Upon Wings Of Change

Chapter 52

Aeria pushed a branch out of the way as she asked, "How far are we from the edge of the park?"

Draven pointed to the side. "The wall should be in that direction, and we are three-quarters of the way there."

The trees were starting to grow further apart, and the forest wasn't as dense as before, which was a relief. I still didn't see anything stalking us, although I was more than a bit doubtful about the chances of it just going away.

She replied, "Tasha has calmed down some, so that is a good sign."

Draven lightly retorted, "The wind has also disappeared, so don't let your guard down."

Aeria frowned slightly. "I wasn't about to." She checked her wrist comm. "Still no signal... I can't believe it. We are inside the city walls; there is no reason that we shouldn't be able to get a signal."

Draven checked his wrist comm, tapping it in frustration. "Not sure, but we had better make some distance. Perhaps rub some leaves from a rantin plant on the bottom of our shoes, if we can find any out here. I can't imagine anything wanting to track that smell."

Aeria gave him a confused look. "What does it look like?"

"It grows in clumps, often with purple flowers... Ummm... Taureen had a clump in the corner of his backyard."

"Oh! That one."

I also realized which plant he was talking about as well. It smelled like nasty gym socks if you brushed against it or disturbed it. If it hadn't been in the very back corner, hidden in the middle of some decorative stones, I would have asked Taureen to remove it.

Aeria quickly scanned the area for the plant, but, of course, none was in sight at the moment. She paused. "No, I must be thinking of the purple flower in the front yard. You can't see the one in the backyard unless you come inside the fence." Her eyes furrowed in confusion as she trailed off. "But the one in the front has no scent..."

Draven stiffened as Aeria swung her head towards him with a sudden suspicious frown. I inhaled in shock as I realized that Draven had been in the backyard at some point – and one very notable occasion stood out.

She narrowed her eyes as she backed a few steps away from him. "You were the one who broke the lock on the gate..."

He focused on her as his gaze hardened and became rather calculating. "No one else has discovered that, and I am quite surprised that you made the connection. The fire lizard was supposed to take off and never return, leaving Taureen as a regular low-ranking guard. I didn't learn until afterwards that she had already been licensed as a bond animal, but that won't stop them from making an example out of me. Well, I guess that leaves you with two choices."

Aeria tensed up, and I also watched Draven with sharp eyes; both of us wary of this armed fighter who had just admitted to the crime.

He took a couple of slow footsteps forward while talking. "One, you pretend that you didn't make that connection; it was only a broken lock, after all. My plan wasn't supposed to move this fast, and I had intended to court you in the traditional fashion, but accept my courtship instead. I will make sure that you live like a queen. You know how wealthy and well-regarded my family is. Option two, I am sure I won't have any difficulty disposing of your body."

I hissed at his words. Taureen was relatively poor in the Kymari world; at least, until I had been made his bond animal, although he never had lacked anything. Had I not known Aeria as well as I did, I would have been more worried. Kymari often put a lot of emphasis on pride and prestige – and Draven had just offered that to her on a platter. As far as most of the Kymari were concerned, it would be a powerful and valuable family alliance for her family.