Princess Willowyn's Arc

Chapter 54 of 70

A day passed. The dragon was faster than the griffin. He did not tire. Willowyn watched him beat his wings over the water, hour after hour, and she marveled. Then she saw her home. The pale stone castle rose from its hill, draped in moss and trailing flowers, its spires familiar against the sky. "Kai, we made it," she said. Kai leaned to look past her shoulder. The tiger cub clung to his cloak. "How do we land him?" he asked. Willowyn laughed. "Hold on." The dragon dove, fast and steady. He beat his wings slow near the ground and set them down in the grass without a jolt. Kai slipped off his back, legs shaking. "You get used to it," Willowyn said, and kissed him. Then the joy drained out of her. She stood in the grass and looked up at her mother's castle. Four months. Four months of silence. Her mother had given birth to a son, and Willowyn had not written one word. She had no letter, no gift, no soft speech ready. She had only landed a dragon in the courtyard grass, unannounced. Her mother would see the silence first, not the daughter. "I have nothing to say to her," Willowyn said. Her hands went cold. "I left without word. I came back without warning. She will be hurt." Kai set the tiger cub down. The minx crept along Willowyn's shoulder. "You could turn back," he said. "Fly off and send a letter first. Do it proper." Willowyn stared at the gate. She thought of the careful words she might write. None of them would fix four months. A letter would only put more distance between them. "No," she said. "A letter is just more silence with ink on it. I have to face her." The gate opened. Guards spilled into the courtyard, then stopped short at the sight of the dragon. Then they saw Princess Willowyn and bowed.