Tattiena blew out a breath and swallowed hard, willing her racing heart to slow down so she could think. “Almost there,” she said to herself, rubbing her big belly.
She pushed open the door and moved through the long hallway, listening for the sound of Leo’s voice. She heard it. That deep rumbling that made her inner thighs tremble.
He was in the main hall with the king. Her father.
Damn!
She straightened her shoulders and moved towards the main hall, determined to maintain what little control she still had over her life. Pushing open the door, she stepped inside the huge room with as much confidence as she could muster.
“Tattiena…come in. We were just speaking about you.” Her father’s smooth voice rolled around the large room.
A shiver coursed down her spine. Her father sounded amused and in no way angry. Did that mean that Leo had told him their situation, or not?
She walked up to the table where her father and Leo sat. She slid into the chair on the other side of her father, unable to be too close to Leo. Despite her pregnancy, her body thrummed with heat and excitement at seeing him again. He was thinner than last time she saw him, which was odd. And there was a darkness to his blue eyes that had not been there.
“Hello, King Taneel.”
Her heart beat a rapid tattoo against her chest, the sound ricocheting around her body and thrumming in her ears. She took another long, slow breath, trying to settle it all down.
“Prince Leo tells me he is the father or your baby. Is that true?”
“Ah…” Talk about hitting her right between the eyes.
She looked between the two men. The proud strength of them both made her proud to be of their lines, as would her child be.
“Yes, he is.”
Leo’s face hardened and he opened his mouth to say something.
The king tapped Leo on the arm with his hand and shook his head.
“Tell us why you have not told Leo of this. He is quite upset, and rightly so. You know it’s within my power to make you marry, but I don’t think forcing you into such a union would be good for either of you.”
She expected anger to be the result, but the kindness in which it was said, caused a sadness to spread through her instead. “I don’t want either of us to be forced into a marriage, my king.”
He turned and reached out for her, taking her hands in his. Tattiena stared into his old, blue eyes and felt her heart crack in the process.
“Tattiena, is this my fault? Do you reject Leo due to my own mistakes?”
She swallowed the lump that rose and threatened to cut off her inability to speak. How could she explain to her father everything she’d gone through? Her feelings and thoughts about this baby?
“King Taneel, I would be happy to marry Tattiena. Please set up the paperwork and I will pay whatever you want. Moving to Davuno shouldn’t be a problem as I’ve seen how quickly Nargoya can fly the distance. Thank you.”
Leo stood up and turned to leave, his anger and frustration as obvious as the stiffness in his shoulders.
“No. Wait.” She pushed herself to her feet and held on to the high-backed chair for balance. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner…Leo. That was wrong of me.” The admission tasted like ash in her mouth, but it needed to be said and she didn’t regret it. Especially when he turned around, his posture more relaxed.
“Yes, it was,” he agreed, not giving her anything else to go one with.
She blew out her breath and tried to pull all of her scattered thoughts into line. “I did not want this to happen. At all. It is why I wanted you to leave and go back to Davuno. I had hoped my heat would not lead to a pregnancy.”
“How can you say that? Even if it was true, and I don’t believe it for one minute, you should have told me the minute you found out.”
“What do you mean you don’t believe it? You know how hard I fought our attraction!”
Heat blossomed up her face when he gave her a lust-filled look that said he remembered her heat far better than she did.
“Yes, well. That’s not what I meant. I didn’t want to have a baby. I didn’t want to leave Gregorick exposed, defenseless without Nargoya and myself. I didn’t want to change into some pathetic woman that couldn’t even take care of herself.”
She choked on the words and her father began to nod. “You mean, just like your mother?”
Her gaze was pulled to her father’s pained face.
“Well…yes. Mother died because she was un-married. Because she let a child, me, change who she was. She didn’t ride anymore, she didn’t fight. And she died, and her Dragon too…because of it.”
Tears tracked down her father’s face and she glanced away, towards Leo. He was looking as startled as she felt, and finally, she knew, that the talk she needed to have with her father, was happening.
“Your mother never told you…did she?”
She shook her head, sitting back down on her father’s level. Leo joined them, obviously unable to leave when the conversation had taken such an interesting turn.
“Told me what?”
Her father turned towards her, wiping away the tears that streaked his face. “What the heat was meant to do.”
She shook her head. “I was only five, and Mia told me it was to force you to reproduce and sire the next line of Dragon riders. Although, according to Paneer, that’s not always how it works.”
The king took a sip of water and reached for her hand once again.
“The heat is to force you to reproduce, yes, but the attraction you felt for Leo was not something you will ever find with anyone else. A Dragon rider only has one destined mate, and you will not find another who will suit you.”
Tattiena couldn’t help the way her gaze tugged over to Leo. They shared a moment, the realization sinking in that if she rejected him, she would be alone forever.
How wrong could I have been?
“Thank you, Father…”
“That’s not all.” Her father swallowed and pain rippled across his wrinkled features. “Did you not think it odd that Leo was able to ride Nargoya today?”
She nodded rapidly. She’d half forgotten that in all the commotion. “Yes. Very much so. I thought no-one but I would ever be able to ride her.”
