Dragon Rose (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms)

by Pope, Christine

  For the first time, I understood reality could be so much lovelier than dreams.

  Midwinter was upon us, and Black’s Keep had opened its doors to not just the residents of Greyton, but also those of Lirinsholme hardy enough to make the snowy ascent. My parents were there, and my sisters—Therella scowling quite a bit as she realized not only was I the lady of the castle, but also that the feared Dragon Lord had turned out to be young and handsome—and Lilianth and Adain and so many others of my friends and family.

  “I told you the true Seeing would come in handy one day,” my Granny Menyon told me with a wink, as she helped herself to yet another cup of mulled wine. “Proud I am, that my own granddaughter should be the one to break the curse!”

  “It was luck more than anything—” I began, but she shook her head.

  “Not luck. It was the gods’ doing, knowing it was time for things to change.”

  As may be true. I somehow doubted the gods occupied themselves with such petty matters, but if that was what my grandmother wished to believe, I would not gainsay her. Who knows, really, why a certain combination of circumstances brings about a given conclusion? Chance, or luck…or the gods. I was not quite stubborn enough to say it couldn’t be any one of those things, or perhaps all three.

  All I knew was that I stood in the great feasting hall where once I had taken my first meal with Theran, and reflected that it could not be more different. Evergreen boughs were swagged from the mantel and from the great wrought-iron chandelier overhead, and even from the sconces along the walls. The air smelled of spiced wine and rich roasted meats, and everywhere I looked I saw smiles, albeit mixed with glances of wonderment. After all, no one save members of the castle’s household had set foot in Black’s Keep for five hundred years.

  Well, that was changed now. We would have to make our own traditions, and forge our own path in the world. And I knew I could face the future without fear, for I would have Theran at my side.

  I gazed across the room and saw him watching me. A rush of warmth went through me as I recalled the touch of his mouth on mine, the heat of his skin against me as I lay in bed next to him. We were now man and wife in every sense of the word, and again I marveled at how much I desired him. Even now, with the hall crowded around us, I recalled his touch, and a flush of desire went through my body once more. The celebration was grand, but I would be glad when we were alone once more, and could disappear into one another all over again.

  As if our eyes meeting were a signal, he excused himself from the portly merchant with whom he had been speaking, and came to meet me.

  “Do you like it?” he asked.

  Most likely he referred to the gaiety of the Midwinter gathering around us, but in my mind his question meant so much more. “It’s wonderful. More than I had ever dreamed it would be.”

  He didn’t pretend to misunderstand me, instead taking me by the hand and leading me into a little side gallery, where a mullioned window looked down over the snow-covered gardens. “I invited all these people, thinking it would be a gesture of goodwill, but I confess now that I would much rather they were elsewhere.”

  Since I knew no one could see us, I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him soundly, my body thrilling as he folded me into his arms and deepened the kiss. I tasted mulled wine on his lips and tongue, as no doubt he tasted it on mine as well.

  “A poor host,” I said, after we had pulled apart. “And yet, I must be a poor hostess as well, for I confess I feel much the same way.”

  “Ah, well, we must console ourselves with the knowledge that there are many more nights to come after this.”

  “And mornings, and afternoons…”

  He laughed then, the lines around his eyes crinkling with amusement. “Yes, and those, too. And you said you would teach me to paint—”

  “And you would teach me to ride—”

  “So I did. We have all these things to look forward to, but in the meantime, I suppose we should not shirk our duty as hosts.”

  “No, I suppose not.” I kissed him again, quickly, a deposit against a future, more lengthy engagement. “Shall we go back in?”

  He nodded, and took my arm, and led me back into the hall, where once again we were surrounded by well-wishers. Light and warmth filled the room, a bulwark against the cold winter night, and from a place of honor above the mantel the portrait of Theran looked down on all of us, that secret smile still touching the corner of his mouth.

  Seeing it, I smiled as well.

  THE END

  Other Books by Christine Pope Available on Amazon

  —TALES OF THE LATTER KINGDOMS—

  ALL FALL DOWN

  Healer Merys Thranion has been trained to fight disease and wage war against ignorance. Her training comes to the ultimate test when she is captured by slave traders in a neighboring country and brought to the estate of Lord Shaine. Her task is to heal the brooding lord's injured daughter...but that is only the first of her trials. As the deadly plague raises its head again and threatens to wipe out everyone on Lord Shaine's estate, Merys must summon all her skills to protect those she has come to care for...including the man who has become much more to her than simply her master.

