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September 11 - September 16, 2023
“More letters?” I’d asked, taking the book in both hands. “Better,” Takkan promised. “So you don’t forget me.”
Seryu certainly thought so. He narrowed his eyes at me. “I’ve never seen you blush while looking at the pearl.”
“Its light gets bright,” I said quickly. “Makes my face warm.”
“At least your human lordling didn’t jump into the sea after us. The way he was making fish eyes at you for leaving, I half thought he might. He wouldn’t have made it...
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“Grandfather employs a platoon of them.”
They might change their mind, I thought.
Yes, the humans riding the dragons were bedecked in the riches of the sea, in jackets and gowns that gleamed like an abalone shell beaded with the petals of ocean lilies.
“So,” I said nervously, “I really am like a pig.” “What?” “That’s what you said when we first met—that inviting me to Ai’long would be like bringing a pig to meet your family. I thought you were joking.” “I never expected to bring you here, Shiori,” he said, his voice so low I almost didn’t hear.
“It has tethered itself to you.”
Ia telah terikat dengan dirimu
So why was he smiling? Why was he laughing?
“I am a god of dragons. Not even starstroke can harm me.”
“A tricky state to achieve, especially with such a stubborn soul as yours—but we have time to experiment.”
Save me, I pleaded. Save me, or you’ll never find where you belong. You’ll never go home.
“Never play games with a dragon,”
It was asleep, you know, same as you—until now. It’s almost like it has a mind, like it’s living.
“Time is so lugubriously slow when there’s nothing to read. Please tell me you have a book in that bag of yours.”
Kiata’s a magic desert. A country without magic is hardly the place to make one’s reputation as a brilliant young sorcerer.”
“Dragons are bound to promises, not the truth.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, especially not in Ai’long.”
“Fortune smiles upon you, Princess. In accordance with dragon law, you are under his protection.”
But his hair and skin still glowed a faint mossy green, and he’d kept his crown of horns, naturally—as well as the claws.
“In case the human does not understand, then I remind you, Seryu: this will be her final opportunity to present the pearl to me. You know the consequences should she waste it.”
“Prepare your final farewells. After the binding rites, you will be reborn as the companion of a dragon prince. All that you knew in your past life will cease to exist, and you will never again return to Kiata.”
“Ai’long will be your home from now on.”
To think I liked you. Take us home right away!
“Bring him the pearl, not give him the pearl. It doesn’t belong to him.”
betrothed.”
lordling?”
“Fiancé? You ran away from the betrothal ceremony. You’re hardly engaged.”
I had to visit you in a horse trough when you were there.”
“Yet you act as though he’s the one who gave you a piece of his heart. As if he saved you from drowning in the Sacred Lake.”
“Your father, your brothers…your lordling would be safe. Everyone in Kiata would be safe.”
“Do you think you could try…to carve a place in your heart for me?”
“If I stay with you, I’ll never see my family again.”
“In exchange for immortality, you’ll consume an elixir when you take your oath to Ai’long. You won’t remember anything about your past, not even your name.”
“Is that the only way you dragons can find mates? By making us forget who we are?”
“Immortality comes at a price. You’ll be reborn s...
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“Be angry with me all you want, but hold it in until my mother goes away.”
“Mother. As always, even in your human form, you dazzle the stars.”
“But humans find us less intimidating this way.”
“I thought you were my friend, Seryu. I trusted you.”
“Poor Bushi’an Takkan. He misses you so. You can ask to see him yourself—one last time.”
Everything was just so pretty. And useless.
“He’s just a boy. Don’t you care? Can’t you do anything?”
It is to your fortune that you will be bound to Seryu’ginan. He is better than most.”
“Every companion’s experience is different,”
“Your time begins now,”
I’m an optimist.
he wore a silver jacket studded with blue pearls, and his green hair, which I’d never seen untamed, had been braided and tucked under a tasseled cap. He was taller than I remembered, his shoulders broader too. He’d grown since the first time I’d met him. He looked more regal, more handsome—but also more like a stranger.
“Is not killing me in front of your entire family too much to ask? Or does it not count, since I’ll be reborn stronger and better?”
