Ava Mae's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Ava Mae pressed her back against the cold stone of the basin. The dragon curled tight beside her, wings folded flat. The fox had vanished into the trees. She could hear the prince's boots in the grass, slow and even, the walk of a man who owned every step he took. She held her breath. Through a crack in the rim she watched him stop at the edge of the clearing. Mase Thornweave. Green and gold armor. Dark blonde hair loose around a face she had studied from across his court three days ago. The face she had crossed a portal to see again. He was not looking at the basin. He was looking past it, at a scorch line in the grass where the dragon had landed earlier. His hand moved to the hilt at his hip. "Show yourself," he said. The dragon shifted. Its shoulder pushed her ribs. She understood. It meant to step out and take the prince's eye so she could stay hidden. She grabbed a horn and held on. No, she mouthed. Not you. She thought of what would happen if he found her here. He had let her walk out of his court once, knowing what she wanted. Finding her in his own woods, crouched behind a poison basin with a creature that wore her eyes, would not be the same mercy. He would have to answer to the court. He would have to answer for himself. She made her choice. She let go of the horn and stood. The prince's blade cleared its sheath halfway before he saw her face. He stopped. The blade did not go back in, but it did not come further out. "You," he said. "Me." His eyes moved past her to the dragon rising behind the basin. He did not look surprised. He looked tired. "You should not be here." "I know." "If any other patrol had come through this clearing, you would be in irons." "But you came." He did not answer that. He looked at the dragon a long moment, then at her locket where it hung outside her shirt. She had forgotten to tuck it back in. His jaw tightened at the sight of the rose gold heart, as if he recognized something in it he did not want to name. He sheathed the sword. "Walk back the way you came," he said. "Now. Before I decide I saw you." "And if I don't?" "Then I have seen you, and the oath will require what it requires." She stepped out from behind the basin. The dragon came with her, close at her hip. She did not walk toward the trees. She walked toward him, three steps, and stopped where he could have touched her wrist. "I'll go," she said. "Today. But you looked at my locket like you knew it. Remember that when you decide what you saw." She turned and walked into the trees. He did not follow. He also did not call the patrol.