“If you want to make sure every man, woman, and child knows something, what’s the best way to teach it? Scholars have spent hours examining the prophecy. Is the dragon, male or female? Why do we need this dragon? I never thought she would grace my kitchen.”
“I am not—.”
“You do not have to deny it again my queen. When the time is right, we will talk again.” Amya placed plates of food in front of them. “When you are done, you can retire upstairs the first room on the right. I need to lie down now.”
Chapter Nineteen
Kisame leaned back popping her breast bone before she climbed onto the bed that hung from the ceiling in an elaborate configuration of chains and ropes. It swayed gently as she cocooned herself in the covers. Rilan pulled her closer until she was in his arms.
His fingers slid down the center of her breasts caressing her breast bone. “Did that hurt?”
“Not this time, but sometimes it does. It hurts worse if I don’t do it.” She stared at the antique wooden dressers in the room, not sure what to say to her mate.
“Should we—.”
“Let me talk first.” He nodded. “Rilan, I don’t want you to think I tried to trick you. I always knew I wasn’t anything special. From the day I was born my mother and I were ridiculed. Why? All because she refused genetic counseling. I reached too high when I reached for you. I knew better but I couldn’t help myself. It’s the way you make me feel.”
“How do I make you feel?”
“Needed, wanted, I feel like you love me.”
“I do love you.”
“I also feel like you need me. It’s a strange thing maybe but I never wanted to be with someone who was so strong or so independent that I was an extra they could do without. You don’t need me in a battle, but I feel like we compliment each other and you need what I have and well the same for me.”
“Now that you’re in my life I can’t imagine it without you. That’s why we have an impasse every time you want to go back and talk to your father.”
“You don’t trust him.”
“I don’t have a reason not to trust him.” He drew his fingers through her hair watching the darkness of it even as the lights that kept the room lit began to dim.
“You wouldn’t be the first not to trust him. That’s one of the reasons I know I’m not this reluctant dragon. I could never reach my father if I was and we need him on our side. I wish I could be that for you.”
“Don’t, the only thing I need you to be is yourself.”
She curled up in his arms but didn’t say anything. War was coming, or it seemed that way. The new society wouldn’t accept being part dragons. It wouldn’t be a long war how could three dragons and one human stand against a world filled with humans on the warpath? A shiver went down her spine before her eyes finally closed for the night.
“Love it’s time to get up.”
“But I just went to sleep,” her voice was groggy as the dreams that held her in their grip slowly loosened.
“We need to get up. The storm has passed and we need to leave.”
“How? We don’t have a vehicle?”
“You’ll ride my back. It will be faster that way. We’ll get to the next city by midday.”
She nodded not wanting to argue because walking was out. Leaning up she wrapped her arms around him for a good morning kiss. She laughed and pulled away before he could make it deeper.
“I hope there’s a toothbrush with those clothes you conjured up for me.” She slid out the bed landing on her feet.
“A toothbrush and your favorite kind of soap.”
“I love, loving a dragon.” She grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom. She acknowledged him when he said he was going downstairs.
When she stripped, she stood in the mirror asking herself the question that frightened her most. “Kisame who are you?”
Flares of her childhood crept around her. They weren’t enough to paint a whole picture. She had time missing, days, hours, in some cases it was weeks. Her father told her she was sick during those times. She had been a frail child almost from birth to hear her father tell it.
She took in her purple eyes wishing they were the brown that everyone loved so much. Her dark hair was all the rage but somehow it never seemed to be noticed on her. Her plumper than normal thighs and belly turned most people off. There was nothing extraordinary in the mirror. Unless it counted for something that she loved herself in a way she never did when she was younger. Even that, she put down to the benefit of time.
Deciding to be grateful that she was ordinary, she took a shower enjoying the fact that the water always seemed to be hot. When it was over, she took her time getting dressed not looking forward to seeing Amya again. When the guilt became too much to deal with, she hurried.
“Hi,” she walked into the kitchen where Rilan was having a conversation with Amya. “I’m not interrupting, am I?”
“No dear, I was filling my king in on how long I have been awake. We were also talking about the storm last night.”
“Do you think it will happen again?” If it happened while she was on Rilan’s back that could mean both their deaths. He barely saved her life last night.
“Storms are tricky. I think we may see it again, but not soon since it failed to kill you.”
“Me? Storms don’t seek out people to kill.”
“Of course, you’re right. I still don’t think we will see it soon.”
This is why she wanted to skip breakfast. Amya kept making subtle hints at things that couldn’t be. For a minute she thought of queen Lumia who allowed her to fly like she was a dragon. With a shake of her head, she dislodged that thought. It was a strange gift from his mother or the universe that she was given a glimpse into the dragon lifestyle. It wasn’t a call to her on some unconscious level.
