Dragon waded through the clear waters of the pool, swirls of golden pollen dusting his thighs. Seeking solitude, he had come to the Cove, but escaping Sol Manor wouldn’t relieve his constant headache. The assassin was still at large, biding his time before he struck next. After his disastrous conversation with the princesses, Lauren had summoned her family to Sol Palace, and her parents alongside an army of lawyers were en route, bound to arrive at any moment.

But nothing of his present problems compared to the pain in his heart. Jade had been gone a week, and he missed her fiercely. Such was his agony, he sometimes had to press a hand against his shirt to ease the weight pressing on his chest.

Not so long ago, he made love to her in this lagoon, cradling her slender body against his, kissing her, caressing her until she lay sated in his arms, only to awaken her senses and his again, and again. The vivid memories tortured him, but he cherished the agony because it made him feel closer to her.

Before she left, they barely had time to know each other, to ask all those questions lovers contemplate in the aftermath of passion. Who she was before she become an assassin remained a mystery to him. He could guess Jade’s story but would have loved to hear it from her mouth. A contrary fate hadn’t allowed them more than a night and part of a day that flew too fast. Compared to his long life, it was but a moment, and yet those few hours had shaped his present and would be forever etched in his heart.

In the midst of many bittersweet thoughts and heartbreaking memories, of one thing Dragon was sure: he would fight the whole universe to see Jade again.

“Dragon,” Lars called him from the top of the stairs cut into the rock wall.

Dragon sighed. His reprieve from the Solarian court hadn’t lasted a full hour. “Coming,” he answered as he set foot on the soft moss edging the pool. Without bothering to dry himself, he pulled his shirt over his head and grabbed his leather trousers.

With one last glance at the lagoon and the lightning bugs illuminating the cave like a starry night sky, he climbed the stairs and emerged outside. The distant light of Coral blanketed the landscape, giving the lake a pale pink hue. Above, wild draglets played their mating games, lazily circling over the oblong rocks that emerged like sentinels from the water.

At the top of the Cove’s dome, Carellian waited for him alongside Lars and his steed. A few meters above them, five of Dragon’s personal guards flew in formation. He raised his hand to acknowledge them. In answer, the men brought their fisted hands to their chests.

“News?” Dragon asked Lars.

His friend sat astride Corinna, his beautiful mare, keeping the reins in one hand as he petted the purple feathers between her shoulders. “I’m sorry to bother you, but Master Martelli’s airship has asked permission to enter Solaria,” he said.

His good friend Gabriel Martelli had left Celestia when Dragon still planned to marry his betrotheds. Interplanetary traveling took months and didn’t account for changes of heart.

“I’ll meet him at the spaceport. Do we have any news about Valentine?” he asked.

Lupine’s High Lord, Valentine Lobo, was on his way to Solaria as well.

“Master Lobo’s Sea Wolf is just behind Celestial Star,” Lars answered.

“Good.” Dragon looked forward to meeting the werewolf and the vampire again, even if the circumstances weren’t great. “Anything else?”

Lars hesitated a moment too long before answering, “Nothing important.”

“Is there something else?” Dragon repeated, his tone firm.

“Nothing important enough to change your plans.”

Dragon knew his friend. “Out with it.”

“It’s Lauren,” Lars started.

“What’s she up to now?”

“She wants to greet the guests.” Lars shrugged. “I told her she had to ask you, but—”

“It’s her prerogative,” Dragon finished for him.

After all, they were still officially betrothed. The contract was still in place, and Dragon could afford to be magnanimous and let Lauren keep face. It meant a lot to her and so little to him, after all. As soon as her family arrived, Dragon’s lawyers would present her parents with a generous offer, and they would finally part like civilized people. He could have sent the princesses away already—he was the High Lord after all—but deep inside, he felt guilty and decided to find a more amenable solution.

“And what about Gilda? Is she of the same opinion?” he asked.

