Bound by the Ice Dragon

by Alyx X

  “Who are the guests?” I murmured, my question so low I could barely hear it. I knew most of the Hydronians around me probably heard every word anyway.

  “I have no idea who Father scraped up to be here when we arranged to come at such short notice.” Izon’s voice boomed around the stark entryway, and I cringed. I didn’t want to be in the middle of a pissing contest between Izon and his father.

  Izon’s father only reacted with the tensing of his shoulders, and I drew in a couple of rapid breaths as I tried to calm myself.

  Inside the room he led us into, a small group of people stood in a huddle as they chatted. An older woman detached herself from the group and approached us.

  “You must be Tessa!” Her face was wreathed in smiles as she took my free hand and pressed it between hers.

  “Tessa,” Izon said, and my head whipped to look at him. “This is my mother, Breyla.”

  I dropped into an immediate, awkward curtsey, my face heating. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize. It’s a pleasure to meet you ma’am.”

  “You’ve already met my father, Andren.” Izon’s smile was a wry one.

  “Has she?” His mother flicked a worried glance at him. “Oh dear.” Her hands fluttered at the pearls at her neck.

  “Izon!” His father’s commanding voice rang out across the room. “Come here. I’ve got someone I’d very much like you to meet.” He held out his hand to a stunning blonde woman to his left. “This way, my dear. Come and meet my son, Izon.”

  She took his hand, a seductive smile on her face as she swept a low and practiced curtsey. Her walk practically oozed allure as Izon’s father led her towards us. “Your Majesty,” she murmured as she lowered her gaze coyly. “How very lovely to meet you.”

  “This is Alendra Kurzen, of the Kurzen Dynasty. We spoke of her when you visited last,” Izon’s father said by way of introduction.

  Alendra laughed lightly, charm and grace also oozing from her. “I’m honored to be the subject of your conversation,” she said in her perfectly pitched tone.

  I drew back. This woman was everything I wasn’t – poised, elegant, Hydronian. “Who’s she?” I whispered to Dyan when I accidently jostled into him.

  He took my elbow to steady me. “I believe she’s the previous king’s idea of a good mate for his son.”

  Andren Hurric looked past his son and straight at me, a sly smile claiming his lips. “Indeed,” he said, apparently having heard Dyan’s assessment.

  Izon’s shoulder tensed and a low growl rumbled through him, capturing the attention of every person in the room. They all lowered their heads to him, their immediate deference to their King obvious. I tried to shrink away, but Dyan held me steady in place.

  “Is that truly your intention?” Alendra took a step back at the anger in his voice. “You have dishonored me.” Izon continued, pointing at his father. “You have willfully ignored the preferences of your son and the commands of your King.” He paused and looked around like he was making sure he had the attention of everyone in the room. “Tessa, this woman—” He reached for my hand and I slipped it into his, warmth suffusing me as our skin made contact. “She is the one you should all be looking at, the person I intend to mate and make my Queen.” My heart clenched at his words, touched that he would be so bold in a room full of both his parents and other Hydronian dignitaries.

  “Have you lost hold of your senses?” Andren’s bark sounded across the room. Every head turned to him, but Izon stood taller. He was the King of this planet, and not even his father could argue with him. However, Andren’s voice had risen with every word until he was growling. “A human could never be Queen of Hydronia. Despite her pretty little attempt at looking like us, she will never be a dragon, and she shouldn’t dare try. It’s disrespectful. She can’t shift. You must choose a Hydronian, someone the same as you,” he insisted. Izon reacted to every sentence like a slap. Apparently his father had gone too far.

  Yet he pressed on, “What does she wear about her wrist?” He grasped my arm and peeled back my sleeve. “What is this odd little bauble? A symbol of an indentured servant is an interesting choice for a future queen, is it not?” he sneered. “I expected better of you, Izon. I taught you better. What does this human know of our ways?” He spat the question, and his eyes flashed as I caught a glimpse of the reptile moving beneath his skin.

