by JF Jenkins
"What if she does reject me?" Matt finally asked.
When their eyes met, Jason saw the fear in his brother's gaze. "She won't reject you. You said it yourself, she'll understand. Kat has always been level headed, and I think she'll welcome the idea of living in our world instead of her own. I don't know her quite as well as you, but when we hang out, this is what I read off of her."
"I won't doubt your instincts then."
"Good, because according to you they are always right," Jason teased. The girl his brother loved was immature and naive as well, but he didn't mention that. Matt needed encouragement. Besides, she was young, even younger than they were. She'd come into her own eventually.
The two watched the sky together in silence. Jason sighed, saying, "I'm nervous about everything changing. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to it, but I like things how they are just fine too—especially with us. It's good to have someone I can count on."
"That isn't going away," Matt said. "I'll always have your back, just like you will always have mine. We did share the womb together." He laughed.
Jason sighed. "I figured I'd share, is all. It didn't feel right for you to say something deep and meaningful then say nothing. So that's my fear. That things are going to change so much, too fast, to the point where life is unrecognizable. A woman can do that. So can growing up. I think it's why I'm not sure I want a relationship. Too many adjustments at once. I don't know if I can handle them all. It's a little overwhelming."
"You don't have to partake in the ritual, you know. If you're not ready, I mean."
"Yes, I do. If I don't, then I'll never be respected. I'd rather take my chances. I'm sure in a year, I will be ready."
Matt watched him for a minute. Jason was pretty sure his brother didn't believe him. "As long as you're sure. This year is going to be like the world turning upside down."
"I don't understand," Jason said, frowning. Matt wasn't talking simply about women and moving out of the home anymore, but Jason couldn't quite figure out what he meant either.
What did his brother know? He'd always been more on the inside when it came to politics and the happenings in the country. Something was going on though, and Matt was keeping it from him. Part of the price Matt paid for being one of the leading commanders of the army. The brothers had a mutual understanding, and Jason never pressed for information when it wasn't appropriate to ask. Matt had promised a long time ago that he would tell his brother everything; it just might not happen right away. Jason trusted Matt, so while he frowned, it was more from curiosity than frustration.
"I'll miss you at the castle," Matt said.
Jason sighed, taking the subject change as a hint. He wouldn't be finding anything new out today. "I'll still be close. You know I'll never be far away."
"Father said he'll keep your room for you in case you change your mind and you don't think the house is working out."
Jason nodded, trying his best to not scowl at the idea. The whole point of getting his own house was to break away and do his own thing for a little while. Why did his father care so much about him staying close? He never showed the same concern for any of his other sons. Jason was still favored, but the two were not as close.
He loved his father, but sometimes he wondered if the man only offered him as much as Matt because they were twins and inseparable. Sometimes Lynx tried having similar heart-to-heart talks with him as he did with Matt, but it wasn't the same. Jason could see something different in his eyes when they were alone than what he saw when Lynx looked at Matt. He wished he knew what it meant.
Everything about Lynx would always be a mystery, though. All Jason wanted was to discover the world for himself, and the coming of age ritual would be his ticket to do so. Hopefully, the girl he chose to take along for the ride would understand.
Chapter Five
They came for her in the middle of the night. Gwen had been sleeping when the men dressed in the dark red leather uniform of the Inero Royal Guard pulled her from her bed.
"What are you doing with my daughter?" her father demanded. Fear kept him by his wife's side. The Royal Guard were known to lash out if they felt it necessary. They also punished entire families and towns for one individual's mistake.
Thankfully, the members of the guard were not insulted by his question. The one holding her arm said, "She's Elite," as if that was supposed to explain everything.
The men shoved Gwen into a limousine where three girls sat, along with two other members of the guard, and they were all driven away. Gwen tried staring out the window to the pass the time, but she couldn't see much other than darkness. Soon, a few lights came into view and she could make out buildings larger than she'd ever seen before. Was this Inero City?
The car stopped and she was ushered out of the limo. More guards surrounded her. She knew it would be futile to try escaping. She decided not to show them how afraid she actually was. I will be strong. If only because my parents will need me to be. She didn't want them to be punished because of her. None of the other young women with her were afraid, so maybe there was nothing for her to be worried about. That feeling of security soon left her, however, when they were led into a large room and lined up single file. Staring back at them was a line of ten young men.
Gwen had heard rumors about what happened to the Elite women chosen. They told of young women being taken from their homes to be auctioned off to men in the Royal Guard. She didn't want to believe they were true. As she stood in front of these men, feeling more like a piece of meat than a person, she wondered if Elite was just another word for harem. Her stomach began to turn itself into knots.
There were older men there as well who stood to the side, watching and making sure none of the women tried to flee. The younger men eyed the females with eager smiles, for the most part. Only two stared straight in a stoic manner--a pair of identical twins, handsome ones at that. Each had short, dark hair, and eyes that matched. They were both tall and strong looking, but not intimidating. She did not look upon them with fear simply because they did not look at her as though she were an object.
