Ronen? Ronen had been the most patient! Why would he—
Then Akhane’s words clicked and I remembered that warning from the very first day.
There will be trials, and you must choose to meet them.
But standing there, gaping, with a plate in my hand and my dragon harnessed—my patient, humble dragon, who no doubt wished to be as free of the weight and restriction of the harness as I wished she was—I was ashamed to discover that I didn’twantto meet this challenge. I didn’twantto prove them wrong.
I wanted to give up.
‘Little Flame… no.’
“Of course not,” I murmured to Akhane, swallowing and breaking out of my freeze. “I’ll… I’ll figure it out, Akhane. I’ll get you out of there.”
I trotted to my room to place the plate and cutlery on my drawers top, then took a deep breath, bracing myself before walking back out to the stable to look at my dragon.
Akhane stood at its center, wings tucked and head turned towards me. Her eyes were so bright, and I couldfeelthe wash of encouragement and belief she had for me through the bond.
My heart sank further.
How the fuck was I going to do this?
I knew what to do. But in three days I’d never managed it, and now I was already tired and bleeding and… God, I was a mess.
Swallowing back the pinch in my throat, I strode up to her and took a deep breath, grasping that strap and doing my level best to throw myself high enough up its length that I wouldn’t have to climb as far, but I didn’teven make it past her elbow before my grip gave and I cried out as I slid back down to the straw floor, my hands stinging, and fresh smears of blood and ooze on my palms.
“God, this isimpossible!”I wailed. “They’re hurtingyouAkhane, and that’s so wrong! It’s not your fault that I’m not strong enough to do this! This feels like they’re kicking me when I’m already down—and hitting you instead!”
She crooned and hummed, then her voice bloomed in my head again.‘I can lay down, then you won’t have to—’
“But that’s not the point. They want me to do this as we’d have to do it in battle, right?”
‘Yes. It is a risk for us to lay flat when we may be attacked—it pins our wings and makes it longer before we can lift into flight.’
I bit my lip and stared at her, simultaneouslyragingand despairing.
My poor dragon.
It was the first time I felt the handicap I was placing onher.“Akhane,” I whispered. “Why did you Choose me?”
Akhane sighed audibly, and turned her head to lay the flat of her snout against my chest, blowing hot breath down my legs.‘Because you are mine, Little Flame. And I will tear out the throat of any male who would say otherwise.’
God, she was amazing. I’d never felt love from any person like I felt from my dragon. Itmovedme.
“I’ll figure it out,” I whispered, rubbing her nose and reaching up to scratch behind her eye-ridges. “I’ll find a way.”
But even as I determined to make it true, I was at a loss.
An hour later, I had eaten at Akhane’s insistence that sustenance would help my failing strength, and I was once again attempting to climb up to her back, but my hands were slick with fluid from my blisters, and my knees shook.
The only saving grace was that the thick straw on the floor of the stable was cushioning to a fall, as I’d discovered several times already.
I lay there, stunned, having just fallingagain,and threw my fists down onto the ground with an angry shout of frustration.
“I can’t do this!” I cried and covered my face in my weeping hands. “This is… I justcan’t!”
Even if I somehow managed to crawl up her side and get to her back to release that all-important buckle at the top, all that would happen was that once I had it all undone, her extremely heavy harness would fall to the stable floor. I didn’t have long enough arms, or enough strength to truly carry the thing. Even with my brothers lifting and spreading the harness for me so I could get the proper grip on it, I hadn’t been able to lift it higher than Akhane’s knee. Let alone throw the damn thing.
I wanted to give up. I wanted to admit defeat. But Akhane crooned again and nudged my side, so I stood again with a sigh and leaned on her leg.
