The man’s voice inside Zorin’s mind was rough, almost a cough. It was what he would have expected from the throat of a dragon.
“I have.”
He seems unhappy.
The sadness in Thadius’s voice was a surprise to Zorin.
“You sent away his love. Betrayed him. How should he seem?” Zorin countered.
Thadius growled irritably. Love? The boy doesn’t know what that word means. He loves his son. But Isabelle? Celeste? He loves neither. And never will.
“He could have.”
You’ll make sure it doesn’t happen though.
Zorin chuckled. They had never spoken about what Zorin had known the man had done, but there had never really been secrets between them either.
“She won’t want him once this month is over,” Zorin promised.
Oh?
“She’s getting married. No idea to who yet though. But she’ll be married and you’ll never have to see her again unless you decide to visit the new queen.”
I don’t see that happening.
Zorin shrugged. It really didn’t matter to him one way or the other.
I used to think of you like a son.
That surprised him. Zorin stood blinking dumbly.
You were always so much stronger, more powerful and smarter than any of my children. They’ve all been failures.
Zorin snorted. “That’s not exactly hard. Except for Faolan your other offspring were all murdered as children before they could ever disappoint you.”
The dragon before him visibly flinched.
You don’t try to be gentle do you, Zorin?”
“And you’re just a little too blunt. I don’t exactly like Faolan most days and we’ve certainly never been friends. But I’d hardly count him a failure. As far as I can tell he’s done everything you’ve asked of him, even without him knowing it,” Zorin snarled.
You’re defending him against me? Don’t be ridiculous.
“Anything else?” Zorin asked impatiently, refusing to argue the point. If Faolan wouldn’t stick up for himself against his father, then Zorin was hardly going to waste the effort either.
The dragon shook his massive head. No, we’re done for now. Just make sure that girl doesn’t interfere with him again.
Zorin smiled softly and nodded before finding his way to Faolan’s chambers. He could hear Faolan’s soft voice as he approached the large ornate door, so out of place in a fortress with very little to decorate it. He paused to knock.
“I’m not taking visitors,” Faolan called back, his voice bitingly hard.
Zorin rolled his eyes and ignored the threat in the other man’s voice as he opened the door. And calmly stepped inside.
“I said I’m not—”
“I know. I’m not deaf,” Zorin said back as he took a few steps closer to where Faolan and his infant son lay on the massive bed.
“Then just stupid enough to irritate a Draconian with his child?” Faolan growled back as he pulled his son closer to him defensively.
Zorin grinned. “Perhaps. May I approach?”
Faolan frowned. “Why?”
He let out an impatient snort. “Have I ever hurt a child?”
“No. In fact the rumors of your brutality even extend so far as to say that you spare them even when you are in the heat of bloodshed,” Faolan replied back calmly. His shoulders relaxed slightly, but he didn’t move his arm from in front of Sebastian where it blocked Zorin’s view of the baby.
“So is it so hard to believe that maybe all I want to do is to see your son? I enjoy children, Faolan. I haven’t seen a baby in decades.”
“How is that possible?” Faolan asked as he stared down at his sleeping son.
Zorin shrugged. “Women don’t like me near them to begin with. None with children will let me approach them.”
“You aren’t wholly unattractive,” Faolan told him, obviously confused.
He laughed. “Thanks. I’ll let them know that the next time an old woman shrieks when she sees me come around a corner at night.”
“What I meant was—”
Zorin raised a hand to stop Faolan’s fumblings. “I know what you meant. I can find lovers, that’s never been a problem. I have the powerful forbidden murderer thing going for me. And it’s worked for centuries. But attention from a good woman? Being a welcome part of a family?” Zorin shook his head. “It’ll never happen. No one lets a known murderer get that close. And I’m not just a murderer. I’ve massacred people.”
“The way I hear it, you did what had to be done.”
Zorin sighed, knowing it all came back down to that one night when he had lost control. “And the other?”
Faolan shrugged. “You were young and a much more powerful person manipulated you.”
“I was an adult,” Zorin countered.
Faolan rolled his eyes. “In human years maybe. But for those of us that live centuries, human years hardly matter. I’ve lived lifetimes as far as the humans are concerned, but as far as the Draconians are concerned I’m barely an adult. Most are still fuming that my father has stepped down so early and let me rule.”
Zorin cocked his head. That was interesting. “War?” he asked quickly, genuinely interested in the thought of fighting an adversary that mattered for a cause he could believe in.
Faolan chuckled. “You sound just like my father, always ready for bloodshed when it matters. No wonder you’ve gotten along so well over the centuries.” He paused long enough to stroke his son’s cheek. “But no, no war yet. Though it’s close. There’s a tension whenever other clans visit. The Kasak Mountains are a good territory and I’m surprised a clan as small as ours has defended it for so long.”
“It took the lives of your brothers though,” Zorin remembered.
“Yes,” Faolan nodded. “Young boys that I share my father’s blood with but never knew.”
Zorin thought back, remembering their faces. “They were different than you. Softer I suppose. Thadius was softer then as well.”
He snorted. “I can’t imagine my father ever being soft.”