“I will be riding on Rilan to the next city.”
“I can not guarantee it, but I believe you will be safe.”
“Thank you.”
“Eat my queen you will need your energy to hold on for so long.”
*~*~*~*
Tension. Kisame was tense, Rilan was tense, they were tense together. If she was being honest with herself, she hated this feeling. She was also close to hating Amya for causing the tension between them. Then there were the questions. Was the love she felt for him real? Would it survive their first real argument?
Rilan had gone back to the crash site because that’s who he is. Most of everything they had with them was destroyed. He saved her camera and her pad. Then they argued all the way to their new destination.
It was a beautiful place that had been sealed away in a bottle. Timeless. The first thing she noticed was that there were more homes constructed on the ground than in the other two cities. Each home on the ground seemed to have a yard. That was something she hadn’t noticed before. Like with the city the yards were overgrown. What was that about? If she hadn’t known better, she would think she was walking into a community that she was familiar with.
Rilan took her to the king’s house. It made her mad even though she got it. It reminded her of her father who was so privileged that he had a home where ever he went. She knew there was a difference, but it just brought home the difference between her and Rilan.
The next argument happened when she asked to go to the library.
“Why? What can you find here that you can’t find in the library at Terra?”
“We’re not in Terra and can you be any more of a snob?”
“They won’t have the books or the knowledge that Tera has.”
She was done. They argued over her going back. Then it turned to the reluctant dragon. They argued over the stupid storm that led them to Amya’s house and now this.
“I’ll find it on my own.”
“I’ll take you, my queen.” Magnus threw a look at Rilan that would have burned him if looks could kill.
That’s how she got to the library reminding herself not to toss the books around, the
y were old and fragile. She’d picked up several science books that were no help at all. That didn’t stop her from reading them. She went back to the bookshelves. There was dust if there was nothing else.
Not war, nor water or flood can eradicate the mighty dust army. She laughed to herself as she ran her fingers along the spines of the books. One caught her attention because of how thin it was. She went to her tiptoes, she hated being vertically challenged. Another symptom of not being a genetically counseled baby. The voice in her head whispered.
She pulled the book down and went to sit. It was a journal the color had faded. It may have been a red or a rose but now there was just a twinge of color clinging tightly to the book. Why was a journal in the science section?
She opened it to find it was a personal journal. Closing it she set it down. There wasn’t time for this. Her heart beat with fear every time she thought about the future. If they didn’t figure something out soon it would all be lost before it started.
She reached for one of the other books but the journal called to her like it had a voice of its own. Picking it up she started to read.
A child was born today. Nay, my child was born today. He is a beautiful boy with eyes so blue they reflect the sky. Already you know what the problem is. He was born a child and not a dragon. I know not what to do. I am half tempted to go to the king and queen, they are here. I could throw myself on their mercy and ask them to protect my child. What if they refuse?
There have been those who say they will order his death immediately. They say he is an abomination, I know better. He is a child who will be loved for who he is. I have no reason to suspect that one day he won’t grow into his dragon, but whoever heard of a child born in human shape?
It doesn’t matter if he flies the air or not. I must find out why this happened.
Today my son is three hundred. Happy birthday to you. He has never been able to bond with the dragon inside him. It has killed me to watch him walk when others soar. Below I will include numbers for the air samples and soil samples I have taken. In the last three hundred years, forty-one children have been born that cannot bond with their dragons.
This seems to be confined to our little part of the world which leads me to believe it may be something environmental. Not wanting to dismiss the fact that it could be something in common between the parents I have had some tests done on every parent and child. I will include that data down below.
Some have suggested that the planet is resetting itself. They call it evolution moving from dragon shifters to just male and females. I find myself wanting to laugh at that theory, but still, I will investigate.
Today my son is five hundred. It seems strange that I can keep up with his birthdays through the years when I so often forget my own. I tell people it’s a mother’s love. That is the only good news I have today. The rest brings tears to my eyes.
A child was born outside of our small community. They are about four hours away. It is the first one to be born that was not here. Are the environmental factors spreading or must I revisit the thought of evolution? A child died yesterday.
She wasn’t even three hundred years old. It seems that those born as humans have a shorter life span. Why hasn’t this happened to my son? I theorize it’s because he was the first. Whatever is making this change is changing itself as the years go on. Now I will utter something shameful. What if the crisis is dragon made?
My lab was ransacked today. Never in my long life have I seen anything like this. My files were destroyed, my experiments contaminated. I was told it may have been done by dragonettes looking for mischief. I have no evidence to say differently, but I don’t believe that dragons found anything worth possible trouble for in my office.
I will be placing all the information I can remember in this journal.
