POV: Ravenna
She doesn't wake.
The light fades. The magic settles. The transformation completes. Solace collapses—breathing steady, vitals strong, body whole and healed and CHANGED.
But Ravenna doesn't wake.
Both halves of her sleep. Dragon and human. Connected but distant. Processing something so fundamental, so massive, that consciousness can't handle it yet.
I shift back to human form without thinking. Without choosing. My body just DOES it because I need hands to touch her, need my voice to call her name, need to be HUMAN beside her dragon even though it makes no sense. My legs are shaking from holding Havoc's weight for so long. From the terror. From watching her DIE and being unable to stop it.
I drop to my knees beside Solace's head. My legs won't hold me anymore. Too much adrenaline. Too much fear. Too much watching her die and then watching her transform and then watching her fall unconscious anyway.
I touch her scales—warm now, not cold and dying. Luminous white with red veins that look like fire beneath snow, like embers trapped under ice. Beautiful. Powerful. Changed.
Alive.
But unconscious. Unreachable. Behind a door I can't open.
"Lysander." My voice is rough. Raw. "Why isn't she waking?"
He's already moving. Checking her dragon's breathing. Her heartbeat. The wounds that are no longer wounds.
"Her body is rewriting itself," he says. Calm. Professional. But I hear the uncertainty underneath. "The water element awakening after twenty-one years—it's forcing adaptation on every level. Cellular. Magical. Fundamental." He looks at me. "Both halves of her soul are unconscious. Dragon and human. They need time to process the change."
"How much time?"
"I don't know." He says it gently. Honestly. "Hours. Days. Her body will wake when it's ready."
Days.
She could be unconscious for DAYS.
Something in my chest clenches. The bond thrums—faint but steady. Still there. Still connected. But muted. Distant. Like she's behind a door I can't open.
"Can we move her?" Aldric asks. The king's voice is hoarse. He's still holding the dust that used to be his wife's scale. Staring at it like he can't quite believe it's gone.
"Not in dragon form," Lysander says. "She's too large now. Twice the size she was." He pauses. "We'll need to make her comfortable here until she wakes and can shift back."
Here. In the dragon stable.
I look around. Cold stone floors. High ceilings. Open air. It's built for dragons, not for vigil.
"I'm staying," I say.
"Theron—" Hadrian starts.
"I'm. Staying."
He knows that tone. Knows there's no point arguing. He nods once. "Then I'll bring supplies."
He leaves. Returns with blankets, water, food. Sets them beside me without comment. I take the blankets. Ignore the rest.
I wrap one around my shoulders—I'm still shaking, still cold from fear and exhaustion. I spread another on the floor beside Solace's head. Sit on it. Lean against her neck.
She's warm. Breathing. alive.
But far away. Locked inside sleep I can't reach.
"Talk to her," Lysander says quietly before he leaves. "Even if she can't hear. Even if she doesn't respond. Talk to her."
Then he's gone.
And it's just me. Solace. The bond humming faintly between us.
I don't know what to say.
Never been good with words. Always been better with action. With fighting. With surviving.
But she's unconscious. Can't see my actions. Can't see me sitting here refusing to leave.
So I try words.
"You scared me," I tell her. Tell her dragon because her human half is sleeping too. "Watching you bleed out. Watching Havoc try to stop it and fail. Watching you FADE." My voice cracks. "I've survived five rejections. Wars. Battles. Things that should have killed me. But watching you die was worse than all of it."
Solace's breathing stays steady. Doesn't change.
I keep talking.
"I don't know what happens next. Don't know if House Ashford will still demand justice. Don't know if the hearing will still happen. Don't care." I touch her scales. "I just need you to wake up. Need you to open those blue eyes and make some sharp comment about how dramatic I'm being."
Nothing.
Just breathing. Just sleep.
Hours pass. Time becomes meaningless. The lamps flicker. Shadows move. But Solace stays still. Breathing. Sleeping. Transforming somewhere deep inside where I can't reach.
Hadrian returns with fresh water. Sits with me for a while. Doesn't talk. Just keeps me company in the silence. His presence is steady. Solid. A reminder that I'm not completely alone even though it feels like it.
Morgana comes. Brings me food I don't eat. Tells me about court gossip I don't care about. Then sits across from me and says quietly, "She's going to wake up. You know that, right?"
"I know," I say. But I don't FEEL it.
"She's too stubborn to die," Morgana continues. "Too dramatic to miss her own transformation reveal. Too in love with you to leave."
I look at her sharply.
She meets my eyes. "She hasn't said it. But I see it. The way she looks at you. The way she fought for you during the hearing preparation. The way she sat watching you train for three days even though it hurt her." A small smile. "She loves you, Theron. She just hasn't figured it out yet."
"She should reject me," I say quietly. "After what I did to Lucien. After the blood and the rage and—"
"She won't." Morgana's voice is certain. "Because she understands. Because she loves you. Because you're hers and she doesn't let go of what's hers."
She leaves.
Night falls.
Servants bring lamps. Set them around the stable. Cast everything in flickering gold light that makes Solace's scales shimmer.
Aldric returns.
The king looks older than I've ever seen him. Worn. Grieving. Lines carved deep around his eyes and mouth. His shoulders bow under weight that's invisible but crushing.
But also... lighter somehow. Like he's set down weight he's carried too long. Like using that scale freed him from something that was slowly killing him.
He sits on the other side of Solace. Opposite me. His hand touches her scales with a gentleness I didn't know he possessed. The fearsome king reduced to a terrified father sitting vigil over his sleeping daughter.
"I kept that scale locked away for twenty-one years," he says. Not to me. To her. To his sleeping daughter. "Couldn't let it go. Couldn't use it. It was all I had left of your mother." He's quiet for a long moment. "But she didn't create it to be locked away. She created it for YOU. To save you. To give you the gift she couldn't give you in life."
His voice roughens.
"Your mother was the strongest person I ever knew. Gentle and fierce. Healing and deadly. She could mend a broken bone with a touch and then shift to dragon form and burn through enemy lines." A pause. "You're like her. More than you know. You have her fire hidden under gentleness. Her strength hidden under fear."
He looks at Solace's sleeping face.
"She would have been so proud of you. Of the woman you're becoming. Of the princess who defended a common warrior against nobles. Of the dragon who chose her mate through recognition instead of politics." His hand trembles against her scales. "I should have told you this years ago. Should have told you that you were enough exactly as you were. Small dragon, sharp tongue, impossible stubborn will—all of it was perfect because it was YOU."
Tears slide down his face.
"Wake up, Ravenna," he whispers. "Please wake up. I've already lost your mother. I can't lose you too."
He stays for another hour. Then leaves quietly.
And I'm alone with her again.
I lean against Solace's neck and close my eyes. Don't mean to sleep. Mean to keep watch. Mean to be awake when she wakes.
But exhaustion drags me under.
I dream.
In the dream, she's awake. Human form. Those bright blue eyes looking at me with that sharp intelligence I love. Smiling. Reaching for me.
I wake with a start.
Dawn light filters through the stable. Pale grey turning gold. How long did I sleep? An hour? Two?
I look at Solace.
Still sleeping. Still unconscious. Still far away behind that closed door.
The bond pulses. Steady. Alive. Waiting.
"Come back," I tell her. "Whenever you're ready. However long it takes. Just come back."
No response.
Just breathing. Just sleep. Just transformation still working its way through her.
I settle back against her neck and prepare to wait.
Hours. Days. However long it takes.
I'm not leaving.
Not until she opens her eyes.
Not until she comes back to me.
However long that takes.
I'll wait.