Areli wished she could have disappeared like that. To still have people stare at her the way they did, with nothing but pity and remorse in their eyes . . . She couldn’t stand it. The fall was over. Winter around the corner. And the next official race wouldn’t be until the spring months leading to summer. And technically, Areli wouldn’t be able to compete in any of them. But there was to be a fix. A fix that would burden her more than killing the Follower of Degendhard. Someone was going to be injured. Someone on the team . . . was being targeted by the Emperor. And there was nothing she could do about it. Areli still had something to be excited about, as she received a new saddle from Jax in just a few days. But during those four days she didn’t have equipment for training, Areli laid in her large rectangle room, just inside the doors of her personal training area, with Kaia lying next to her. Even if she did have a saddle at that time, she wouldn’t be able to fly anyway, for her dragon’s mouth was still sore from the brute nature and damage from the bit.
