by ERIN BEDFORD
Firestar’s brows furrowed, his lips turned down in a frown. “That damned Raiden thinks he’s so funny.” He moved into the shower, and I shifted to let him underneath the water.
I forced back a laugh as I watched him scrub the mud from his skin. Picking up a washcloth, I began to wash his back. With a smile on my lips, I asked, “What did he do this time?”
A growl release from Firestar, rumbling beneath my hands. “We were blowing off steam training with the palace guards when he swiped my feet out from under me after we’d agreed to take a break. I swear he picked the biggest pile of slop to drop me in,” Firestar snapped, his scrubbing becoming fiercer. “Do you think he makes me look the fool on purpose or just for his own idiotic pleasure?”
Frowning at his words, I urged Firestar to turn around. “I highly doubt Raiden thinks of anyone’s amusement but his own. You are easy to prod at,” I paused and then snorted, “Well, not as easy as Jack is, but either way, you shouldn’t let him bother you so much.”
“Raiden only messes with me because I’ve fucked you. Jack hasn’t, so he’s not as much of a threat.” Firestar smirked, his hands going to my hips, his fingertips making circles on my skin. His touch caused a tingle that burned inside of me, but his words caused a different kind of guilty feeling.
“You are a rude man.” I shoved at his chest, throwing his hands away from me. I moved toward the shower door, but Firestar’s hand caught mine. I glared at him but waited.
“I’m sorry. I was only teasing.” His fingers stroked mine as he clasped our hands together. Firestar stared at me that same look in his eyes that used to make me weak in the knees when I was a teenager. Now, it still made my knees weak, but it also made me want to smack him upside the head.
“You shouldn’t tease like that,” I grumbled. “This will only work with everyone working together. If you guys are constantly at each other’s throats, how are you going to help me against my father?”
Firestar drew me to him, pressing our bodies together. My breasts brushed against his chest, and his hands settled low on my hips. Nose rubbing against mine in feather-light kisses, Firestar murmured low, “I would never let him hurt you.”
“I know, but Aeis knows I lied.” I placed my hands on his upper chest before sliding them around his neck. “It won’t be long before my father realizes I’m not pregnant. Whether or not I’ve slept with Jack is irrelevant. If anything, he’d be glad for it.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because of who I picked to be my mates,” I explained and then when Firestar only raised a brow added, “He’d have been fine if it had been one of the guys he’d picked, but then I added you…”
“And he’d be happier if I’d been the one to have not taken you yet,” Firestar snorted. “And your father is a blind fool. He only sees what he wants to, just like my own. They focus too much on the past. On power that has long died. We are dragons, but we are also intelligent creatures. We are not all brawn and flame.”
I chuckled. “Tell me about it.” I laid my face against his chest and chewed on my bottom lip. “There aren’t many people in Waesigar who think like you do.”
“You’d be surprised by how many agree with me.” Firestar leaned away from me, his hand tilting my chin up. “Enough to rally behind a true queen of dragons.”
Firestar’s words surprised me. I’d never thought I’d come back to Waesigar, let alone be in the running to take of the West. Now, Firestar believed I could be queen of them all. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Terrified came to mind but at the same time a sort of strange excitement.
Smiling at him, we stood in the shower until the water ran cold, but I barely noticed. My body warmed by the thought of taking all that my father held dear and leaving nothing in return. Change was coming, and its name was Maya.
Dinner wasn’t any more pleasant than lunch had been. In fact, it was worse.
My father had been drinking long before Firestar and I arrived, and as I entered the room, I found him stinking of Dragon’s Tears, the alcohol of choice in Waesigar. My mother sat at his side, her brow furrowed. She never liked it when he drank. My father had never been the nicest person, but he was far worse when his mind was muddled with alcohol.
“There’s my prized whore.” He lifted his glass in the air as he laughed. “Come sit and tell us how my heir is doing.”
I gritted my teeth, my hand clutching Firestar’s arm. “How nice of you to ask about your grandchild, father.”
“Bah,” my father scoffed, drinking deeply from his cup. “I want to know if my investment will pay out, now that every dragon in Waesigar has dipped their stick in my daughter.”
Anger burned in me, but before I could retort my three suitors stood from their seats. The fury in their eyes resonated in myself. Jack’s icy demeanor melted away, and his lip curled as he bared his teeth at my father. Raiden’s easy-going facade broke, his lightning crackling at his hands.
But no one’s anger was worse than Firestar’s. I could feel it running through his veins as my hand sat on his arm. The water we had showered in didn’t hold a candle to the fire burning along Firestar’s skin. My own anger pushed to the side, I focused on Firestar and keeping him from doing something we could not take back.
Tightening my grip on his arm, I gave him a warning look, but he didn’t meet my gaze. His brown eyes had turned to burning coal as he glared at my father. Only one word came from his mouth. “Three.”
“What?” my father asked, his eyes glazed over with drink. “What did you say to me, boy?”
Firestar stepped forward, placing his hands on the back of his chair. “Only three have had the pleasure of your daughter’s company, not all of Waesigar.”
