaustion
