Zorin openly grinned at her. “I can make it so that you’re not breathing at all then, Princess,” he suggested casually, placing a hand on his hip, just inches from the hilt of his sword.
“Leave her alone,” Faolan snapped at him.
“Then come with me,” he replied, his attention once again fixed on Faolan.
Faolan nodded and sighed loudly, running a hand through his long hair. “Fine.” He turned to Isabelle and stroked her gently on the arm. “Go back to your own room for now. I’ll tell them to bring you and Caden something to eat.”
He watched her smile at him before he walked away.
Chapter Six
Caden was resting peacefully so she kissed his cheek and left him alone.
Back in her room, Isabelle slumped warily into the closest chair. Despite their budding connection, Isabelle felt as if she shared a bed with a complete stranger, which did very little to help her sleep at night. Even if they did have separate rooms. To add to it, the mountain itself set her on edge. This was the dragon’s territory and although she had yet to see one up close, she knew they were out there somewhere, just waiting to snap her up.
While it was true that the worst stories she had heard about dragons had come from Andrew, it was also true that no one had ever said anything kind about the beasts to contradict him either. By all accounts, they were giant, highly intelligent predators that could outrun even the fastest horses and had a taste for young women. Not the sort of thing she wished to meet at night, which was why she never ventured onto the ledge.
A knock from the open doorway caught her attention and she turned to look at the guard standing there.
“Lords Thadius, has changed his mind and he and Faolan wish to invite you to a late meal to be served in the great hall in precisely one hour,” he said. With a stiff bow, he was down the hall before Isabelle could even open her mouth to reply.
She didn’t feel up to having a formal meal, or any meal really, but by the way the guard had made it sound she had little choice in the matter. With a sigh, she pushed herself up from the chair. After slipping her feet into the matching shoes and quickly twisting her hair up into an elegant knot, she was ready to go.
A different guard, she was happy to see, was waiting patiently outside her room when she emerged. After giving her a small bow, he silently escorted her through the many corridors until they were standing before a stone archway.
Isabelle took a breath and nervously smoothed her dress. A chuckle behind her caused her to turn toward the guard.
“You should relax,” he whispered. “Lord Thadius likes to make meals sound like a more formal affair than they really are. Just remember to eat slowly and don’t speak unnecessarily. You’ll be fine. Now get in there, our lord hates to be kept waiting.”
“Thank you,” Isabelle whispered gratefully before smiling at him. “You aren’t like the other guards,” she quickly told him.
He smiled politely. “Unlike most of the guards, I am a Draconian that has chosen to look human for the moment.”
“Oh, are you related to Faolan then?” she asked.
He shook his head no and spoke quietly. “My line was killed. I came to Thadius to exchange my services as a guard for his protection. Alone we are vulnerable, but in a clan we have safety in numbers.”
She nodded in understanding and smiled at him. She took another deep breath and then walked confidently into the room with her chin up and her shoulders back. Her mother, the lady that she was, would have been proud.
As the only other people in the room, Thadius and Faolan were not hard to miss. She waited patiently for them until they had finished speaking before approaching them though. By Thadius’s large grin, she could tell that the dress met with his approval, but it was Faolan’s slight smile and the soft blush of his pale cheeks that made her heart flutter. He rose from the table and came to her. Then, with two fingers resting gently on her elbow, Faolan led her to the table and pulled out a chair for her. Once she was seated, Faolan took his place by her side and Thadius sat across from them. Seconds later a group of men brought forth glasses of wine, a loaf of crusty bread and bowls of soup and they began eating in silence.
Halfway through the roast pheasant, Isabelle felt a strong wind against her back from the open archways along the back wall. A moment later, there was a thud that shook the stone beneath her feet and nearly toppled her untouched glass of wine. Curiously, she turned to look over her shoulder. In an instant, she had bolted out of her chair, nearly toppling it. She stood facing a very large green dragon.
Her hand reached behind her for the butter knife resting beside her plate, but as the beast’s large yellow eyes flashed to her and his nostrils flared, she thought better of it. Absently, she felt Faolan’s fingers press into her upper arm to steady her as she continued to stare helplessly up at the dragon.
“D-D-Dragon…” she finally managed to whisper after a few more minutes of unbearably tense silence.
Foalan’s grip on her arm tightened. His lips brushed against her ear as he whispered, “Isabelle, please, stay where you are, he will not harm you.”
Thadius cast them both disapproving glances before stepping around the large table and coming to stand in front of the beast. He held his arms out and smiled widely and said, “Ah, Lysander, so good to see you again.”
Isabelle tensed and turned toward Faolan. “Your father has a pet dragon?” she hissed at him, a second too late realizing how loud her voice was in the silent room.
The dragon’s head swung away from Thadius as he took in her figure before him. “Pet?” Surprisingly fast and graceful, he was standing in front of the couple in an instant. “How dare you!” he roared at her. “I am no one’s pet!”
Faolan stepped in front of her with his hands above his head defensively, shielding her from the dragon’s angry glare. “Please, sir, my wife, she does not know of our ways. I have been neglectful in teaching her, a mistake I will soon rectify.”