  I yanked my arm back and drew my sleeve down with as much dignity as I could muster. Izon opened his mouth, but I squeezed his hand. While I appreciated him defending me, Andren had taken it too far.

  “I’m aware I have shortcomings,” I began, “but none of them are insurmountable.” I stopped briefly to take stock of myself, and as my voice hadn’t so much as trembled, I continued. “I’ve been studying Hydronian culture since I arrived because I want to be the best example for your grandchildren. I have applied myself to studying your history, politics, and world because I intend to be good enough for your son. I’m putting the work in so that I can be worthy of standing by his side. My only intention is to be good enough for both him and his people.”

  Izon turned to me and pressed a tender kiss to my temple. “You’re already so much more than worthy,” he whispered. “I’ve chosen you.”

  I closed my eyes and breathed him in as his protective scent surrounded me. Even here, among these people who didn’t want me, I felt safe with Izon.

  He turned to his father. “I won’t be taking another woman as my mate.” Then he offered a small bow to Alendra. “I’m sorry my father has wasted your time today,” he said. We had only been here a few minutes, and already Izon had asserted his right to choose a mate, carefully reminding everyone present who the real King of this planet was.

  Alendra merely nodded, a bright smile on her lips. Her gaze was curious, assessing. “As you wish.”

  She turned and strolled back to her family group, her movements so casual it was like she knew something that I didn’t. Her king had just rejected her, yet she was the most relaxed person in the room.

  “Andren Hurric. Father,” Izon said in a voice I’d never heard him use. “I tell you this now as your King, in front of witnesses. I choose Tessa Banks as my mate. That is the decision I have made, and you will respect it or face the consequences.”

  Breyla gasped. From the creases on her brow, the consequences Izon spoke of could be dire.

  I hugged Izon’s arm. I didn’t need this to turn into either a political incident or a familial one. I didn’t actually need Andren’s blessing, just the love of his son.

  “Do you understand me, Father?”

  But Andren turned and stalked from the room. Awkward chatter slowly returned to the group, and there was an air of tension that didn’t lift.

  Breyla worked her way around the room toward us, seeming hesitant as she watched both Izon and Dyan guarding me between them.

  “I am so sorry, dear,” she blurted. “I can only apologize on behalf of Andren. I had no idea he was inviting guests, and certainly no knowledge of what he intended to do. Though I suppose I should have assumed...Izon.” She turned pleading eyes to her son. “Go to your father. Show him mercy. I’m sure he didn’t intend to disrespect your position. He’s… He’s just…” She shrugged. “He’s old fashioned in his beliefs.”

  Izon snorted. “My way will never be good enough for him, Mother. We both know that.”

  She nodded. “In that case, you can definitely show an old man some mercy. Be better than he is.”

  Izon sighed. “As you wish, Mother.” He looked down at me. “I’ll be right back. Apparently, I have a stubborn old man to try to talk some sense into.” A grimace flashed over his features before he turned away, sparing me a parting kiss.

  Breyla patted her pearls as Izon walked away. “He’s a good boy,” she said. “And I am truly sorry about his father. That was very bad manners to spring that on you both when you’d only just arrived.”

  I almost smiled at her choice of words, like bringing it up any other time woul
d have been acceptable. But I felt for her—being married to Andren couldn’t have been the easiest life available to her. Though the nature of their relationship was not yet clear to me, part of me wondered if she’d loved him once, or if her marriage had been arranged for her by Andren’s father.

  She looked around. “I think I could use another drink.” She looked at me then at Dyan. “Can I get one for either of you?”

  Dyan held out his arm. “Allow me to escort you, ma’am,” he said, ever the gentleman.

  As they walked away, I stepped back against the wall, content to watch the people in the room and glad their attention was no longer on me. Izon had made some pretty big statements, and I still had to digest precisely what such pronouncements meant for me. For him. For the kingdom.

  “What did you do to him?” A throaty voice to my left startled me, and I turned to find myself facing Alendra. She stood at least six inches taller than me, and was made of nothing but blonde hair and curves.