Her father sighed. “You were worried about not being strong, or able when you became pregnant, but the mating covers that as well. Once you find your intended and make a child—in this case it is Leo—then he will be able to fulfil your duties as Dragon rider. Nargoya will let him control and ride her. He can help us, and you, and when you are able to, you can go back to your duties. I will make sure your child is always safe.”
“As will I,” Leo said, his voice tight and thick with emotion.
Tattiena fell back in her chair, her hand slipping from her father’s grasp. “So, everything I have worried about…it is all for nothing?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did my mother die? Why did she not continue on to ride her Dragon after having me?”
The king grimaced. “I do not entirely know, but I believe that to be my fault. When I could not marry your mother, she went into a type of depression, clinging to you as the only love she had. I will always hate myself for what I did to her. I should have found a way to marry her… Divorce the queen… I don’t know. But she saw my reluctance to destroy my marriage and my kingdom as a direct insult to her and our mating. We could have had a life together. It wouldn’t have been perfect, but it would have been better than she had. You both had. I’m so sorry, daughter.”
For the first time in her life, Tattiena stepped up to her father and slid onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as he openly wept.
“It’s alright. I’m so sorry, Father.”
She held him as he cried, a few of her own tears mixing with his. They’d both been alone and afraid for so long. Why had it had to be like this for them?
He suddenly pulled back but held her tight to keep her on his lap.
“But you don’t need to be afraid. Fate has chosen you the best of men. A warrior, a future king. You and your child will be well looked after, and happy.”
She turned towards the man in question and held out her hand. Leo gripped it and pulled her off her father’s lap and stood up to face her.
“I’m still furious with you,” he said, though his words were calm and his hand reached up to wipe away the tears still present on her cheeks.
“I know, and I’m so sorry. I’ve just been…so confused, and scared.”
He nodded and then suddenly dropped to his knee, his bright eyes shining up at her with love and passion. “Tattiena. I adore you. I knew before your father even explained our bond, that there would never be another woman for me. Please, marry me. Be my queen. We can live wherever you want, I will make it work, if Nargoya is willing to fly between our kingdoms for me. At least until my father dies. I know my crown brings with it a wealth of responsibilities, but I will balance it the best I can with my love for you.”
Tattiena pressed a finger to Leo’s lips. She never wanted to be parted from him ever again. Things had changed, but they were for a good reason.
“Yes. Of course, I will marry you. I was born to this role, and Nargoya and I will come to Davuno. Paneer, I’m sure can be persuaded to stay in Gregorick, so my beloved town will never be unguarded. But either way… Leo, I want you. Always. Please take me home.”
Leo swept her up in his arms and kissed her soundly, his tongue spreading his taste to her mouth and bringing back a beautiful thrum of happiness within her body.
A painful cramp hit her belly and water flooded between her thighs.
“What’s that?” Leo asked, stepping back as she bent over, crippled with pain.
“That baby’s coming.”
Leo whooped with delight and Tattiena forced herself to breathe until the pain receded.
“We better call Mia.”
Her father stood up and clasped her hand. “You are a born queen my beautiful daughter, and no matter what the child is, male or female, I will be making it the next in line for the throne.”
She went to protest, but her father cut her off. “It will be done in secret. Do not worry for my safety, or your own. Go. Be safe.”
Her father disappeared and she turned to the man that Fate had chosen for her. “So, you’re everything I need in this world, it seems.”
Leo chuckled and drew her closer, his hand sliding across the tightening swell of his child.
“And as you are, for me. I’m never letting you go, no. You know that? These past months have been torturous for me.”
She saw the truth in his eyes and a rise of guilt made her frown. “I’m so sorry for the pain I have caused. I have no real excuse.”
He kissed her gently on the lips. “I love you for all that you are, and I hope with time, you can trust me with everything you, because I will treasure you always.”
Another ripple of pain seized her body and she tightened her hold on Leo’s hand. Her life was about to irreparably change, and she was determined to do better than her mother did. She would hold tight to her husband, stay strong in her training, and never give up being Nargoya’s true Dragon Master.
Warrior Nakeeri
Book 2 in Dragon Masters of Limea
Tamsin Baker
1
On the West side of the planet Limea, Nakeeri and her Dragon Teramessi turned their faces to the morning sun. The first rays of daylight appeared over the horizon and a strange awareness tickled up the back on Nakeeri’s neck.
“Did you feel that, Teramessi?” She asked as she stroked the cool scales on the Dragon’s magnificent chest. Something was different today. There was a change in the air. A feeling that a shift was upon them.
Her fingers slid away from Teramessi’s chest and traced over one of the many gashes and holes in Teramessi’s blue tipped wings. Her poor Dragon still bore battle wounds from a war they fought last year. Her wing had been irrevocably damaged and she was blind in one eye.
A war that they’d had no stake in. For a king and a kingdom they were bound to. It still angered her to think of what was lost for that selfish man that she served. Her punishment for a crime she’d committed, oh so many years ago.