No one said a word. One of the older members of the guard who stood off to the side nodded. A twin nodded back. He walked up to a girl, taking her hand. The two exchanged a smile, as though they knew one another, before leaving the room together.
Then it was his twin's turn. His interest was on Gwen. Dark eyes watched her, narrowing. Not once did they roam over her body. He only stared at her face. He took in a slow breath, then stepped toward her, offering his hand.
"Take it," he whispered. 'Trust me' the look in his eyes seemed to urge her. Hesitantly, she did as he commanded, then he took her from the room.
"Where are we going?" she asked once they were outside. "What's going on?"
"Shh." He pressed a finger to his lips. "We can talk in a minute."
Quickly, he led her through stone hallways. Gwen never got to see where she was brought. It was too dark around the building when she had first entered, and they had been moving too quickly for her to process the details. From the stone walls she could see by the dim lighting of the interior, she could only assume it was some kind of a castle. He unlocked a door, then he pulled her inside a bedroom suite.
Immediately, she pulled away from him. "Please don't hurt me."
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said. He leaned against the door and closed his eyes. "I'm trying to help you."
"By taking me away from my home?" She folded her arms to intimidate him.
"I didn't tell anyone to take you away and I didn't do it myself," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He finally looked up at her again. "If it was up to me, you'd still be at home. For now, go ahead and get comfortable. I'm sure you're tired because it's late. Sleep, then we can talk in the morning."
Gwen didn't move. "I don't think so. If this is all some kind of an act to get me to sleep with you—"
"I'm not trying to have sex with you. I don't want to," he said, letting out a hea
vy sigh. "I don't even know you!"
The two were quiet for a few minutes. Tired of standing, Gwen finally settled on sitting at the edge of the bed, but she didn't let her guard down. Her eyes never left him.
After a few minutes passed, he stepped away from the door, moving to the opposite end of the room to sit in a chair. He hunched forward, rubbing his hands together as he stared at the floor.
"They've chosen you to be a part of the Elite," he said at last. "Which is another way of saying you've been handpicked to be my mate."
"I'm not—"
"I told you, I'm not interested in that. Unlike most of my brothers, I believe in proper courtship and earning the privilege to be your love. I'm not even interested in having a relationship, necessarily. If I had declined to participate in this ritual, I would have lost a lot of honor. It might not mean much to you, but it's important I keep as much respect as possible. I'm not sure how to explain it so you'll understand."
"Honor is important out in the country as well. To save my family's face I didn't punch out the men who took me from my home. Without honor, things can become complicated," Gwen said.
His jaw dropped in surprise, and his eyes went wide as he looked up at her. "Yes, exactly. Back to my original point though, I did not want to do this to you. I want you to know that I will respect you, care for you, and make sure you are safe. I will treat you like a proper spouse should even if we are forced into this."
"Spouse? I never agreed to being a wife."
"That's the purpose of the ritual of the Elite. What did you think I meant when I said mate?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Gwen glanced down at her hands; a shiver ran down her spine. "I'm not sure. How can any of the others be okay with this? How can you get away with it?"
The young man shrugged before leaning forward, his gaze still on her. "My brothers are persuasive. The line suggested for me to use went something like, 'You're a princess now and I am your prince. I will give you the world if you'll be mine.' It's not necessarily a lie, but I didn't want to feed it to you. I'd rather get to know you first and decide from there what's going to happen."
"Why?" she asked.
"Why do I want to get to know you? Or why do this to begin with?"
"Both."
"I'll start with why I want to get to know you. It's simple. I'm not ready, and I don't think I could ever give myself fully to someone I don't know. I can give you more details about why I think this later, but I think I should explain the more complicated portion first."
She nodded, craving any kind of information he could give her. As much as she wanted to bolt out the door and make a run for it, she also needed to know. While she was confident that if she tried to run, he'd let her go, it still didn't feel worth the risk. This young man hadn't hurt her, yet. She'd give him the benefit of the doubt until he gave her reason to think otherwise.
He rubbed the side of his face for a few seconds. "What do you know about the dragons?"
"I know they roam the land, exacting God's plan on the people," she said with a roll of her eyes. The Inero dragons claimed to be holy creatures, but it was hard to think of them as such when they'd burned countless farms to the ground. She did not believe God wanted this.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"No, not much else outside of the fact they seem to be everywhere."
He nodded then leaned back in his chair. He didn't look at her. "What would you do if I told you the dragons were everywhere and they walked among you without you knowing?"
"I'd say it was strange, but I've also heard stranger things," she said carefully, not wanting to insult him and have him stop talking to her. She was too curious as to where he was going with this.
"They do walk among you. We walk among you, as humans."
"Are you trying to tell me you're one of the dragons?" she almost laughed. It sounded ridiculous.
"Yes, I am telling you that. Which I know sounds odd, and you're no doubt skeptical, but bear with me as I try to explain," he said, drawing in a deep breath. "When the first dragon was created, God gave him the ability to transform into a human. This was to teach the dragon how to respect humans, but also for survival. The first dragon needed a female. Even now, dragons are always born male. Thus, we need human females to continue our species. To mate with.