“Not soft. Just softer. Before they were murdered Thadius thought his sons should play and experience things beyond fighting and survival. Back when Draconians were allowed in the city I remember seeing them at the markets sometimes.”
Faolan hadn’t known that. “But then?”
Zorin shrugged. It was ancient history and he could hardly blame Thadius for the actions he had taken. “The humans knew the first boy’s schedule and told another Draconian clan in exchange for money. Their leader sent warriors to attack the boy and his guardian while they shopped in the market. Thadius found out and took the dragons that were loyal then and destroyed the town, slaughtering everyone. That’s when dragons and Draconians were banned from most of the empire and when a price was taken out on your heads.”
Faolan stared up at him, unblinking. “I had no idea.”
Zorin nodded. “After that Thadius became much more protective of his children. But, as you know, it didn’t protect your brothers. The act of murdering children from other clans has long since gone out of practice, but this is a key territory and so you’ve got a right to be protective.”
He nodded, but dropped his arm anyway. “You may approach.”
Zorin cocked his head to the side. “Oh?”
“You don’t hurt children,” Faolan reminded. Though it sounded like a warning to Zorin’s ears. “And,” he smiled, “you move like a human. You may have control of some powerful magic, but you’re still not as fast as me.”
Zorin chuckled. “Very true.” He stepped close, a soft smile playing at his lips as he looked down at the sleeping baby. He stroked his brown fuzzy hair and the small nose that was so like Isabelle’s. “I would like to give him some protection. If you’d allow it?” Zorin asked hopefully.
Faolan nodded, but didn’t move from his baby’s side.
With gentle hands, Zorin caressed the b
aby’s forehead with one hand and his chest with another. “Sipoem les nilkom gukjun dasni flome,” he whispered as he closed his eyes. The baby’s skin glowed brightly for just a second before Zorin stepped away. He inclined his head to Faolan. “Thank you.”
Faolan nodded his thanks.
“He’s beautiful,” Zorin said quietly as he stared at the still sleeping baby. “Just like his mother.” He frowned. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
Faolan sighed wearily. “He is. And so is she.” He met Zorin’s eyes. “You’ll protect her for me?”
“I will,” Zorin promised.
“Good,” Faolan rested his head on one of the large pillows and pulled his son closer. “That’s very good.”
“I’ll see myself out,” Zorin told him, stepping away. Faolan nodded and closed his eyes to rest. Zorin walked silently to the large ledge and, after quickly shaking out his wings, took off into the night sky.
Chapter Four
“Wha—” Zorin groaned as he felt Isabelle jump onto the bed next to him.
“Good morning, Zorin,” she said brightly. “I heard you went to see Faolan last night.”
He turned towards her and glared, hoping that she would go away. Worse, she didn’t even seem bothered by him. “I’ve barely gotten to sleep.”
“Then everything’s still fresh.”
He growled at her, but she still refused to leave him.
“You’re an impossible woman.”
She frowned at him. “And you’re stalling.”
“Would you go away if I told you that I’m naked?” he asked hopefully.
He could tell that she was blushing and he felt her fidget away from him, but stubbornly she refused to leave him alone or even so much as get off the bed.
“Are you?”
Zorin sighed. “Yes but I doubt that’ll matter until I tell you how your son is doing.”
She brightened instantly. “You saw Sebastian?”
Zorin nodded, then, realizing that she couldn’t see him in the darkness, willed the nearest curtains open. He blinked past the brightness and then turned back to her. At least she had come close to dawn when the sun wasn’t too bright. After she left he may even be able to spend a few more hours in bed before his lessons with Caden.
“I did,” he said, turning back to her. He chuckled when he noticed that she was refusing to look at him. “You’ve seen other men aside from Faolan naked, haven’t you?”
She bit her lip and shook her head no.
“I have the sheet over my waist. Think of it like I’m walking around without a shirt on,” he suggested. He was surprised to see her blush at that as well. It was flattering that she found him attractive, but really, he was just a man.
“You’re larger than Faolan,” she whispered.
Zorin nodded. “Faolan’s more agile. Smaller, faster, leaner. I’m stronger.”
“I haven’t seen someone with muscles likes yours before,” she said, still refusing to look at him.
“You’ve seen one man naked,” he reminded her. “And I usually go without a shirt on. You’ll have to get accustomed to it. I don’t like riding with shirts on and I can’t stand fighting with them on. And flying is restricted unless I have just the lightest of shirts on.”
She nodded. “How do your wings fit through the shirts?” she asked.
He chuckled. “Magic. In addition to opening drapes, I can modify my clothes without actually ruining them. Many of the Angelus women you’ll see here though have low cut backs in their dresses to allow for their wings. And men have strips cut into their shirts so the fabric lays over their skin and then they belt it all together at their waist.”
She frowned. “They can’t modify their clothes as you can?”
Zorin shook his head. “I’m special. Or, more appropriately, I’m why Angelus and humans shouldn’t mate. Before I got control of them my powers were unpredictable and damn near impossible to handle. Now though they just scare everyone else since I’m so much more powerful than them.”
“So…” she said softly. “My son?”