My father snorted. “What’s the difference? Three, ten, a hundred. As long as one of you give me an heir, it doesn’t really matter, now does it?” He raised a brow as if daring Firestar to contradict him.
Before Firestar could respond, I came to his side. “I’m already pregnant so how many dragons I lay with is my business alone. Last time I checked, we were not a monogamous species and you can't damn me for something you asked me to do. Something that you have done, yourself.” My eyes flickered to my mother’s pained face, and I added, “In the past.”
“Do you have a point, daughter? Or do I have to wait until my grandchild is born?” My father rolled his eyes and sighed.
I opened my mouth to snap back at him, but my sister beat me to it.
“Father,” Aeis’s voice rose to echo off the dining room’s walls. “I am your daughter, am I not?”
“You know you are, Aeis.” He sighed once more.
“And I once was your heir, was I not?” Her gaze focused on him with an amazing amount of restraint. She had always been better at holding her temper than me. Which was why she would be a better leader than I ever would.
“Obviously, my heirs wish to annoy me to an early grave.” My father laughed and drank from his glass once more.
“God will it,” Firestar muttered beside me. I jolted him in the side with my elbow and took a seat at the table. With the way things were going, I doubted I’d get to my food before it went cold, and I’d had quite enough of cold food.
Firestar followed my example as well as Raiden and Frost, who retook their seats. Everyone’s attention turned to my sister, waiting with bated breath to see what she could possibly say to sway our frustratingly stubborn lord to stop hounding me.
“Then as your former heir, I would like to try to explain what kind of position you have put my sister in.” Aeis gaze shot to mine briefly before going back to my father.
“By all means,” my father gestured to her with his cup. “Do enlighten us.”
“The stress of being your heir, to have to one day rule all that you have built can take its toll.” My sister explained as the rest of us picked at our plates. “And do you think being with child would make this stress better or worse?”
My father opened his mouth to say
God knows what, but my sister continued as if he didn’t exist.
“It makes it worse.” She growled, her eyes flashing a golden hue. “Each mocking comment behind one's back builds to an inky black sickness.” She swallowed hard and shook her head, coming back to herself. “If you speak ill of your own daughter, what makes you think others won’t? How will she ever keep hold of our legacy if they all think she’s a dumb slut?”
“All right, all right. I get it,” my father growled, filling his cup once more. His gaze locked with mine, and for the first time ever, he looked ashamed. “You hear anyone say such things to you, report it to me and I will cut their tongues out, you hear?”
I nodded, my eyes burning, and I stared down at my plate before I could cry. Firestar who sat at my side placed his hand on top of mine and squeezed it in reassurance. My gaze meets his, and my lips curled into a smile.
The rest of the dinner was quiet. We were all absorbed in our own thoughts, I supposed. I only really cared about what my sister was thinking. I would love to know what thoughts made her face darken that way. Why her words to defend me moved her so?
That was when I realized she hadn’t been talking about me. Sure, she had been trying to defend me, but in her own way she was also telling our father she blamed him for her barren body. The curse of being the heir to his throne caused so much stress, it would make anyone’s eggs shrivel up and die.
“I do have one question, Maya,” my father said after a bit.
I forced myself not to sigh. This couldn’t be good.
“And what’s that?” I surprised even myself by how level my voice came out.
“When your child is born, how will you know the father?” My father held his cup to his mouth as the words came out. Then he took a long, slow drink.
If I thought the table had been quiet before, the silence now was deafening. The clanking of silverware ceased. Not even the sound of each of us breathing could be heard.
It was a question I’d been asked before, and I doubted it would be the last time. It was also one I didn’t have an answer for. If we were in the human world, we’d have done a DNA test to find the father, but I didn’t dare suggest that to a room full of alpha dragons. Though, I felt my men might be a bit more likely to humor me.
As it was, my father wanted an answer I couldn’t give. I had no idea what to say, and as his eyes bore into me waiting for my reply, I did the only thing I could do.
I placed the back of my hand to my mouth, my other hand going to my stomach as I pretended to lurch forward. Firestar touched my arm as I jumped to my feet as I said, “I think I’m going to be sick.”
4
After leaving dinner, I went to the only place I ever truly felt at home. The gardens. Funny since while the castle was my home, my bedroom never gave me solace, only the large expansion of green which covered the whole of the back of the castle.
Rows and rows of flowers decorated the bushes that lined the walkways. They wound around in a path only those who had traveled it knew. A stranger would find themselves lost in moments, wandering for hours through the maze of greenery, wondering how to get out.
Not me. I spent more time here than I did in my own bedroom or even the training grounds. I knew the paths like the back of my hand. I could walk them with my eyes closed. Now, as I rushed away from my father and his many questions, I appreciated that ability, needed it.
The green passed by me in a blurred wave my feet pounding on the ground until I came to my favorite place in all the garden. A fountain of black marble, shaped in that form of a great dragon, its wingspan larger than mine would ever be even if I could conjure them. Better still was the bench beneath the dragon that allowed one to sit in the shadow of its greatness. It had always made me feel safe and secure. It was like the stone dragon had my back.
