The hearth dragons were out in flocks tonight, gamboling beneath a cloudless moon. I clambered up the rickety, icy footholds that Lucet had made for me, plopping down on the bell tower balcony and lying down face-up to catch my breath.

Lucet's shyly smiling face peeked over mine, blotting out the moon. The distant shadows of hearth dragons crisscrossed behind her long, flowing hair like acrobats behind a curtain. A show without an audience. "Sorry about the climb," Lucet said. She straightened up, then laid down next to me, gazing up at the moon. "I usually come up here when I want to be alone. If the path wasn't difficult, it wouldn't be my sanctuary."

"Doesn't seem so difficult for these guys," I said, pointing up at the hearth dragons. The gentle snowfall kicked up as the breeze momentarily intensified, and in the flurry, it was impossible to tell living, willful bodies from helpless flakes caught in the wind.

The gale died down, and Lucet said, "They have freedom. They have it easy."

Another man would have reached out to touch her, to kiss her words into anxious mumbles, to slip a hand where it wasn't wanted and tell her that this was what she needed. Another man was the reason the only place Lucet could find peace was at the top of an empty clock tower beneath the silent eye of the moon.

I said and did nothing as the dragons wheeled overhead.

Eventually, I broke the comfortable silence to say the words that needed to be spoken. "You could leave him," I said.

Lucet nodded. "I could."

"Will you?"

She let out a frustrated breath. "It's not that easy. You wouldn't understand." She paused, then stood. "Although... Here. Let me show you something." She reached inside her pocket for a twist of frozen meat and stood. Curious, I sat up, watching her. She let out a piercing whistle and held up the bait.

Soon enough, a smaller hearth dragon—about the size of a gremsquirrel or a glowpup—circled down lower, enticed enough by her offer to get sucked into her orbit.

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"Here, girl. Good girl. You're beautiful, you know that? I've never seen anyone like you. You're wonderful. I love you. Come here," she cooed reassuringly, clicking her tongue as the hearth dragon drew closer.

The hearth dragon landed, its signature warmth filling the room as it perched on the railing. Lucet held out the treat, and the hearth dragon's neck stretched out, yearning to take a bite—

Her hand was a blur. I barely registered what happened before she slapped the hearth dragon onto the floor, dazing it as its tough-armored body bounced off the floor. "Look what you made me do! Did I say you could eat that? You hate me! You're a whore and a slut and you hate me! Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

The unfortunate dragon tried to flap its wings, but in a flash, Lucet's tone changed once more, back to the reassuring croon as she cradled the hearth dragon in her arms. "Shh, shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay. I've got you. I'm going to take care of you. See? You can have a treat, for being so good." She fed the little meat twist to the hearth dragon, and the poor hungry thing gobbled it up. "I love you, sweetie. Don't you ever forget it."

Then both the fury and the falsehoods sloughed off her expression, and she set the dragon down, grim-faced.

It stared at her, confused, not knowing whether to expect another blow or a reward.

"That's what it's like," she said. "With him."

I could see the sticky black thorns around her soul, the same ones that ringed mine, and I simply said, "I'm sorry."

Her expression shifted into the weak, frozen body of what had once been a smile. "So am I."

She knelt down by the hearth drake and helped it up.

"Sorry," she repeated, to the hearth drake this time. "I... I'm just a mess. I just had to get... I just had to get it off my chest."

The hearth drake stood, its armored body unharmed from its tumble, and took off into the sky. In a week, it would be more focused on its next meal than remembering that any of this had ever happened.

We were not so lucky.

She sat down on the railing, legs dangling off the edge. After a moment, she brushed off the snow beside her, patting it in a wordless invitation.

We sat there together, two children on the edge of the world, as toothless dragons flew overhead.

"Not all dragons would have taken that well," I said. "I mean, hearth dragons are fairly harmless, but others... they're practically living weapons. A riftmaw would have sent you running for your life."

"So which am I?" Lucet's eyes crinkled. "The riftmaw or the hearth dragon?"

"You're whatever you want to be," I said. "They cannot take this from you."

Lucet looked away, and with a spell of sorrow and frost, her tears blended right in with the falling snow.

Then she turned back to me and leaned on my shoulder.

After a heartbeat, I leaned back on her.

And we watched the peaceful dragons soar, circling beneath a silent moon.