Zorin smiled into his pillow. “Sebastian is fine. He really is beautiful.”
She nodded and settled in beside him. “I knew that he would be.” She took a deep breath, appearing to gather her courage. “And Faolan?”
He grinned at her. “If I told you he was miserable with Celeste, would it make you happy?”
She pursed her lips at him. “I’d like to think that I’d never wish someone to be unhappy.”
“But?”
Isabelle shifted slightly, obviously uncomfortable with the direction of her own thoughts.
“It’s human to want someone to feel pain when they have caused you to hurt,” Zorin reassured her.
She shook her head. “I don’t want him to be in pain. What I do want though is for him to get exactly what he deserves.”
“Which is what?” Zorin asked her.
She shrugged and turned towards him. “I want him to love and protect Sebastian. Our mistakes shouldn’t cause our son to miss out on anything. But at the same time whenever I think of that woman holding him, kissing him it—”
“She doesn’t,” Zorin quickly cut in.
“Doesn’t what?”
“She doesn’t take care of Sebastian. I doubt Faolan even lets her touch him,” Zorin told her. “Though I can’t be sure. But they didn’t seem all that close.”
“Is it wrong that hearing that makes me happy?” Isabelle asked him uncertainly. “I feel awful for hoping that they do no better than we did, but I still love him.”
“Despite everything?” Zorin asked.
Isabelle nodded.
He wrapped an arm around her slender shoulders from behind. “It does get easier you know.”
“Spoken from experience?” she asked as she curled into his warm side.
He nodded and kissed her forehead. “I was in love once. Years ago of course. But I do remember it.”
“What happened to her?” she asked.
Zorin shrugged and looked away. “She fell in love with someone else and they were happy.”
She frowned. “What else?”
“Nothing really to tell. She died. I mourned. Life goes on. I care for someone else now, but not nearly in the same way though I suppose it is a form of love,” he grumbled.
Isabelle rolled her eyes and snorted.
“What?”
“That’s not all. You think you’re so powerful and you probably are. But you still hurt like any other person. I can tell,” she told him.
He glared at her. “So? She died. I don’t have power over death so I have to let it go.”
She nodded. “Yes, you do. But don’t pretend that you don’t still hurt. I still love my mother and I still mourn her. It’s okay to mourn those you loved. There’s no shame in it.”
“I didn’t say there was,” he grumbled.
She shrugged and rose from the bed. “I’m off to see your mother,” she announced as she smoothed down her skirts.
Zorin rose up on his elbows, his giant ebony wings spread out behind him against the black sheets. “So that was it? I bare my soul to you and tell you all about your son and then you leave me here?”
She smiled sweetly at him. “What else am I supposed to do with you?” she teased him. “Just because you were naked and had me in your bed doesn’t mean anything else.”
He snorted. “Tease.”
She waved blissfully at him. “You really are a good man, Zorin. Try to remember that.”
He groaned. “Someone save me from overly sentimental women.”
* * * *
Her laughter followed her out into the hall where she ran into Amalthea and her guards.
“Isabelle?” she asked, looking between her and Zorin’s dimly lit bedroom just beyond the door. “Have you been visiting my son so early?”
She nodded, unashamed. “Yes. I have.”
; Amalthea frowned at her. “That is hardly proper.”
Isabelle rolled her eyes and brushed off the older woman’s concerns. “I wanted to speak to you about the next council meeting.”
Amalthea blinked at her. “Oh? Did you have some input in topics to discuss?”
“Yes, I do,” Isabelle announced. She was warmed by the show of support Zorin made by coming up against her back. She turned and nodded to him, glad to see he had at least put on a pair of pants, even if they hung low around his hips and showed off a soft tangle of dark curls below his navel. She tried to ignore the heat in her cheeks as she faced down his mother.
“I want humans involved in the council. In the future I want representatives from each community elected to speak at the council, but for this next one I want you to invite businessmen and landowners as well as anyone else who wishes to come. I don’t care if they are beggars or streetwalkers. If they live in the Phaedran Empire they should have a say about what goes on here. I understand if not everyone can make it, but in the future I want them to try harder to attend.” Isabelle held up her hand as Amalthea began to protest. “And I want the Draconians and dragons to be allowed back in. There will be no more bounty on their heads. If I hear of any reports of someone trying to murder one of them I will have them executed.”
“But that’s preposterous! You can’t do that!” Amalthea sputtered.
Isabelle stared her down, confident and collected even as Zorin’s hand snaked around her side to land lightly on her hip in a clear sign of support. “I will not have my son or his father in danger. If anyone else is banned from the council meetings I want them able to attend as well. No longer will your meetings just be about the elite Angelus. Phaedra belongs to everyone now, just as it should have always been.”
Amalthea glared at her. “You are not the queen. You have no power here. You are a princess who has been cast out of her own lands. You do not get to make demands here. Stand aside.”
Isabelle narrowed her eyes at the queen. “I may not be queen yet. But I will be one day very soon and you can avoid a lot of bloodshed by helping to facilitate what will become of these lands. This will happen with or without you. Zorin?”
Dragon Flight Page 4