I needed its protection now more than ever. While, I knew each one of my men would stand up for me, maybe even die for me, if it came down to it, I couldn’t let them fight all my battles for me.
My father, I could handle in most cases, but he was becoming more and more difficult with each day I stayed. It was as if my being pregnant made him more ashamed of me than when he banished me before. I didn’t know if I could dodge his questions or his anger for much longer.
Outside the castle wasn’t much better. From what I’d heard, there were more raids every week. If I left the safety of my father’s home, I would face the dangers of Waesigar. Memories of the last attack when we had headed to the Southern Region filled my head. While Jack and Raiden had taken out more than their fair share of attackers, I had barely been able to fight off one.
“Such a weakling,” I muttered to myself, glaring down at the stone path beneath the bench. I used to be a great fighter. One of the best in the Western lands, but five years away, and I’d become a weakling… especially compared to my suitors. I’d learned how to fight like a human, but the dragons who attacked me weren’t going to wait around like Ned until I swept their legs from under their feet. The feet that hovered in the air as they sliced my head off from the sky.
“Can’t say that I’m surprised to see you here.”
My head jerked up at the sound of my cousin, Ned’s, voice. Almost ten years older than me, he was war-worn and far more experienced in battle than I would ever be. He had my dark hair, but his eyes were golden where mine were as green as the surrounding garden. Ned wore his armor no matter where he went, the dining hall or the gardens, he was always ready for a fight.
“Hello, Ned.” I tried to sound pleasant, but it only came out tired. I’d only seen my cousin in passing since I came back. Which surprised me since he’d been the one to bring me home in the first place.
Ned sat beside me on the bench, his leg warm against my own. “Your father being a right bastard as usual?”
I snorted at Ned’s description. Only someone who had grown up with my father lording over them would dare say such a thing about the Lord of the West, in private or not.
“When is he not?” I asked and then sighed, staring down at my laced fingers.
“He wasn’t always like this you know,” Ned informed me, leaning back against the fountain, so the sound of the water muffled most of his words.
“Really?” I cocked a brow, finding it hard to believe my father had not always been an asshat. “He was nicer? He couldn’t possibly have been any worse. Though,” I chuckled. “He is getting up in the years, maybe being senile has made him more tolerant.”
Ned laughed beside me. “Lord Dannan? Senile? That’s as likely as the stone dragon coming to life right here in this very garden.” He gestured behind us to my silent protector, its eyes, and teeth fierce in their frozen expression.
I gave a halfhearted laugh. “Yes, I suppose you are right.”
We sat in a companionable silence for a few moments before Ned placed his hand on mine. Confused by the sudden affection, I stared up at my cousin with raised brows.
Ned’s own face had sobered, his forehead drawn down and a darkness moved behind his eyes. “I can’t say that I don’t agree with him though.”
“What do you mean?” I asked and tried to move my hand away, but Ned held tight, pinching my fingers together.
“You were supposed to be the answer to it all. The great heir to save the day.” He shook his head and sighed. “But you have disappointed us. Me most of all.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I growled and jerked my hand from his grasp. I stood and began to walk away. If he was going to ask me more questions, criticize my decisions, I didn’t want to hear it.
“Lying to the Lord of the West is a crime punishable by death,” Ned called out after me. “Even if you are his daughter.”
Pausing mid-step, I slowly turned back to him. “Then it’s a good thing I haven’t lied, isn’t it, cousin?”
Ned’s expression changed to something I’d never seen before. A cruel sort of smile crawled up his face and his eyes filled with righteous glee. “What will he
say I wonder, when he finds out you aren’t pregnant? Maybe he will claim you are barren as well and name someone else heir. Someone worthier of the position.”
His words caused a suspicious feeling to settle into my gut. If I were found barren like my sister, Aeis, the next member in line would be Ned himself. My father wasn’t the only one I had to worry about now.
“Or better yet,” Ned continued, standing from the bench. “If that someone else already had a pregnant mate when they told Lord Dannan of his own daughter’s deceit.” He placed his hands behind his back and stood a few feet away from me, his eyes boring into me. “I would think, our lord would be very grateful in his praises, don’t you?”
Anger and confusion filled me. Ned was someone I thought had been on my side. He’d never been unkind to me growing up and it had been him who my father had trusted to bring me home. Which didn’t make sense why now, he has decided to turn on me.
“And you think my father will just hand the kingdom over? To you?” I scoffed, shaking my head. “How do you know he’ll even believe you?”
“That’s a fair point. Your father has been known to ignore reason for power,” Ned said, and the look in his eyes made me take a step back. “Maybe, I’ll just kill you and get it over with. Then it won’t matter what he chooses to believe.”
“I thought you wanted me here. You practically begged me to come,” I snapped, reminding Ned of when he had come to collect me.
He’d told me they needed me. I was the only one who could make all the old generation see that change was needed for us to survive. Ned had even gone so far as to threaten violence to make me come back. I should have taken that threat as a signal of something else entirely.
“You’re right, I did.” Ned’s eyes narrowed, anger sparking within them. “That was before I knew you'd take that hothead to your bed. That was a poor choice in a string of poor choices.”