by Lea Doué
He winced.
She shouldn’t have said that last bit, considering he still bore scars on his skin. “I’ll send a message and perhaps she can join us before winter.”
He nodded and headed inside without a thank you. He was going to have a hard time wooing Neylan. Then again, Neylan had always had a soft spot for dragons.
Baz spent the next four days preparing for his coronation, which included far more paperwork than Mel would have thought necessary. He intended to keep it a quiet affair at Cliffside and then hold a formal ball at the palace later to celebrate. Vanda spent as much time with him as possible, but she also took time to practice her reading and to help train Fleet.
Queen Amantha slept a good portion of each day. Keir examined her and pronounced her healthy, if melancholy. She remembered everything that had happened before becoming a goose, along with the moment she’d opened her eyes at the cave and saw Tharius, but nothing in between. She hugged Orin whenever she saw him, and she played with the dragons, who quickly grew fond of her, but they otherwise didn’t seem to connect her with True.
Baz sent messages to Amantha’s husband, and to their son Theodric, who’d been searching for his mother since midsummer.
Orin embraced Mel’s proposal to train and find homes for messenger dragons, and they spent hours mapping routes and making plans to find more eggs. Keir had perked up considerably when a message arrived from Neylan with her decision to join him in the court of Mazereon by the end of autumn.
The future looked bright and full of hope.
*
Two days before King Sebastian’s coronation, and three days before Orin’s birthday, Mel once again leaned against the courtyard wall. This time she wore the green dress, which had been hemmed to fit. Her hair hung loose to her hips. Orin stood by her side, his shoulder brushing against hers as they watched their messenger dragons balance along the wall’s edge.
Jade pushed Fleet off the wall, and he plummeted towards the guard station below. With a screech, he unfurled his wings and glided in circles before rejoining them. Busy watching Fleet’s antics, Jade didn’t see Hunter sneak up behind her with a shove until it was too late, but she grabbed his tail on the way down, taking him with her.
Mel laughed.
After that, the dragons made a game of sneaking and shoving.
She turned and leaned her elbows on the wall. Looking into Orin’s blue eyes, she said, “After all that’s happened, are you still glad you followed me?”
He pushed off the wall, stood in front of her, and looped his fingers behind her waist, pulling her close. “Of course.”
She placed her hands on his elbows and tipped her head back to keep eye contact. “Would you follow me if I took off again next month?”
He grinned. “No doubt.”
“How about next week?”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Marry me?”
His jaw dropped, and then his smile grew big enough to light the sky. “Thorns and thistles, yes!” He picked her up and swung her around so fast she had to wrap her legs around his waist or risk going over the ledge like the dragons. Finally he slowed and stopped. He lowered his head and kissed her.
Until Hunter got shoved in the wrong direction and tangled in her hair. “Ow, ow, ow.”
Orin chuckled and lowered her to her feet. “Let me get that for you.” He plucked the dragon from her hair and tossed him over the ledge. Hunter squawked in outrage. “Serves you right for ruining my moment!”
She took Orin’s hand and dragged him towards the castle.
“Aren’t we going to continue celebrating?”
“Later. I’ve got to send a message to my parents. I never asked their permission.”
“I did.”
She stopped. “What?”
He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I spoke with your father before I left. You know, just in case.”
She giggled and then snorted trying to stop herself. Ugh. “Your confidence is one of your best qualities, but what made you think I’d say yes?”
He shrugged. “I knew it was only a matter of time.”
She bumped him with her shoulder and continued walking. “We’ll have to break it to your family, then.”
“You’re the best thing I’ve picked up in all my travels. How could they disapprove?”
“Very funny.” They could disapprove in so many ways, but if he didn’t care, then neither would she.
She tugged him forward, and hand in hand, they ran towards their future.
Acknowledgements
As always, my first thanks goes to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His love and grace.
I hope you enjoyed reading this third book in the Firethorn Chronicles series! I had just as much fun writing Melantha’s story as I did the first two. If you’re wondering which fairytale inspired The Red Dragon Girl, the seeds of the book began with a short story called Red Orchid, which I wrote for a multi-author anthology and which ended up forming a sort of backstory or prologue to this one. (You can get a free copy of Red Orchid on my website.) The main inspiration, however, was the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale. My focus was on the miller’s daughter, a girl with no name and no identity other than what she received through the men in her life: daughter, captive, wife, queen. A girl with no say in her future. Then there’s Rumpelstiltskin himself, a man after a great prize. But what if the miller’s daughter had a voice? And what if Rumpelstiltskin had to chase her and win her trust to get what he wanted?
A huge thank you goes out to my husband, Brian, for his support as I continue to spin stories and talk to him about imaginary people. Thank you to my boys who inspire me with their own imaginations. And thank you to my sister, Shannon, who heard all my original stories (and helped act them out from time to time, i.e. The Blue Man).
I owe a big thank you to my beta readers, authors H. L. Burke, Heather Hayden, Veronica Lynn, and E. Kaiser Writes, and to Regina Pike, and Margie MacDonald for your feedback and encouragement. I really appreciate the time you all put in to helping me smooth out and improve my little story. And I have to give a shout out to the ladies and gentlemen of Whitney Writers Ink once again for sharing their stories with me and being among the first to hear my own. Thank you.
To my editor, Laurel Garver, thanks for helping me find my theme and weed out the slang, among many other things. Best editor ever.
And to my readers: you’re amazing! What else can I say? It’s such a huge gift for a storyteller to have people spend time in the worlds and with the characters they’ve crafted. If you enjoyed the book and would consider recommending it to someone, please also consider leaving a review on the site where you purchased it. Having honest reviews helps indie authors tremendously in sharing our stories with more readers.
You can connect with me online—I’d love to hear from you! You’ll find links to my social media pages on my website, along with more information about the Firethorn Chronicles. Happy reading!
www.leadoue.com
About the Author
Lea Doué is the author of The Firethorn Chronicles, a fantasy series inspired by fairy tales and other classic stories. Homeschooling and writing take up most of her time, but she also enjoys directing a small puppet team at her church. A native of south Georgia, Lea currently lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her husband, their two boys, and three cats. But, sadly, no dragons.
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A kingdom of shadows. A soldier sworn to protect. A princess silenced by love.
Plagued by her mother’s matchmaking attempts, Princess Lily, the eldest of twelve sisters and heir to a mighty kingdom, struggles to prove herself worthy of her inheritance while avoiding the attention of unwanted admirers. Tradition forbids marriage with the man she loves, so she would rather rule alone than marry someone who only wants the crown.
Fleeing an overzealous sui
tor, Lily stumbles into a secret underground kingdom where she and her sisters encounter a mysterious sorcerer-prince and become entangled in a curse that threatens the ones she loves most. She must find a way to break the curse before time runs out, or risk sentencing herself and her sisters to a lifetime of darkness.
Fantasy, romance, and adventure combine in the fairy tale-inspired Firethorn Chronicles, an interconnected series of stand-alone novels drawn from The Twelve Dancing Princesses and other tales. Follow the sisters on their journeys in a land where sorcery is feared and dragons fly.