Tristan's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

The meeting ended, but Tristan could not rest. He pulled Ashton aside in the glowing hall of the palace, beneath the luminous leaves of the great heartwood tree that grew through the stone. "There is a castle," Tristan said. "The old seat of my bloodline. My father spoke of it. If any proof of my claim survives, it waits there." Ashton nodded slowly, blue light flickering at his fingers. "Then we fly out and find it before the ceremony." Elizabeth heard them from across the hall. She crossed the floor fast, her red gown sweeping the stone. "You want to fly a dragon into open sky?" Her voice was low and sharp. "The throne knows you live. They watch the roads. They watch the air. One flight and they mark exactly where you are." Mara Nightshade stepped from the shadow of the tree. She had helped Tristan since the night she pledged to keep him alive. She turned her dark stone slowly in her fingers, the way she always did when weighing a risk. "She is right," Mara said. "You survive three more days by staying hidden, not by handing them a target. Go, and you may never come back for the ceremony at all." Tristan looked at his sister's tight jaw and Mara's steady eyes. He let out a breath. "Fine. I stay. We hold the walls and wait." Elizabeth's shoulders dropped in relief. The matter closed. That night, a knock came at Tristan's door. Faelynn slipped inside without waiting, her bow slung across her back, her red hair still pinned high. Ashton stood behind her. "My sister has an idea," Ashton whispered. Faelynn grinned. "Our father taught me a spell before he passed." She raised one hand, and the air around it shimmered. Her arm faded, then vanished from sight. "Invisibility. I can hide all three of us. We ride out now, reach your castle, and return before dawn. No one sees us leave. No one sees us come back. No trouble." Tristan's heart pounded. He thought of Elizabeth's warning. Then he thought of the proof that might sit inside those walls, the only thing that could shield his claim from doubt. "You are sure of the spell?" he asked. "I am sure," Faelynn said. Tristan pulled his cloak from the hook. "Then we go tonight. And we tell no one." They climbed to the spire where the dragon roosted, moving through empty halls. Faelynn raised both hands. The shimmer spread over Tristan, over Ashton, over herself, and their bodies faded to nothing. Tristan felt the cold night wind as the dragon spread its wings. They lifted into the dark sky, unseen, flying toward the castle of his blood. Behind them, the palace slept. Ahead lay the answer he needed, and the risk his sister had begged him to refuse.