  —THE GAIAN CONSORTIUM SERIES—

  BLOOD WILL TELL

  Welcome to Iradia, where the Gaian Consortium looks the other way if enough money changes hands, and the best way to ensure a long life is to secure passage off-world…

  When Miala Fels’ father is murdered by a vicious crime lord, she decides the best way to get her revenge is to hack the accounts of the man responsible and bleed his hoard of ill-gotten loot dry. Her plans go awry when Mast is killed by a rival, and she ends up nursing one of his men, the notorious mercenary Eryk Thorn, back to health. Her only thought is to have Thorn help her get off-world in exchange for half of Mast’s treasure. The last thing she expects is to lose her heart to him…or to have the consequences of that love change her life forever.

  BREATH OF LIFE

  Anika Jespers, a homesteader’s daughter on a Gaian colony, thinks she’s destined for a dull existence on her family’s farm. But when her father makes an impossible bargain with their neighbor, one of the alien Zhore, she faces a future different from anything she could have possibly imagined. The familiar story of Beauty and the Beast takes on new life in this inventive SF romance novella, with the Beauty a homesteader's daughter and the Beast an alien on a faraway colony world.

  —THE SEDONA TRILOGY—

  BAD VIBRATIONS

  When a troubled client visits psychic Persephone O’Brien, the last thing she thinks is that she’s about to be drawn into a far-reaching conspiracy that will change her life forever. Accompanied by a distractingly attractive ufologist—and with a little help from an unlikely group of UFO enthusiasts—she races to stop the alien plot before it’s too late. Moving from the bright lights of Los Angeles to the red rocks of Sedona, Bad Vibrations takes the reader on a wild ride that never lets up until its unforgettable climax.

  DESERT HEARTS

  A stranger staggers out of the desert and collapses in Kara Swenson's house, pleading for help. The man remembers nothing of who he is or where he came from, and Kara takes him in, feeling oddly drawn to him, although she can't explain why. As someone who's been involved in the UFO community for several years, she thinks she's seen it all. But as the shocking truth of the stranger's identity is revealed, Kara finds herself having to make a terrible choice. Releasing January 31, 2013.

  —PARANORMAL ROMANCE—

  SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

  You know what they say about deals with the Devil… This time the deal the Devil makes is with God, who offers him a chance at redemption if he can experience human love. Easy enough, according to the Devil, who thinks that making the woman God has chosen fall in love with him will be a simple task. Unfortunately, Lucifer didn’t count on interfering demons, blundering boyfriends, and a young woman who has more questions than he’s willing to answer.

 
PLAYING WITH FIRE

  Samael calls the City of Angels home, but he’s far from angelic. His assignment: Bringing the souls of L.A.’s unquiet dead to the underworld. His duties don’t preclude more earthly entanglements, as long he keeps things purely physical. When he meets Felicia McGovern, he soon realizes his attraction to her goes far beyond her admittedly enchanting flesh. Her unexpected discovery of his true nature separates the lovers, but when her life is in danger, Samael risks everything to keep her safe. He faces certain punishment…or possibly a redemption he never imagined could be his.

  —ROMANTIC SUSPENSE—

  NO RETURN

  Born to power and wealth, Erik Deitrich has everything a man could hope for — except a face he can show to the world. He becomes obsessed with finding the one woman who can fulfill his desire of possessing a modern-day Christine Daaé to his deformed Phantom…and opera student Christine Daly seems to be the woman he has sought for so many years. Once Erik Deitrich learns of Christine Daly's existence, he stops at nothing to claim her. And when he does have her, he uses every means at his disposal to ensure that she will fall in love with him...without stopping to think what might happen if he fell in love with her. The classic story of the Phantom of the Opera comes alive once again in this contemporary retelling by romance author Christine Pope.

  —STEAMPUNK ROMANCE—

  HEART OF GOLD

  The proper Miss Lavinia Greene believes nothing will upset her carefully ordered existence…although she rather wishes it would. But when she receives a letter from her uncle, the eccentric inventor Malcolm Greene, she finds herself drawn into mayhem and murder as foreign agents attempt to seize his latest invention. Whether in the wilds of Romania or the elegant ballrooms of a London just slightly different from our own, Lavinia must find her way through a shifting web of loyalties and deceit, where nothing is quite as it seems and danger…and love…hides where she least expects it.

  —CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE—

  FRINGE BENEFITS

  Mick Jagger was right. You can’t always get what you want. Katherine Wheeler is finding that out the hard way, after spending six months in Los Angeles with little to show for her efforts besides a rapidly dwindling bank account. So when an online ad offers the sort of position she can only dream of, she answers it at once. Alarm bells go off when she realizes her new boss is dangerously attractive, but Katherine figures she can handle the situation. After all, Pieter Van Rijn seems to be a consummate professional. What could possibly go wrong? After dealing with the love-struck son of a movie producer, a threatened lawsuit, and an earthquake, Katherine thinks she may have to re-evaluate her situation. But all those complications are nothing compared to wanting a man who doesn’t seem to want her back…

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