A Dragon's Baby

by Lucy Fear

  “Oh, really?” she purred. “And what is going to happen to me then?”

  “I might just ignore all of the no doubt pressing reports awaiting my attention and carry you to the bedroom like a kidnapped bride for the express purpose of ravishing you.”

  “Hmmm. That sounds terrible,” she said with a chuckle, but she did stop teasing him. It did feel a little unfair.

  “In all seriousness, Teague has told me how far you’ve progressed in learning magic. I may have to take over your instruction myself and finally teach you all the transformation spells I know you’ve been dying to try. Then, we’ll be able to fly together.”

  She felt a thrill of excitement at this idea, the thing she had been most eager to learn, but she couldn’t resist prodding a little. “And is flying all we will do together?”

  “I suppose you’ll have to wait and see,” he said in a voice that told her that the wait would be more than worth it.

  And then, time slowed to a stop as an arrow zipped through the sky and buried itself into one of Aidan’s feathered wings. He gave a startled roar that made her ears ring. “Hold on!” was the only warning she got before he dove. She had her arms around his neck in a vise grip as they streaked toward the ground so fast that tears streamed from her eyes. She didn’t dare open them, knowing she would only see the ground approaching at a terrifying speed.

  His throat constricted, and there was an odd sound, a shrieking roar that ended in a crackling boom. She smelled brimstone and realized that he was breathing fire, just like a dragon in a storybook. Then, she felt the whirlwind, and she opened her eyes in sheer surprise.

  Feathers swirled around her, blocking her vision, but she felt the reassuring strength of his arms, and they were suddenly on the ground with barely a bump in a sphere of air surrounded by a raging inferno. With a sweep of his hand, the fire died, the ground cracking as it froze. The landscape around them was a lifeless plain of ash, and Aidan’s face was a cold mask of fury as he set her on the ground.

  “Ward yourself and stay right here,” he said, and all she could do was nod. She set the shielding spells as soon as he stepped away, and then hugged herself, worried for him even more than she was afraid for her own safety.

  He wore black, as usual, but she could see a spot of dampness on his upper arm where the arrow had wounded him. Now, he stalked through the charred remains of the forest that had once stood here, looking for something. Clues, she assumed, to whoever might have attacked them.

  It was really a miracle it hadn’t happened earlier, she mused even as she shivered, her eyes darting around, just waiting for another assailant to rise out of the smoke.

  But finally, Aidan returned, his expression grim. “Did you find anything?” she asked, hating the way her voice trembled. His face softened.

  “Yes. I found out what I wanted to know. Everything is going to be fine,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll have to make a gate. I need to see my father right away.”

  She nodded and watched as he cast the magic. It was a complicated spell, and she could see that it took a toll on him. He stood back as the portal shimmered into being, and she put a hand on the small of his back. “Aidan, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” he said, putting an arm around her waist. “I used several powerful magics in quick succession, but I’ll be back to normal in just a few hours. I’m just glad you’re safe. Are you ready to go?” She nodded, and they stepped through the portal together.

  ***********************

  He brought Rowan to the same bedroom she had used when she first came to Lord Kennet’s court. It felt ominous to her in a way she couldn’t put her finger on. “Stay here. I’ll return as soon as I can,” he said, his expression set. “I need to have a talk with my father.”

  Despite the alarm bells ringing in her heart, all she could think was that she was glad she wouldn’t have to witness what was sure to be a terrifying argument. Though she had known that Aidan was magically powerful, she had never seen him use it offensively before. He could’ve flattened London with a spell.

  She wasn’t afraid of him; she knew he would never harm her, or anyone, if he could help it. But she was afraid of Lord Kennet, and with how angry Aidan had been when he left, she was worried that a fight between them could turn explosive. However, an hour passed and then another, and she heard no booms. Nothing seemed to be happening at all, and she felt a strong urge to pace the halls. She would’ve started reading, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to concentrate.