In the last few days, Gilda had revealed a side of her character that hinted at a more assertive nature than he had given her credit for. Any other time, he would have applauded the woman for standing up to him or anyone else in her path. Now, the load of worries burdened his thoughts with so many unknowns that he would have appreciated some stability.

“Gilda went for a walk.” Lars canted his head to the side. “But I don’t think she cares one way or another.”

Again, Dragon heard the unsaid words, but neither he nor Lars would comment further on the subject.

“Very well, collect Lauren and meet me at the spaceport. If Gilda is found before you leave, bring her as well.” Dragon wouldn’t deny the princesses the respect due to them. His heart would never belong to either Lauren or Gilda, but it wasn’t their fault, and they didn’t have to suffer public shame for his decision.

“They’ll follow you,” Lars said, pointing his chin over his shoulder to the hovering draglets.

Dragon nodded. There was no point in arguing. With the assassin still at large, Dragon’s life was in danger. Misplaced pride and heroics weren’t going to keep him alive.

“Very well. I’m out.” Lars brought two fingers to his temple and pulled at Corinna’s reins. They were a dot in the sky a moment later.

Dragon mounted Carellian and steered him in the opposite direction from the manor. The five guards followed him at a safe distance.

Instead of flying directly to the spaceport, Dragon chose to meander through the Rocky Domes, following the path of the Green River. He could have gone back to his quarters for a shower and something to eat. After all, Gabriel would land later in the evening, but Dragon still needed the peace and quiet he would only find amid the rugged nature of his beloved region.

Breathing in the cool air coming from the north, he wondered what Jade was doing. His gaze followed a pair of singing marteen birds flying above the Cracked Dome. The iridescent purple and green feathers on their double wings rippled in colorful waves until they disappeared inside a low cloud. He wished he could share the beautiful sight with Jade. He had sent a message for her, but she might never receive it. Communication mirrors didn’t work on space vessels because of the cosmic rays. Depending on her final destination, astral bodies and solar storms could scramble his words and make them unreadable. A futile attempt at best, but Dragon would try anything for Jade.

Carellian’s low, mournful whines suited Dragon’s mood, and he let his draglet lead in a wild race among the domed peaks. They both needed an outlet to their unspent energies. Though his personal guard trained extensively, they could barely keep up with him.

For hours, they rode the thermals as Carellian engaged the rest of the squad in a fast-paced game of hide and seek, using the thick blanket of purple clouds and the rocky geography of the region to his advantage. The steed liked to show off his agility and speed, and he would have gone to more extreme extents had Contessa been present. Only recently, Valerian’s draglet had finally succumbed to Carellian’s relentless courtship, and as a lovesick fool, the draglet attempted the most dangerous aerial acrobatics to impress his mate.

Just as they left the Green River, coming out from the canyon, the object of Carellian’s desire appeared in the sky, flying from the spaceport’s direction. Dragon’s stallion rose high above the clouds, only to spiral down in a choreographed freefall that left his rider breathless and dizzy. When Carellian finally stopped his descent with a practiced flip of his diaphanous wings, Contessa lowered her long neck ever so slowly in acceptance of his show. Dragon couldn’t help but laugh. His draglet knew how to make an entrance.

“What are you doing here?” Dragon eyed Valerian with suspicion.

His lieutenant’s wardrobe fell askew on his large frame, buttons misaligned and wrinkled jacket. His expression darkened as his chest rose and fell, and he took a moment before answering. Contessa too breathed long gulps of air. They left the palace hastily and had been flying hard.

“What’s wrong?” Dragon asked.

“It’s Celestial Star,” Valerian answered as he handed Dragon a pair of magnifying glasses.

Dragon wore the clockwork device and waited for the lenses to stop whirring. When the sky came into focus, he saw two dots instead of one and swore. “Gabriel’s ship is under attack,” he said under his breath. “Let’s take Ferocity and hope we are not already late.”