  I looked around for Izon or Dyan, but Izon still hadn’t returned to the room and Dyan was handing Breyla an elegant glass of a fizzing ruby red liquid.

  “No matter what you tell yourself,” she continued, her stance casual like we were just shooting the shit, “you aren’t worthy of the King of Hydronia. I mean, look at you—you’re human. An indentured plaything. If you were smart, you’d end things with him now, and allow someone capable of being a real queen for the Hydronian people to step up.”

  “I suppose you think you’re that person?” I asked the question in a confident voice, but inside I shook with nerves.

  “Absolutely. Izon’s people, my people, will never accept you. But they know me. They know what I stand for and that I’m one of them. More importantly, I know them. I know what’s important to them, and I know how to get them to love me.” She leaned closer, but I held my ground.

  I didn’t want to show her any weakness, even when her chest rumbled with a low growl.

  “You will always be the nanny, little human.” She laughed. “Or… How did Andren put it? A bed-slave? And you’ll never be fit to be Queen. You will never be fit to rule at Izon’s side.”

  I caught my breath. Who the fuck was this bitch? God, I’d only been here for maybe fifteen minutes and I was already having a pissing contest with Miss Dragon Barbie?

  I didn’t want to be intimidated by her, but part of me just wanted to run screaming and hide until the sting from her words had eased and I could think clearly again.

  Although, maybe she was right. Maybe I was making the biggest mistake of my life. I’d come here to save Mom and somehow, I’d gotten swept up into one of her fairytales.

  And maybe I’d gotten it all wrong.

  19

  Izon

  “Father.” My tone was amicable as I entered his stark office, but when he whirled around in a blaze of anger suddenly all bets were off. “Father,” I boomed, not giving him the chance to speak first. I watched his face contort into anger at being addressed this way. His dragon lurked directly behind his eyes, threatening to emerge.

  I narrowed my eyes and folded my arms. “If I need to meet you as a dragon I will, but you won’t like the result.”

  He leaned forward, placing his fingertips on his desk, his chest rising and falling heavily. “Izon,” he ground out, his voice rough and gravelly. “You’re making a mistake that will affect the entire planet for a very long time. It’s a change to our history that I can’t allow. You’re being selfish.”

  I laughed in his face. Partly because I couldn’t help it, partly because I wanted to. “That choice is no longer yours to make. This isn’t something you have any say in. I am King and I will do as I please.”

  As the volume of my voice increased he flinched, and I had a moment of indecision. I could stay angry and talk to him in a language he seemed to understand—that of rage—or I could try for reason and chance him thinking he’d somehow won. I sighed. If I showed any sign of giving into his demands, he’d think he could trample all over my future decisions, both as his son and as his king.

  So, we were at a stalemate. I hated being an angry king. I hated disagreeing with my father.

  But.

  I couldn’t allow him to treat Tessa, my chosen mate, with continued contempt.

  We stood across the desk from each other, two sides of the same coin. Except one of those sides was King, and the other was a grumpy old man who believed he still knew best.

  “Father.” I returned to my conciliatory tone as his breathing seemed to slow. When I decided it no longer seemed he might shift into his dragon at the slightest spark of the wrong tone in my voice, I continued. “Tessa is my chosen mate, the woman I love. While I understand the merits of choosing a Hydronian mate, I have to consider my own happiness—and that of my children’s—when choosing my next Queen, and Tessa has filled a hole in their lives sorely needed. There’s no other way—you simply must accept that.”

  “I won’t!” He slammed his fist onto his desk, and his scales gleamed. “Mating a human?” He threw his head back and laughed, the sound filling the room. “Humans are beneath you. They’re beneath all of us! They can’t shift. They’re fragile and weak. I’ve heard they’re of limited intelligence, too. Izon, they’re shipped here as slaves. We buy them.”

  An unwelcome trickle of ice crept up my spine. This had been a reservation of mine from the beginning, buying humans, but I couldn’t show a glimmer of doubt in my choice.