  Luckily, just as she thought she might scream with frustration, the door opened and Aidan entered, trailed by Fenella. The handmaiden’s eyes were wide, but it didn’t seem like fear. His face, however, was both angry and desolate. Rowan went to him immediately. “What happened? What’s wrong?” she asked.

  He put his arms around her in an almost desperate embrace. “Nothing. Everything is fine,” he said, not very convincingly, but she didn’t have time to protest. He kissed her once, hard, and then looked into her eyes. His were wide and shining when he spoke. “I love you,” he said, fierce and fervent, but before she could even react, he kissed her again, and everything went black.

  CHAPTER 12

  When she woke up again, she was in a room she thought she’d never see again. It was her bedroom back in London. Everything seemed drab and dull as she sat up and looked around in confused horror. “You’re finally awake,” said a familiar voice.

  “Fenella!” Rowan exclaimed, feeling somewhat relieved even through her distress. “What is going on? Why am I back here?”

  Her once-familiar looked at her with a sad expression. She was still a girl, but now her appearance was purely human, blond and blue-eyed with no cat ears in sight. “Aidan convinced Lord Kennet to cancel your contract. Your father’s too. You’re free.”

  Rowan sat in stunned silence for several heartbeats. Free? She knew she should have been thrilled. Everything was back to normal. She would not have to bear a half-fae child and leave it in the Otherworld. But her heart felt like it was breaking. She had wanted to stay. She loved him. She would have stayed forever if he’d let her.

  “Why? He said that he loved me…” she said, tears streaming down her face. Fenella sat down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulder.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “But I’m going to look into some things. I’ll do whatever I can, but…” She paused and looked up. “I have to go. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She disappeared just as Blair came in with a pitcher of water.

  He was thrilled to see her awake. All of the servants were. And her father was recovering too. Everyone hugged and praised her; the house was filled with high spirits. But all she could feel was hollow and empty.

  Rowan didn’t think she’d ever cried so much in her life. She didn’t want to; her logical mind told her it was ridiculous. It served no purpose, and since this was obviously what Aidan wanted, she ought to feel glad that he hadn’t waited longer to abandon her. Or alternatively, she should appreciate the limited time she’d had with him, since it was a relationship doomed to failure.

  But every time she imagined his smile, the tears started falling whether she willed it or no. She could hardly sleep. The bed was the same one she had slept in since childhood, but without his arms around her, it no longer felt comfortable or familiar.

  Blair was worried, but he seemed to know there was nothing he could say. She had refused to tell anyone what had happened in the Otherworld. Not because she was ashamed. It just hurt too much, and they wouldn’t have understood.

  She knew they would all be scandalized; they would think she’d been taken advantage of. Well, perhaps Lord Kennet had pressured her unfairly in her desperate moments, and certainly she felt Niall would not have been kind to her. But she couldn’t hate them, because they had led her to Aidan. Everything with him had always been her choice. Except right at the end.

  After a week had passed, her father finally came to see her. He l
ooked a little older than she remembered, and his face was gaunt, but otherwise, Geoffrey Ravencroft appeared to be healthy with all his mental faculties intact. He had his hat in his hand, but he was dressed to go out. She didn’t know what to say to him. “Blair tells me you haven’t left your room.”

  “No,” she said, looking down at her hands in her lap. “I haven’t really felt like seeing anyone.” He took a step toward her, and she felt his hand rest on her head. She couldn’t remember the last time her father had touched her in an affectionate way. “Father?” She looked up, but he was staring at the ceiling as if inspiration might be found there.

  “I know what you did. What you tried to do for me.” There was no censure in his voice, which surprised her. If there was anyone who would disapprove of cavorting with a Prince of the Fair Folk, it would have been him. “I can’t say anything to make it easier. You shouldn’t have had to make such a choice. I am sorry.” He moved his hand from her head and walked back to the doorway.

