Amora's Arc

Chapter 3 of 6

Two mornings passed. Amora slept badly and woke to hooves on stone. She ran to the tower window. A white carriage stood at the heart-shaped gates below, drawn up beside the red rose bushes. And beside the carriage crouched a dragon. Amora's breath caught. It was her hatchling. But the small brown creature was gone. In its place stood a full-grown beast, its scales gleaming silver and brown, its wings folded high above the roses. Two days ago it had fit on her windowsill. Now it towered over the guards, who kept their distance. She knew at once whose work this was. Only one person could make a thing grow with kindness instead of fear. Her aunt. Mirana stepped down from the carriage. Amora had not seen her in years. Her aunt's hair fell almost white, and a silver crown caught the gray light. She did not shout at the guards. She did not need to. She lifted one hand to the huge dragon, and it lowered its head to her palm like a tame horse. The guards backed away. The whole courtyard seemed to hold still around her. Then the great doors of the castle opened. Amora's mother came out fast, her red skirts sweeping the steps. The Queen of Hearts stopped before her sister. Amora gripped the stone sill. She waited for the shouting, the guards, the cage her mother had promised. She could not hear the words. Her aunt spoke first, calm, her hands open at her sides. Her mother's shoulders were stiff. She pointed once at the dragon, then at the tower. Mirana shook her head slowly. She reached out and touched her sister's arm. She kept talking. Whatever she said, Amora saw her mother's shoulders drop, little by little. Amora pressed her face to the bars. This was what she had asked for. Kindness reaching her mother where nothing else could. Then it happened. The Queen of Hearts stepped forward and pulled her sister into her arms. The two women held each other tight beside the roses. Amora had never seen her mother hold anyone. Her eyes stung. Below, Mirana looked up. She found the tower window and found Amora. She lifted her hand and waved, a small, sure gesture, as if to say the danger had passed. Amora waved back with both hands. The dragon lifted its huge head toward her and made the low sound it had always made only for her. It knew her still. A short while later, the bolt on her door scraped open. A guard stood aside. Amora walked out of the tower on her own feet. But in the courtyard, her mother was already speaking again, quieter now, and her aunt was nodding. Amora caught two words as she came down the steps. The prince. The marriage still stood. Her cage was open. The wedding was not gone.