The Lost Alliance (Rise of the Drakens Book 2)

had to admit it was quite comfortable. I gazed upwards, able to see a few of the nighttime stars through the hole in the ceiling. I smiled, suddenly more at peace than I had been for a long time. Tomorrow would come, and I would face it, just like I did with everything else.
The morning dawned bright, and I blinked as the morning sun filtered in through the hole in the ceiling. I stretched, throwing off the furs.
“It’s TIME!”
Astrid burst into the hut, Vela on her heels. In her arms was a beautiful purple gown, extremely similar to the one I had worn during the ceremony with Benedict my first night in Dark Haven. The gauze shimmered in the morning sun, encrusted with small rubies and inlaid with golden threads. I squinted my eyes, noticing it looked exactly like—
“Benedict shifted back to the mountain to pick up a few things.” Astrid fanned her face, as if a king risking his life for a dress was the most romantic thing she could think of. I snatched the flimsy garment from her, memories of my first night with the drakens assaulting me as I held the purple fabric. Was there a reason he had chosen this garment? I thought it had been destroyed, but it looked brand new.
“He said he made a few changes to it; mentioned it was more symbolic of your mateships.” Realization flooded me. The purple was for Benedict obviously, the red for Kieran, and the gold for Ronan.
“Wait. You said he made a few changes?”
Astrid shrugged, either not understanding or unconcerned. I clutched the fabric tighter to me, mental images of Benedict bent over with thread and jewels, squinting at the tiny needle and thread in his hands. For a moment I forgot breathe.
“The shade isn’t quite right,” I finally managed, thinking the bright purple a bit garish, and certainly nowhere near the shade of Benedict’s nearly black coloring. I detailed what I was thinking to Vela, who nodded.
“We should be able to arrange that.”
She left with the gown, and I turned myself over to the careful ministrations of the witches. By the time the sun was setting, my skin had been cleansed with milk, my eyes lined in a mixture of ash and kohl, and my lips tinged with berries. Gold dust was brushed on my shoulders and neck, and I smelled divine. Everyone turned as Vela returned, my gown in her hands and distinctively different. A smile curled from the corners of my mouth, and with their help I shrugged the gauze over my shoulders and the band around my breasts, letting the light material float gently down to the ground.
“Perfection,” Astrid said succinctly, with a bit of reverence in her voice. I had no mirror, so I would have to take their word for it. The new color was what I admired most—Vela had dyed most of it pitch black, except for the ends of my hem and sleeves, which faded beautifully from the black to the original purple color. The rubies and gold were set off further by darker color, and I nodded, satisfied.
“Your mother would be proud,” Astrid sniffed, and with a jolt I realized she meant Rhyfel. It was difficult for me to think of this female draken from legend as my mother, let alone that the witch standing beside me might have known her.
“You said we are meeting at the highest cliffs?” I clarified, changing the subject. The witches nodded, and I held out my hands. “May I arrive in dramatic fashion or is there some sort of other protocol I’m to follow?”
A wicked grin lit Astrid’s face.
“I do love dramatic entrances.”
It was everything you could have wanted for a dramatic entrance. I appeared on a high bolder behind the gathered crowd, alone as the witches had gone ahead and were already present. As soon as my claws touched the stone I straightened, and everyone turned as they smelled me, including Benedict. He stood as a solitary figure on the edge of the cliff, the wind and sea roaring behind him. He was wearing the same blue sash he had my first night at Dark Haven, with a long golden chain hanging down onto his muscled chest.
I smirked as every eye turned on me. In the past I would have hated the attention, but this time I knew I looked good. The setting sun blazed a kaleidoscope of colors behind me, a blazing glory of purples, reds, and golds. I saw Kieran and Ronan at the front of the crowd, their jaws hanging in surprise.
I spread my wings wide, the color blending perfectly into the masterpiece in the sky behind me. I leapt from the rock, letting the wind slow my fall as I landed gracefully for the first time in my life. Benedict raised an eyebrow, and I only lifted my chin in response. I walked forward, drakens and witches alike parting to form a straight path to Benedict. I paused at the front, looking to Kieran and Ronan on either side of me. They stepped forward, each taking an arm. Together, they escorted me to Benedict, and kneeled. Benedict bowed deeply to both, then straightened to take my hand. I noticed his eyes linger on the white patches of skin towards the bottom of my wings. Then he opened his mouth to sing, and all my focus was on him. I had thought his voice was lovely as a human, but as draken—words didn’t exist to describe the sound. I felt it resonate in my soul, as did every other draken in attendance. The witches even looked impressed, their eyes bright and riveted to us.
He sang a song of darkness—of fallen glory and sorrow. It reached out and grabbed my heart, and I didn’t realize I was crying until I touched my cheeks and found them wet. His song ended on a low note that I felt resonate in my chest, a question