  She had no words for him, but she could feel the tears start to fall again. “Prince Aidan came to take tea with me every few days,” he said. “He’s a good man. Whatever happened, I’m sure he felt it was the right thing to do, but I don’t think he would’ve wanted you to give up because of it.” He put on his hat. “I have to go meet with the Privy Council. I’ll be home for dinner.” Then, he was gone, leaving Rowan blinking her eyes and wondering if she’d suffered a strange hallucination.

  She suspected her father had meant to imply that Aidan wouldn’t have wanted her to give up on life, but she took it a completely different way. She couldn't give up, not on him, no matter what he wanted. Her mind on fire, she went to her desk and started looking through her journals and papers frantically. Somewhere here, it had to be…

  “Looking for this?” said Fenella’s familiar voice, holding out a leather-bound journal that had fallen to the floor.

  “You’re back!” Rowan exclaimed, throwing her arms around her friend. “Does this mean you’ve discovered some information?”

  Fenella nodded. “Better than information. I bribed one of the invisible servants who happened to be in the throne room when Prince Aidan arrived. Now, you’ll be able to see exactly what happened through the eyes of someone who was there.”

  “The Palace has invisible servants?!” The idea that a bunch of people she couldn’t see may have been watching her at all times gave her the shivers. But there wasn’t time for this. “Never mind. Just show me.”

  Fenella nodded and pulled a small, silk-wrapped object out of her pocket. It was an orb of glass or crystal. “When you touch it, the memory will expand around you, just like if you were there, but you won’t be able to interact with anything. So, no screaming or throwing punches,” she added with a half-smile. “Also, it might be a little disorienting, so you’d better sit down.”

  Rowan seated herself on the edge of the bed, and Fenella tipped the orb into her hands. As soon as she felt the smooth, cool object against her fingers, the light around her changed, becoming bright and golden. She could hear the sound of angry footsteps echoing off the marble tile and a murmur of voices. She blinked, and she was looking at the person she most wanted to see.

  Prince Aidan stood on the top step of the dais, his posture tense. Rowan saw him from the side, from a lower height than she was used to, and the invisible observer whose memory she borrowed was reticent to look directly in the prince’s face, but she could hear his voice perfectly well.

  “So, you will do nothing?” he said, low and furious.

  “What would you have me do?” boomed Lord Kennet. “You have no proof that your brother had any knowledge of this attack. Besides, this is standard Court behaviour. If you cannot protect one woman, how can you expect to rule?”

  “Oh, that’s rich, coming from you. I won’t have Rowan’s safety be made into a game for your amusement,” Aidan replied, his voice dripping venom. “The only reason this happened is because you don’t have the balls to make a choice yourself.” Rowan could hardly believe Aidan had the nerve to say that to his father, no matter how angry he was, but Lord Kennet didn’t even react.

  “I believe my method is more fair and impartial,” he said, crossing his arms.

  “Fair? There is nothing about this that is fair. Not to me, not to her. Not even to Niall,” Aidan said, throwing his arms out in frustration. “You set him up for failure.”

  “Perhaps I was simply tired of watching you sitting on your hands. If you want something, you need to take action.” It seemed to Rowan that Lord Kennet grew colder with every word while Aidan only became angrier. But then, it was like a switch had been flipped, and his face set into something icy, emotionless and implacable.

  “I am taking action now,” he said. “Release them from the bargain. Rowan and her father. I’ll win my throne another way.”

  “You’re taking quite a risk. Niall isn’t just going to back down.”

  “I would rather fight him one on one than take a chance with Rowan’s life. Maybe when things are settled…”

  When Lord Kennet laughed, it was cruel. “Subduing your brother and his supporters could take hundreds of years. By the time you think it’s safe, your little mortal girl will be long gone.”

  “Then I will wait!” Aidan shouted, his composure cracking for the space of a single heartbeat. He took a deep breath and leaned into his father. Power leaked from him in shadowy rivulets until it surrounded him like a cloak and filled the room with ebony skies and starlight. For the first time, Rowan wondered if he might be much more powerful than his father. If he had just been biding his time.

