105 AC
There was something different in the wind when we landed.
The skies were quiet, but the cliffs were not. I felt it—not a sound, not a movement—but a presence. Silverwing seemed to sense it too. Her wings beat slower, her descent more careful. We glided down near the western ledge where I always dismounted, the place shrouded in mist and rock.
I slid down her side, boots crunching against gravel. The moment my feet touched ground, I froze.
A breath.
Soft, but sharp.
I spun, and there he was. One of the older dragon keepers, Togar, a man with leathery skin and a limp from an old burn. He must have followed me—waited in the shadows near my usual path, hidden until I returned. He had seen me dismount. Seen me on Silverwing.
His mouth parted, eyes wide.
"You... you rode her."
My blood turned to ice. "You cannot tell anyone."
He took a step back, shaking his head. "She's Queen Alysanne's. No one was meant to— You're not even—"
"Please," I said, voice low. Desperate. "I beg you. I swear on the Seven, I mean no harm. I did not steal her. She chose me."
"That's not for you to decide," he hissed. "You'll be tried. Burned. A bastard can't ride—"
Silverwing let out a low growl, a warning. She knew my fear. The fire in her belly responded to mine.
"I'll tell them," Togar muttered. "The king, the prince. You'll hang for this."
I stepped forward, hand out. "No... please... don't."
He turned to run.
"Dracarys."
I hadn't meant to say it.
It left my lips like breath from a wound.
The flames came fast—white and pale gold. They lit the cliffs like a sunrise. Togar didn't scream long. By the time I reached the blackened rock where he had stood, there was only scorched bone.
Silverwing stood still behind me, smoke curling from her jaws. Her great eyes found mine.
I collapsed to my knees.
"I didn't want this," I whispered. "I only wanted to fly. To belong."
She came close and pressed her snout to my shoulder. The warmth of her, not fire but breath, calmed the storm inside me.
We stayed like that for a while, two shadows against the sea.
The secret was no longer just mine.
It had blood on it now.
And secrets with blood never stay buried for long.