The greatest gasp she’d ever taken filled her lungs, and she was thrown onto her back.
What threw her the most though, was the not surprised or concerned look Draven had on his face. He crouched beside her and held out a hand. Her gaze narrowed at him, unsure of what was happening.
A screech so high-pitched her ears rang sounded in the air.
The flames at the base of the tree burst upwards. Wind brushed through and extinguished the fire at the roots, but one remained in the air, as though a fireball had been launched into the darkness.
Something tugged at her core, filling the emptiness she’d felt since the absence of her raven. It was familiar, yet something completely different from what she’d felt before.
The burst of fire turned to black in the silhouette of the moons above the, and her heart throbbed at the sudden realization of what had soared upwards from the flames.
“A phoenix?” she breathed.
Draven’s hands wrapped under her arms, and he pulled her to her feet. She was stiff, frozen as the black flames of it suddenly disappeared again into the darkness of the forest. But she could feel its core as it dove down to the earth before her.
The ground shook. It landed in front of her in the moons light, and her stomach knotted as its neck rose high, head only a few inches above hers. The whisp of its tail feathers wrapped around her feet. Its great black horns glistened in the moons light.
The amber of its eyes stared at her down its great long beak.
She reached out hesitantly. What is your name? she asked it.
It is not the time for you to learn it.
Her brows began to narrow, but when the phoenix’s nose nudged her hand, her heart skipped, and then she nearly collapsed at the rate in which her head melted against its head.
Her core sighed into the comfort of its warm black flames, the whisps of its energy filling her chest. A tear streaked down her face as she settled into it, allowing it to complete her core once more, to bond with her as she’d bonded with her raven. After a moment, she took two steps back, and she gave the creature a bow.
Take your flight.
The phoenix burst into shadow and dove into the air.
Aydra watched it soar, collecting its first flight above her head in the silence of the moons. A joy filled her chest that made her emotions edge, and she felt her hands trembling.
The sight of Draven caught the corner of her eye as the phoenix left her sightline. He was standing off to the side of Duarb’s tree, his body reflecting back in the light, hands shoved in his pockets as he simply watched the bird soar with a small smile on his face.
“How did you know?” she asked breathlessly.
His gaze flickered to meet hers, and he didn’t say anything as he raised an expectant brow.
A wash of understanding came over her. “The Honest Scrolls,” she realized.
He nodded slowly and started to walk towards her. “If more people read them, they might uncover the true magic of this land. This world is more than our minuscule squabbles and fights. Living here in the Forest, you learn to appreciate everything Haerland did before vanishing. The phoenix represents not just the Venari. She is the corp—”
Aydra cut him off with a hard press of her lips to his, nearly jumping into his arms as he stepped before her. His startled figure relaxed after only a moment, and then he pulled her flush against him. Her chest swelled with all the things she had no idea how to put into words, and when she finally pulled back, she pressed her hand to his cheek.
“Thank you,” she managed.
He took her palm off his cheek and kissed it, closing his eyes just for a moment. His weight shifted, and he held her hand in his. “I know you need time,” he started. “I know this is all new, and you’re possibly overwhelmed with all that’s happened, but—”
“Draven, I love you,” she blurted.
His words stopped at an instant, and he swallowed hard as his weight shifted again, a great inhale filling his lungs, the same look on his face that he’d had in the castle when she told him spreading across his features. His jaw tightened, and she watched the glisten take over his eyes.
She squeezed his hands before he could speak. “I love you,” she repeated. “I’ve known it for a while now, and I should have told you so many times before, but… I didn’t want it to come across as my saying it out of a darkness I knew my core had settled into. I wanted it to be when I knew it would mean more than just the words. I had to be sure you didn’t just love me for the reasons I’d said before. After these last few weeks, after… everything… I realize I was wrong. It wasn’t just circumstance. It’s real. More real than I truly think I understand.”
She reached up to his face, and his weight shifted again. “Draven you… you see me. The real me. Crown or no crown. Queen or civilian. You see me for who I am, not who I am supposed to be. You fill me with a strength and trust I’m not used to.”
He kissed her hands, allowing his lips to linger against her skin. “So, to be clear, you love me because I’m everything Magnice isn’t.”
Her heart sank, and she felt the color drain from her face. “What? No—I mean—what? Draven, I love you because… because you don’t treat me as though I’m some child. You never have—”
“So you’ve loved me since we were kids?”
Her eyes narrowed, and her core froze. “I just told you I love you, and you’re asking for reasons? Why—