  “I will wait ten thousand years for her soul to be reborn if that’s what it takes. I love her. I won’t use her and throw her away. I am not you,” he said, his voice deep and cold like the heart of a glacier. “You will release them from the bargain.”

  Lord Kennet did not appear to be afraid, but he was awed, and Rowan thought, proud. “It is done.” Aidan straightened and took a step back, drawing his power within himself. He looked weary and desolate, just as he had the last time she saw him. “What will you tell her?” his father asked, though with more kindness than she would’ve guessed he possessed.

  “Nothing,” Aidan said. “If this is truly the end, I would rather she hate me and move on with her life than wait for a day that might never come.” He turned and exited the throne room without another word.

  Lord Kennet sighed after him. “I am sorry, son. Everything I have done for you has turned out wrong.”

  The vision faded, and Rowan was back in her room. She could feel the tears streaming down her face, and Fenella handed her a handkerchief. “Now, you know how he feels. So, what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to go back, obviously,” Rowan said fiercely. “I love him, and I’m not going to let him push me away just to protect me. He’s being ridiculous.” Fenella looked relieved. “Is that why you showed me that memory?” Rowan asked, laughing with sudden realization. “You needn’t have bothered. I was going to come back anyway.”

  “You don’t know how happy I am to hear that. I was afraid I was going to have to work hard to convince you. Prince Aidan needs your help. He would never say so, but he’s in a bad situation,” Fenella said, and Rowan noticed for the first time that she looked exhausted.

  “Oh, sit down here, Fenella, and I’ll pour you some tea. I must say that I’m slightly hurt. You really didn’t think I would help?”

  The fae woman sighed as she accepted the tea cup. “You forget that I wasn’t there with you in the Court of Waves. For all I knew, you’d had some sort of argument, and of course, Aidan wouldn’t say anything.

  I didn’t have any idea what happened until I saw the memory myself. And even then, the last time I saw you, you were a wreck. I can’t say I would have blamed you for being angry.”

  “I am angry,” Rowan admitted. “Angry that he wouldn’t at least tell me the truth and let me decide a course on my own. But that doesn’t
mean I’ve stopped loving him. So, tell me what’s going on.”

  “Just like you saw in the vision, Prince Aidan swore he would defeat his brother without using you, so he challenged Niall to a duel. One on one, two weeks to prepare, magic, but no weapons.

  Normally, I would have said he should have done it long ago. Niall is physically strong, but it he has nothing on Aidan’s magic. I mean, you’ve seen what he can do,” she said, waving her hand in the direction of the crystal orb that contained the memory.

  “But it’s almost like Niall planned for this all along. That arrow Aidan was shot with was poisoned. It’s nothing fatal, but it is draining his magical power faster than he can replenish it. The really frustrating thing is that he won’t do anything about it. Not talk to his father, not try to postpone the duel. It’s almost like he’s given up.”

  Rowan felt a surge of anger and worry. Anger at Niall and worry for the man she loved. “Do you believe if I go back, it will motivate him to keep fighting?”

  “That’s my hope. And maybe you can talk to Lord Kennet on his behalf. If he had another week, and he actually rested, I think the poison would be out of his system.”

  Rowan nodded, but she turned to her once-handmaiden with a critical eye. There was something that had been bothering her for a while. “Forgive me for saying this, Fenella, because you’ve been nothing but a friend to me, and I have no reason to distrust you, but you seem to know an awful lot about what’s going on for a simple chambermaid.”

  Fenella laughed sheepishly. “I’m surprised you didn’t question me beforehand. In the beginning, you assumed I worked for Lord Kennet, and I just let you believe it.

  The truth is that I work for Prince Aidan. I always have. I was what you might call a spy or a scout before I stumbled into being your familiar. But, just like I told you before, I wasn’t supposed to interfere, only to watch and report back.”