  Father continued. “The Hydronian people will never accept her. Not as your mate or as their Queen. They will accept her as your children’s nanny of course, because those are the terms on which she was purchased. You are King, and you need to set an example for your people.” I sensed a familiar lecture coming on, and my father pulled out his desk chair to sat down as though this was just one more business meeting.

  This conversation had suddenly turned into a negotiation somehow, but this was a subject I wasn’t willing to compromise on. I remained standing. Height was about the only advantage I seemed to have over him right now.

  “I accept this is unprecedented,” I allowed. “No King in Hydronia’s history has taken a mate from any other species.”

  “For the good of all Hydronians, we marry our own,” he said, and I choked down revulsion at his display of speciesism.

  I ignored it. We were having enough problems communicating right now without the added problem of his old-fashioned prejudices. “I have every confidence in Tessa and her capabilities to win over my people. She has already shown great loyalty and love for the people of Hydronia, and I have seen with my own eyes the way they have accepted her already. She’s brave, Father. Brave and adaptable, and that’s saying more than many of the suitors you’ve wanted me to mate.”

  He shook his head, but he seemed to wilt as the last of his desire to fight left him. “I disagree in the strongest terms, Izon. Please, think of our people. Our Hydronian women need to see themselves represented. What will the country think if a Hydronian is suddenly not good enough for their king?” He sucked in a disapproving breath. “How can they respect a human who has been elevated above them?”

  “You’re being unreasonable, Father. You think too little of our people.” I tried to interrupt him, but he held up his hand and continued to talk, not even slowing down. The tone of his voice had become almost wheedling, a poor-man’s persuasion.

  “I’m not even saying that you can’t keep Tessa if you like. If you don’t want to call her your bed-slave, call her your mistress,” I jerked, as if he had struck me with his words. He forged ahead, “Many Kings in our long history have kept a mistress, while maintaining a Queen. Above all, you need a great Queen to inspire and unite our planet, not this human woman. She is already little more than a mistress. Besides,” he paused and a sly glint came to his eyes. “You know what they say—when you marry the mistress, you create a vacancy. Do as I say and make sure both positions are filled. It’s the only way forward.”

  I pressed
my lips together and ignored the ache in my gums. My dragon had become restless at my father’s words. “We shall have to remain at odds, then.” I shook my head. “Because Tessa isn’t my bed-slave, but nor will she ever be my mistress. She is as legitimate as Lyra was, and I’m in love with her. She deserves better than the way you are treating her and the way you intend for me to treat her.”

  Hoping my final words had been final enough, I abruptly turned and left his office, not giving him another chance to slander me or Tessa. I didn’t know when I’d next see him, and I didn’t know when I could bring myself to. Mother would have to go a little longer without access to her grandchildren, unless she could bear to leave her beloved island long enough to make a visit to my home.

  I sighed as I re-entered my parent’s drawing room. What I saw did not make me happy. Tessa was almost in the shadows, Dyan at her side, as everyone else in the room mingled and chatted. This was no way from my intended Queen to be introduced to society. I was disappointed in so many people in this house. My father had been nothing but rude and contemptuous, my mother was not doing any better as she was nowhere near Tessa, and everyone else was… well, ignoring her. It seemed that perhaps my father wasn’t the only one harboring distasteful thoughts for my chosen Queen. I suppressed a growl, this encounter had gone so much worse than I had anticipated.

  “Tessa.” I strode toward her, trying to make my stride appear more casual. “Unfortunately, the time has come for us to leave.” I made my voice loud so the whole room would hear me. I wanted them to know how disappointed I was in my people. I wanted them to feel remorse for the way they’d treated Tessa.

  Relief passed through her eyes, but she quickly hid it. “Is it?” She seemed uncertain.

  “Yes, I’ve had word from our driver about incoming tides.”

  Dyan sent me a curious glance but wisely didn’t contradict me.

  “I should say goodbye to your parents,” Tessa murmured.