The dragon seemed placated at that, almost happy as he took a step back and nodded its large green head. “Good. See that you do, young prince. It is good, too, that you have found yourself a mate. But tell me, how does she come to know nothing of our ways?”
“Sir, she is human,” Faolan offered apologetically.
“Hmm, pity then I suppose. Human, a shame really. But to each his own. But no matter, I bring urgent news from the south. Thadius, perhaps you and your son could join me?” the dragon said.
Thadius nodded quickly. “Certainly. Isabelle, there should be a guard waiting to take you back to your rooms in the hallway.”
Once Faolan had released her arm, Isabelle turned and left as swiftly as manners would allow. Her tears were barely contained as she followed the guard back to her chambers. She was terrified and deeply mortified. To not only come face to face with a dragon, but to also be insulted by one in the span of only a few minutes was almost too much.
Still shaking and fully clothed, she curled up under the sheets and pulled her pillow close in a tight hug.
Chapter Seven
Isabelle was sitting up in bed, awake and waiting for him when Faolan walked through the door early the next morning. He met her eyes briefly before pulling his shirt off and tossing it into a corner.
“Who was that dragon last night?” she asked as he pulled a clean shirt on.
He gave a short sigh before turning toward her, his broad shoulders leaning against the smooth stone wall. “Lysander?”
“Yes.”
Faolan rubbed his tired eyes and poured himself a cup of tea. “He’s the king of the green dragons. They have a clan south of here. You know, you should be more careful of what you say here. He was deeply insulted by what you said. It took hours to calm him down fully once you left.”
“Don’t you mean after your father kicked me out?” she quickly snapped.
“Well you had just insulted a very powerful ruler.” His voice was slow, as if he
were talking to an ignorant child. It only helped to make her anger grow.
“Oh he was insulted? Really now? So you coddle him while he’s allowed to talk about me as if I was the worst possible being in the world. Did you hear what he said when you told him that we’re married?” she replied heatedly.
He sat the teacup down with a loud clank, causing her to tremble. “Yes I did and you’ve obviously never paid attention to any history if you can sit there and yell at me for trying to calm him down.”
“I’ll have you know I studied under some of the greatest minds in Nuer,” she spat.
“Did they forget to mention what the humans did to the dragons then? Why they live on the fringes of the empire?” he charged back.
“How dare you defend those monsters! They murdered hundreds of innocents!”
“After your kind put a bounty on their heads!” he roared back at her, his face flushed with rage.
“You’re a dragon sympathizer!”
“Well my father does keep one for a pet in case you hadn’t noticed!”
“You’re a monster. If you cared for me at all you would have defended my honor, taken up a sword, and killed the beast on the spot. My brother Andrew barely knows me and yet he has still slain plenty of those horrid creatures for me and all you can do is sit there and befriend the thing,” she said as angry tears began forming under her lashes.
He stared at her openly, his jaw slack, the raised teacup frozen halfway to his lips. “Listen to me closely now. I will never attack one of their kind for any reason, and certainly not in the name of your honor of all things, unless you are in serious mortal danger. But perhaps I should have let him eat you. Then maybe I wouldn’t have to listen to this insanity any longer.”
Her cheeks were tinted in an angry blush. Her hands gripped the covers in tight balls. “Well why didn’t you?”
Faolan smiled sweetly at her. “I couldn’t risk possibly losing my heir, could I now?”
She gasped loudly. “So that’s all I am to you?”
“No, right now you’re a raving lunatic who can’t accept how close she was to death. Don’t you get that he wanted to kill you? How easy it would have been for him?”
“You saved my life,” she said quietly, realization making all heat leave her voice.
He rolled his eyes and sighed. “You humans really are slow sometimes.”
“Do I really mean nothing to you?”
“No,” he replied quietly, forcing himself to look away. “Not nothing.”
“So I mean more to you than just a way to get an heir?” she pressed.
“Of course you do, don’t be ridiculous,” he gently chided.
“You said some pretty hurtful things,” she whispered.
“So did you,” he was quick to reply.
“But—”
“But what? Don’t make yourself out to be the victim here,” he said as he rose from his chair.
“I—” she stammered, her cheeks flushing.
“Save your breath, I need some fresh air,” Faolan snapped as he walked out of the room.
Isabelle threw a pillow at the door as it slammed behind him.
Even with one of the guards leading her, the way down into the depths of the mountain to the hot springs Kylin had mentioned earlier was a confusing maze of narrow tunnels and steep staircases. At least she didn’t have to worry about being bothered since she doubted that anyone would be able to find their way down there. The guard was silent, as they all seemed to be in her presence. Although she had only been in the mountains for a few weeks, she had grown accustomed to this isolated lifestyle. She was free to do as she wished within the mountain during the day and at night she was starting to overcome her initial fear and reservations about Faolan.
Their earlier argument was still fresh in her mind, but she hoped some time away to relax and think would do them both some good. She hadn’t seen him since that morning, but since she had spent much of the day with Caden, she couldn’t be certain where he had been.