"The Elite are how we choose our women. It's difficult to court normally because we age slower, have magic—among a slew of other complications—so this is our alternative. Most of my brothers are only interested in the breeding portion of the ritual anyway. In fact, I'm sure if there was no need for hierarchies to be declared via bloodlines, the institution of marriage would be completely thrown away."
Gwen sat in silence, processing his story. A clever tale but still, a story. How could such a thing be true? Finally, she shook her head at him. "I'm not buying it."
"I didn't expect you to. Still, I wanted to be up front and honest with you. When it's not so late, I can give you more evidence. I'll also need more space to transform in front of you. Besides, it wouldn't be good for me to scare you further. I'm sure if you screamed it would draw a lot of unwanted attention to the room."
"I thought you didn't want to hurt me?"
"I don't but it's a startling thing to see a dragon transform for the first time. Especially if you don't believe it's possible," he said, winking at her then cracking a small smile. A beautiful, genuine smile and with it he found a way to gain some more of her trust.
Gwen faltered slightly, shifting on the bed for a moment before averting her gaze from him all together. "So what happens now?"
"Sleep, I suppose. I'd say we could leave, but I'm not sure that would go over well with my brothers. If you try to sneak out, they'll disgrace you and take advantage of you or maybe kill you. Possibly both. It'd be better to ride the night out and discuss our options in a more private setting."
"More private than here?" she asked. No one else was around. Unless someone was spying on them. Her nose crinkled at the thought. "Disgusting."
"Yes, I agree." He paused. "What's your name?"
"Gwenaelle," she said softly. "For someone who wants to get to know me, you sure are late to ask."
"My apologies," he said, lowering his eyes. "At least I asked, which is more than I can say for some of my brothers."
"And you are?" Gwen asked as she adjusted herself on the bed. She lay down, but the last thing she felt was tired.
"My name is Jason," he said.
She picked up one of the pillows on the bed and tossed it to him. If he meant what he said about not hurting her, she wanted to extend the same courtesy to him. "Don't think I'm going to let you off easy."
"I don't deserve to be. Sleep sweet, Gwenaelle."
Chapter Six
"No one tried anything when they took you from home right?" Matt asked. He moved his hands up and down Kat's arms slowly, being awfully affectionate. They'd touched before, but nothing she thought of as romantic and intimate. In the past it had seemed like he had held back. Whatever apprehensions he had then were now gone.
Kat shook her head. Happy tears were in her eyes. "My parents practically shoved me out the door. They even packed a bag. The guard members were kind and gentle."
"Good."
"How long have you known this was going to happen?" she asked.
Matt gave her a weak smile. "My whole life?"
"Mmhmm, be honest with me." She put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows, even daring to stand up on her toes to give her more height. Anything she could do to try and intimidate the information out of him she was going to try.
He laughed and kissed her cheek, letting his lips linger against her skin for a few seconds. The warm feeling ran through her entire body. "I am being honest with you. Ever since I can remember, I was told that some day I would choose my wife from the Elite. I didn't know you would be a part of it until earlier today. There was no way I could guarantee you as mine, but I was prepared to do anything to make it
so."
"So why do you get to have an Elite bride?" It didn't matter much to her. They were together, but the curiosity was still there. It seemed like information that would be worth knowing.
"I guess you could say I'm kind of a big deal," he said with a smirk. He sat down on the bed and patted it. Taking that as a hint, she sat next to him, bouncing onto it. "How about I tell you a bedtime story?"
"That's sweet of you, but is it necessary?"
"I think so. Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, God created the Earth. He made the four Great Dragon Lords: Aero, Inero, Oceina, and Terran. All were impressive beasts who were tasked with protecting and keeping the planet safe."
She dared to touch his arm, even to trail her fingers up to his shoulder in a flirtatious manner. "You know, I have heard this story before. Tell me something new."
"Something new?" He raised an eyebrow. "All right, I will. What isn't written in the books is that the dragons were given an extra magic besides their elemental type. God gave them the ability to shift into a human form. Part of why I'm a big deal? Is because I am one of these dragons."
Her eyes narrowed as she tried to decide if she should believe him or not. Matt had never lied to her before, but he was known for the occasional prank. Whenever he did, his eyes had a soft glimmer in them and his lips always hid a smile. As she studied his face, she noticed neither of these things were present.
Kat swallowed, trying to find the right words. "So you're a dragon and I'm now your wife? Does that mean I'm a dragon too and I've never realized it?"
"No. But if you'll have me, you too will have many of the gifts I've been given. Invulnerability to fire, perhaps even a spell, the ability to talk to me whenever you wish, and a longer life so we can be together for centuries. If you'll have me, you will become like my kind. And that is why I have an Elite bride. Only the best are allowed this privilege. I meant it when I said I think you're perfect. If anything, I am not worthy to be with you."