Mia POV

Of course. Of course Orion had to do it this way.

Chains snapping, blades flashing, guards shouting. it was pure chaos. And right in the middle of it all was Orion Vale, grinning like an absolute idiot while dragging me through all of it.

This man is insane.

The courtyard erupted behind us, guards and wolves flooding after us like a tide. I could already hear what the council would call us now…. fugitives, traitors, criminals. The return princess and her idiotic partner in crime. Perfect. Just perfect.

“Orion!” I hissed, my boots slamming against the stone as we ran. “We need to change direction, they’ll corner us!”

“Nope,” he said, tugging me harder, his curls bouncing with every reckless step. “Straight ahead.”

I squinted past him and my heart dropped.

A cliff.

He was dragging me straight toward a cliff.

“You complete lunatic!” I shouted, digging my heels into the dirt, but he barely slowed. “We’ll die!”

“Relax, Princess!” he called back, laughter in his voice. “Trust me!”

“Trust you?!” I nearly screamed. “You’re leading us off a gods-damned cliff!”

The wind whipped harder as the ground sloped upward. My pulse thundered in my ears. I wrenched at his arm, but Orion’s grip was as firm as iron.

Before I could tear free, he leapt and dragged me with him.

The world vanished beneath my feet.

Air ripped past my face and my scream stuck in my throat as the cliff swallowed us whole. Rocks blurred and the river below looked like a hungry beast waiting to crush us.

“You absolute….” I choked, twisting midair to glare at Orion. “....IDIOT!”

He was laughing. Actually laughing, curls flying wild, eyes bright like this was the best day of his life.

“Relax!” he yelled over the wind. “I told you to trust me!”

“I’d rather trust a poisoned dagger!” I snapped, squeezing my eyes shut as the ground rushed up….

A deafening roar split the sky, so loud it rattled my bones. Heat brushed over me, hot and sharp like fire rolling down my spine.

Wings. Enormous, silver wings spread wide beneath us, scales flashing like molten steel.

Sylvie.

My dragon.

She surged upward in a single powerful stroke, catching us on her back before the river could devour us. The impact jolted through my body, my fingers clutching at her ridged scales in disbelief.

For a second, all I could do was breathe…. I was stunned… and alive.

Orion shifted behind me, his hand steady on my waist as he leaned close, voice smug as ever.

“Told you I had a plan.”

I turned just enough to glare at him, my chest still heaving. “Next time you ‘plan,’ Vale, warn me before you throw me off a cliff!”

He grinned, teeth flashing in the sunlight as Sylvie carried us higher. “But then I’d miss that look on your face.”

I rolled my eyes, but my heart wouldn’t stop pounding….not from the fall, not from the dragon, but from the terrifying truth.

I twisted just enough to glare at him, my voice sharp. “How did you know Sylvie would be here?”

He only grinned, eyes glittering with mischief. “I didn’t.”

My stomach dropped again, harder than the fall. “You… you dragged me off a cliff without knowing if my dragon would even come?!”

“Worked out, didn’t it?” he said, completely unbothered, his curls whipping in the wind.

I slapped his arm, half in fury, half in disbelief. “You’re insane!”

“Insanely good-looking,” he corrected, smirking.

I wanted to scream. Or laugh. Or both. Instead I clutched Sylvie’s scales tighter, the heat beneath my palms grounding me.

Orion Vale might be an idiot… but somehow, against all reason, I was still alive because of him.

The wind howled around us, Sylvie’s wings cutting through the clouds as if the sky itself belonged to her. For a while, neither of us spoke. My heartbeat was still too loud and my hands were too tight on her scales.

Finally, Orion leaned closer, his voice almost casual over the roar of the wind.

“So… what’s next?”

I whipped around to stare at him. “What do you mean what’s next? I thought you had a plan!”

He gave me that damned grin again, curls tumbling into his eyes. “I did.” He shrugged. “Jump.”

My jaw dropped. “That’s not a plan, Orion, that’s suicide with extra steps!”

“Worked out, didn’t it?” he said, leaning back like this was a leisurely ride.

I groaned, dragging a hand down my face. “You really are hopeless.”

“Hopelessly charming,” he corrected with a wink.

I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. “Fine. Since you clearly don’t have a brain in that pretty head of yours… I do.”

“Oh?” His smirk widened. “Do tell, Princess.”

I tightened my grip on Sylvie’s scales, my voice steady. “We head to the Rogue Lands.”

That wiped the grin from his face. “The Rogues? They’ll eat us alive.”

“They may hate me,” I said, staring out across the horizon, “but they won’t ignore me. Not with my dragon returned.” My hand brushed against Sylvie’s warm scales, and for the first time in days, a flicker of hope stirred in my chest.

Orion studied me for a long moment, the wind tossing his curls, his eyes sharper than I’d ever seen them. Then, slowly, he smirked again.

“Rogue Princess with a dragon. Yeah… that might actually work.”

I exhaled, fixing my gaze on the horizon. The Rogue Lands that had rejected me was now my only chance