Waking Beauty by Dawn K. Lake

Author:Dawn K. Lake [Lake, Dawn K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dawn K. Lake
Published: 2020-12-06T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

In two more days, the bow was ready. Andromeda and Talen had decided the night before they would test it together, and they rode out on their final morning when only the faintest light of dawn stained the sky, heading into the wilderness of the deserted lands beyond Drakk where there was no one to see. Andromeda watched Talen as she pulled the bow taut and chose a tree trunk to target, as she released the arrow and let it fly. In quick succession, she did it again, and again, testing the resilience of the bow, her arrows arching with deadly beauty through the frosty air.

This was the first time since the palace Andromeda had seen Talen practice her archery, and it put her in mind of those days; how impressed she had been when she first saw Talen wield a bow, how she had asked her eagerly what else she knew. It was sometime after that when Talen had begun to teach Andromeda rudimentary survival skills in the tame palace woodlands, without the knowledge of the King and Queen.

“I can’t feel any weaknesses in the bow at all,” said Talen, looking towards Andromeda with delight and admiration in her eyes. She lowered the bow and came closer, placing her free hand around Andromeda’s waist and pulling her into a kiss. “You truly are an unmatched Sorceress.”

Andromeda smiled at her. “I never would have gotten the chance if you hadn’t taught me how to survive by myself. I’ve never told you how grateful I was for that. When I started to think about escaping, I realised I could actually do it, and survive on my own, thanks to everything I learned from you.”

Shaking her head, Talen replied, “I could have taught you everything I know and it wouldn’t have meant anything if you were too afraid to step away from your old life. You found the courage to do that on your own.”

“I’m glad I did. It was…difficult at first. So different from what I’d known before. But now that I am to return to a palace once more, I find myself disliking the idea.”

“Yes,” said Talen, her gaze growing troubled. “Are you still willing to go?”

“I am. I gave Valouria my word. But aside from that, this may be our best chance to discover something about the Dragon. We said we would wait for the Empress to make her move, and this is what she chose. She thinks it will be of benefit to her if I am at the Imperial Palace, and I do not believe it is simply so you will be more eager to slay the Dragon. I sense there is some other purpose to it.”

“I agree, that seems likely,” said Talen. “Remember the library I spoke of? There was one book I found that had a slip of parchment inside. It referred to something called The Wildcard of Fate. There was no explanation of what it was, or how to invoke it, but…someone had written it was the Dragon’s spell.

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