It’s been seven hundred years, and the world has changed. What started with one child now feels like an army. I am nowhere near close to understanding what has happened. Greater minds than mine have started studying the problem in Terra. I hang my head in shame that I didn’t sound the alarm all those years ago, then I see my son walk in and I can’t say I would do anything differently.
I will bring this journal to a close and start a second one. If someone of a like mind finds it, look over the data it may be the missing piece of the puzzle.
She had found patient zero. Her hands gripped the corner of the table to keep her from clinging to the journal. Her back straightened up and her heart beat went a mile a minute. Sure, this wasn’t the end, but she found out where it started. There was much to learn and many more entries to read. Jumping up she went back to the science section looking for another journal. When she found it, she screamed. It was time to go back.
Chapter Twenty
“You’re back.”
Rilan was sullen, but she knew that through the bond they shared. She wanted to make some snide remark about being a male and thinking he had to always be right. If he had been one of her ex’s she might have, but that wasn’t the relationship she wanted with him.
“I found a journal.”
He lifted a brow but didn’t say anything.
She took a deep breath. “I found patient zero. The very first person to be born as a human and not a dragon.”
“How does that help us? We already know that dragons are being born in their human shape without the ability to change. Did you find anything useful?”
“Useful?” Kisame took the first journal and sat it down on the table in front of Rilan. “You listen here. I have listened to you all day long. When I was in the library you used our connection to complain. When we mated you said something that I fell for. You said you needed me that we were in this thing together. I, fool that I am, believed you.
“Maybe what you need is some time to think about what you want and what you need.” She turned around and left him sitting in the living room.
Instead of going upstairs to slam the doors she walked out the back door. The house was built on stilts. It kept it off the ground, but still accessible to anyone who couldn’t fly. The one thing she had to give to the kings, and the queens was that they tried to stay in touch with their people.
There was no reason to have a house in this small province unless they wanted to show they were accessible. When she finally reached the bottom of the steps, she went outside. The weather was perfect somewhere around seventy-five Fahrenheit or twenty-three Celsius. She liked it on the cooler side.
This wasn’t where she wanted to be mostly because then she would have to ask herself some questions. Was she as strong as Jemma? She had asked herself the question, was she the reason her son was born a human? That had to be a difficult question.
Kisame had been dodging the difficult questions since she met Rilan. Yes, he was acting like an A-hole, but she might be doing the same. How was he the only dragon she was attracted to in that tapestry? Neither of them had asked the question although it sizzled between them every day. How could she be his mate? Was there ever cases of humans unable to shift that married dragons? How could she hear him in her head? Why did she want him to come after her and tell her everything was going to be okay?
Was she a dragon?
That was the question that made her skin crawl. Not because it scared her, but because of the potential it carried. If she Kisame Ecksen was a dragon, then anyone could be one.
War would break out. War, she kept thinking about it like she was a fighter, but she wasn’t. Nothing scared her more than the thought of war, bodies in the streets. Children crying over parents. Stop the dragons, stop the war?
Now all she saw was Rilan’s body in the street with her crying over him. Am I the reluctant dragon? If she was a dragon, she was definitely reluctant. Squeezing her eyes real tight she commanded herself to change. Then because she didn’t have good sense, she spread her arms and began running around the yard.
“Fly,” she screamed at the top of her lungs until she dropped from being tired and dizzy.
*~*~*~*
“You really don’t deserve her.” Magnus dropped on the couch next to his king.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t. Tell me something. What was every scientist in Terra looking for?”
“A cure.”
“Try again.”
“The cause of what was happening.”
“Try again.”
“Damnit! They were looking for patient zero?”
“And we have a winner. Your queen found him and his mother in a couple of hours. Why? Because she was willing to keep an open mind and search files no one else thought was worth their time. And what did you do?”
“I asked her if she found something useful.”
“Yep, that’s what you did. From her research, we now know when this started, where it started and with whom it started. But maybe you’d like to go to the library and find something more useful?”
“I think you can let it go now.”
“Nope. You still haven’t gotten it. Kisame is my queen, but she is also your queen and your mate. That means –.”
“Don’t say it. It means that she was put on terra to help me navigate what’s happening. It means, she deserves not only my love and my willingness to keep her safe, but my listening ear and my pride in her accomplishments.”
“That’s a good start. For the record I think I should have gotten my mate first. I know how to respect and love her.”
“For the record, I agree with you.” He stood up and headed upstairs.
“I could be wrong,” Magnus called out, “but I think she went outside.”
Of course, she did, Rilan laughed. His queen didn’t like to be predictable.
He walked out to find her lying on her back, her arms and legs spread out like she was making angels in the sand, minus the sand.
“Is it safe to come close?” She turned her head to look at him and then rolled her eyes.
The Dragon's Mate (Ancient Dragons Book 1) Page 13