The Dragon continued to eat the carcass of an animal they’d hunted last night, her long purple tongue flicking in and out. She was happy and calm today. Which was wonderful to see in their tumultuous world.
Nakeeri walked outside and into the fresh air, leaving the cave they lived in. She stared towards the city of Tumurk. She was loyal to the kingdom, though not by choice. They had never done anything for her, except make sure she had food to eat on occasion.
She shook her head, still angry at herself for binding herself and her faithful dragon to the king and its people. A king who had no regard for the Dragon whose life was almost lost several times in his many wars.
“Let’s hope there are no more such battles.” She said aloud, though mostly to herself. She didn’t want to be called upon again to save the people who considered her an outcast. A criminal. A pest.
Her heart heavy, she sat, curled up on a tattered blanket strewn across the ground. Her back against the rocky out cropping of their cave.
She stared out into the sun rise and squinted. Far into the distance she saw the smallest flicker of flame. She waited for it to grow, as a true forest fire would. But when the same small flicker occurred twice more, she knew that it could only be one thing. Dragon’s breath.
“But how is that possible?”
The only Dragon’s and Dragon riders she knew, were far north. She needed to find out who these new people were. Being a dragon rider was a lonely occupation and often she wished for someone to bond with over this incredible gift they had been granted.
She stood up and motioned for Teramessi to join her. Perhaps they should find out what was going on? For safety’s sake, as well as her own curiosity.
“Let’s go.”
She stepped onto Teramessi’s outstretched wing and jumped onto her bare back. Some riders had a saddle and reins, she knew, but she had never been given one, nor had she ever tried to ride anything other than how she did.
Nakeeri’s heart began to pound as Teramessi stretched out her blue tipped wings and launched herself into the air. The movement made Nakeeri fall off if she wasn’t careful, so she pressed her face to the cold scales. She clung to Teramessi’s neck with both arms and squeezed her thighs into the Dragon’s sides.
The Dragon reached a plateau altitude and the air changed around them. It became cooler and the world still, became more stable.
Once this happened, she knew there would be less chance of falling off. She loosened her grip on the Dragon’s neck and gripped even harder with her thighs. Then she slowly pushed up to a seated position so that she could really enjoy the feeling of flying.
With adrenaline zinging along her veins and her heart beating an erratic tattoo against her ribs, she stretched out her arms and closed her eyes. The wind rushed past her face, cooling her lips and whipping her long blonde hair around her. She lived for these moments. Her heart pounded harder, like a building storm.
Teramessi made a snorting noise in a strange warning and Nakeeri’s eyes popped open. She knew that dragon, but where was his rider?
What is he doing here?
There, ahead of her, was Lordip. Paneer’s beautiful, older male Dragon.
He circled around in the air like a crazy person. Paneer was nowhere in sight, only the Dragon did flips and blew fire into the air like he was celebrating a major event.
Most Dragon’s refused to fly without their riders. Indeed, Teramessi had never left her side. Not for one moment. Not for one flight.
They drew closer and Lordip saw them, twisting in the air and flying over to them. The green tipped Dragon, who was twice the size of Teramessi, communicated something to her Dragon that Nakeeri didn’t understand, and then suddenly they were descending.
“W
hat are you doing?” She called out to her Dragon, wrapping her arms tightly around Teramessi once again as they fell from the sky.
As they descended beneath the clouds, a city lay before her. Where were they? Fear tickled in her mind, but she pushed it away. She trusted Paneer, and Lordip. Surely, they wouldn’t lead her into any danger?
Lordip landed first, and then they did. In the lushest green pasture Nakeeri had ever seen. She looked around. They were in a sheltered area behind the castle. Nakeeri’s heart thumped in her chest like a war drum. They were too close to the kingdom. What if someone tried to capture them? Or worse, hurt Terramessi?
Where are we? And where is Paneer?
She slid from Teramessi’s back and stroked her Dragon’s neck gently, trying to calm them both down. They didn’t like going into the lair of another Dragon, not to mention one that was obviously owned by a king she didn’t know.
“Stay close,” she whispered, noticing the rapid rise and fall of Terramessi’s chest.
They cautiously followed Lordip over to the massive barn, where he walked easily into. It was obviously a house for a Dragon. It had large glass roof panels and stood a hundred foot high.
Nakeeri kept close to her Dragon, her hands ready to grab Teramessi and fly away if danger popped out from behind a corner. Although she’s known Lordip and his rider a long time and couldn’t imagine why they would put her in danger.
“Nakeeri! What are you doing here?” Paneer asked as he stepped out onto the grass with her.
Her Dragons left her side suddenly and disappeared into the barn. Nakeeri stared anxiously after Teramessi.
“Hello Paneer. I don’t really know why we’re here. I saw Lordip blowing fire into the air from my cave and came to investigate. I didn’t realize there were any Dragon’s this far south. The next thing I know, we’re here, inside the castle’s walls. Where are we anyway?”
“You are in Gregorick. And you are safe. Welcome.”
Paneer pulled her close like the old friends they were, embracing her with his fierce strength for a moment.
Dragon Masters of Limea: Books 1 and 2 Page 10