Abandon You Choose Dragon Chapter 02
I walked out into the yard. The moon hadn’t risen yet.
Only the stars scattered coldly across the sky.
“Iris.”
Ash followed me out, a half-smoked cigarette between his fingers.
“You barely ate. Are you angry?”
“Yes.”
Honest as always.
He laughed once and stubbed out the cigarette.
“Don’t be petty about this. It’s your tribe’s customs that caused the mess. Three flowers dropped at once—who could tell them apart?”
“Like I said, the tribal ceremony doesn’t count. Once we register at the Alliance—”
“Ash.” I cut him off.
He paused.
I lifted my head and looked into his eyes.
“From the very beginning, I told you I didn’t want to enter the Praise Moon Festival.”
This was the tribe’s marriage tradition. It meant the Moon God had witnessed two souls and joined them as one.
For thousands of years, the tribe had believed in it. I respected that belief.
I didn’t want to participate because I already had Ash. I didn’t want to make a mockery of the Moon God’s will.
But he’d had James put my name on the list.
By the time I found out, my name was already recorded. There was no taking it back.
Back then, I had no idea Chloe was also entering.
He stared at me for a second. “It’s already happened. What’s the point of bringing this up now?”
“You’re right. Nothing I say matters, because you never listen.”
Ash frowned, his lips pressing into a thin line.
That look on his face—I’d seen it for eight years. Impatience, barely held in check.
“Iris, what’s the point of digging up old grievances? The Festival was an accident. There was nothing I could do. If you’re really that unhappy, I’ll have someone talk to the Elder tomorrow. We’ll just go through the motions—keep it simple so you don’t lose face.”
I looked at him. “Just go through the motions?”
“A binding contract means marriage. Everyone in this tribe understands that. Are you really going to pretend you don’t?”
Ash pinched the bridge of his nose. “Iris, be reasonable—”
“Reasonable?” I let out a short laugh. “When I try to reason with my father, he says I’m talking back. When I try to reason with my mother, she tells me not to take things so seriously. When I try to reason with James, he calls me petty.”
“I thought being with you would be different. But it turns out you’re exactly the same.”
His mouth opened.
“I didn’t—”
“You didn’t listen to me,” I said. “You just assumed I’d give in eventually.”
The way my father assumed I’d shut up in the end.
The way my mother assumed I’d swallow it.
The way James assumed I’d shrug it off.
“Iris…”
His voice softened. He reached for me.
I stepped back and turned into the darkness.
The plume feathers along my spine shivered in the night wind, as if they, too, were trembling on my behalf.
Behind me, his footsteps followed for two paces, then stopped.
Chloe’s soft voice drifted over—”Ash, what happened?”—and someone inside called him back to discuss the ceremony.
He didn’t come after me.
Three years ago, when he proposed, his eyes had been full of light—bright and warm and all for me.
Now that light had gone somewhere I couldn’t find.