Thinking back on it, she realized that she had been wrong about many things. And he had seemed so tired as well. She had known that he hadn’t come to her rooms, but she assumed he had slept somewhere else during the night. Remembering how dark his eyes were, it didn’t seem like that was the case though. She mentally scolded herself for jumping on him the moment he had entered the room. He had probably only wanted to sleep, but he had come to see her, to maybe even check on her, if her hunch was correct. He certainly hadn’t come in just to change his shirt since hardly any of the clothes in her wardrobe seemed to be his size.
She slipped off her gown and stepped carefully into the hot water, wading until the salty water was up to her neck. There were very few torches in the room, making it look as if the entire chamber was one large glossy black pond. She quickly swam the short distance to a large rock and sat on it, the water lapping at her waist. Even in Nuer she had rarely gone swimming in water much deeper than her bath. But this hot spring was large enough to almost be a small lake and, without much light in the room, she couldn’t see the bottom. She was fairly certain there was nothing else in the water with her, but she still clung to the rock just in case.
“Who’s there? This is a private hot spring,” she heard a male voice call from the stairway.
Isabelle cursed under her breath and pressed herself against the rock. Perhaps if she stayed quiet enough they would just go away. But after hearing fabric rustling, she knew that whoever it was probably was undressing to get into the bath, too. Her heart started pounding and she closed her eyes tightly as he heard the splash of water as whoever it was stepped in.
“You will answer me,” the voice continued, louder and deeper this time. “I can smell you there and I do not like intruders in my private bath.” The voice was almost growling now and no more than a few yards from her.
“I’m sorry,” she squeaked loudly, her eyes still tightly closed. “I didn’t know. I’ll leave now.”
The man stopped moving, his splashing coming to an abrupt halt. She could hear the sharp intake of his breath across the water. “Isabelle?”
Her eyes opened slightly. “Faolan?”
He chuckled lightly and swam away from her. “How did you even hear about this place?”
Isabelle released the breath she was holding and relaxed slightly. “Kylin told me and I asked a guard to bring me down. Do you wish me to go?”
“No, you may stay as long as you promise not to tell anyone how to get down here,” he said quickly, somewhere off to her left. She hated not being able to see him.
“I couldn’t find this place again if I tried,” she giggled.
“Good.”
She heard the water splash around him as he moved through it. For a few seconds she heard nothing and started to worry. But then there was a small gasp and splash as he came up close to her on the other side of the rock she was leaning against.
“It’s late,” he said quietly. “Why aren’t you in bed?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said over her shoulder.
“Me neither. The waters help soothe and calm me,” he replied.
“Faolan?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, Isabelle?” he called.
She bit her lip and took a deep breath. “About earlier today…”
“I’m sorry,” he quickly cut her off.
“I…Me, too. Can I ask you a question?” She smiled into the darkness.
“Sure.”
“Did you marry below you when you married me?” She didn’t want to ask the question, but she needed to know.
He didn’t hesitate in answering her. “According to the opinion of others, yes.”
She turned and gaped openly at him in the darkness. “But I’m a princess.”
“You’re still human,” he reminded her gently.
Isabelle was quiet for a few moments as she considered this. “Do you share in the belief that humans are
bad?”
“You seem fine, but I don’t associate heavily outside of the Draconians,” he replied, sighing deeply.
“You only know us?”
“How many Draconians do you know?”
She giggled. “True. Do you think you married below yourself?”
“My father has made is pretty clear that what I think is irrelevant,” he growled.
“That’s not an answer,” she replied quickly.
He sounded angry as he spoke, sending chills down her spine. She pictured him, his dark eyes narrowed at her and cringed away from the rock. “I got married, that should be enough for everyone. Sure, a Draconian wife may be more receptive, but—”
“Do you wish that I was more receptive to you?” she asked, her voice quiet as she cautiously turned toward him.
“The choice to accept this marriage and me is yours alone. I will not force you,” he said tiredly.
“I have accepted it,” she was quick to say.
“You passively allow it for the life of your brother. There’s a difference,” he replied.
If she didn’t know better she might have thought he sounded almost bitter. “No there isn’t.”
He chuckled dryly and came close enough that she could just barely see him in the darkness. “You barely look at me, hardly speak to me and rarely touch me more than is absolutely necessary in the course of making an heir.”
“So what do you want me to do?” she whispered uncertainty.
“Nothing that you don’t feel comfortable with. I will not force myself on you,” he replied quickly, sounding disgusted with even the thought of it.
“Would kissing help?” she asked shyly, grateful that he couldn’t see her blushing.
He almost sounded bored as he replied, “Not if you’re only doing it to appease me.”
Isabelle was getting frustrated now. “Then what is it that you want from me?” she snapped. She hated the way her voice sounded childish, even to her own ears.
She saw a flash of movement in the darkness and froze as he quickly turned toward her. He was less than a foot away now. She could see the warm steam as it wafted around his torso and could smell the sweat on his skin. “Something besides misery might be a nice start,” he replied without feeling.
The Dragon’s Treasure Page 7