Princess Willowyn's Arc

Chapter 61 of 70

Willowyn reached the field out of breath. Tears ran hot down her face. Her dragon lifted his head, wings folding tight against his silver sides. He watched her as if he felt her pain. She tucked the minx into her cloak. Then she climbed the harness and pulled herself onto his back. "Please," she said. "Take me anywhere but here." The dragon rose. The golden castle shrank below them. Cold air struck her face. She let the dragon choose. He climbed high and flew until the towers were gone and only dark hills lay under the moon. But anywhere was nowhere. Willowyn had no plan. She had promised to bring peace to kingdoms. Three of them waited for her by name. Yet here she was, fleeing a locked door, running from a boy who never asked a question. She pressed her hand to her chest. The ache did not fade with distance. Below, warm windows glowed in the dark. A stone castle stood alone on a rise, crowned with spires and round towers. Gardens circled it, hedges clipped into neat walls. It was strange to her. She did not know its name or its lord. She only knew it was not the golden castle, and not her mother's keep, and not anywhere she was needed. The dragon landed in the empty gardens. Willowyn slid down and sat on cold stone. The minx crawled out and pressed against her neck. She held it and wept until the tears ran dry. Then she made herself think. Running had solved nothing. She saw that now. If she flew from kingdom to kingdom to escape her own heart, she would never stop. The wars would wait. The kings would keep asking. And she would keep arriving broken, useless, chased by the same fear. The problem was not Kai. The problem was that she had let his silence decide her worth. She had wanted him to name her before she named herself. That was the mistake. Willowyn stood. She looked at the dragon, at the minx, at the strange castle glowing behind her. "I am the one who stopped the wars," she said aloud. "Not his girlfriend. Not his bride. Me." Her voice held steady. The fear did not vanish. But it loosened its grip. She would go back. Not to force a promise from Kai. To face the Queen and King of Allorie herself, and speak plainly, and stop hiding behind a locked door. She did not know what it meant for her and Kai but she knew she had to face the King and the Queen. She climbed onto the dragon and turned him toward the golden castle. The choice was hers now, and she would not run from it. But as the dragon rose, a horn sounded far below. Torches spread across the strange castle's walls. Riders poured through the gate, and one lifted a bow toward the sky. Willowyn had landed on ground she did not know, and its lord did not welcome dragons. Willowyn raised her hands out and called “We bring peace we only needed to land”