Noreth follows her inside, lingering next to me just long enough to confirm my suspicion that the scent on her is his.
Fuck!
Claws lengthen, digging into the wooden door, and my breath grows hot in my chest and smoke pours from my nostrils.
Then Noreth’s striking, pale-skinned servant follows them into the carriage, and two more things occur to me—Yalina will not be alone with Noreth, and that makes not a scrap of difference since the other scent profile matching the new scents layered over hers is his.
The servant!
It should not be possible. I shut the door with such force after them it slams and the whole carriage shakes. I tear off my shirt and shift to my larger reptilian form, leaping into the air before I can let loose a blast of flame to burn the whole carriage down.
Yet she has not betrayed me. She made no commitment. I remind myself repeatedly of this fact as I brood, hovering silently above the horses, scanning the horizon for danger.
Yalina refused to take my royal carriage, which has been deliberately built to accommodate my wingspan, opting instead to use a simple rustic one which Noreth provided. If that is what the prince of Emrakai regularly travels in I do not know howpeople can take him seriously. It is one step above a hay cart. Its rickety movement down the road confirms there will be little comfort inside for any of them, yet I’m still raging with jealousy by the time we make our first stop.
“This is a terrible place to stop,” I grumble. “It’s far too open. Bandits could easily spot us a mile off.”
Noreth shrugs. “Solha Yalina needed to stop, and I for one would like to stretch my legs. I am not used to sitting around cramped up all day.”
“We can take care of any bandits should they cross our path,” says Noreth’s servant as if anyone asked him.
“Be quick, then,” I snap, folding my arms and turning to scan the horizon while they assist Yalina to relieve herself behind a folding screen. I cannot believe she agreed to come on this trip with only a single male servant. No cook, no maid, no guards! The last at least I can take care of. I would never let any harm come to her. And Noreth’s man looks like he could hold his own in a fight. Noreth himself surprised me in our duel.
I am a little more settled when they return and climb once more into the carriage until I catch a hint of her changed scent again, and my temper spirals like the hot desert winds, lifting me into the air on outstretched wings. Add to that all the winds seem to be pushing me in the opposite direction to the way we are traveling so that I expend a good deal more energy than I would have to otherwise, flapping to keep pace with the horses.
Since we set off in the late afternoon, we cannot travel far before the dark makes it dangerous to the horses to continue. We make camp at an abandoned date grove, the withered trees leaning haphazardly every which way, some with dried roots exposed to the desert air, others clinging stubbornly to life long after their well has run dry. It’s not hard to see why the people who owned this place abandoned it. There’s nothing here for anyone.
Jah’ruud, Noreth’s servant, makes quick work of the only tent, leaving me with the unpleasant choice of sleeping in the open or sharing it with the three of them. At least a cool breeze blows in from the east, bringing some respite from the heat.
Unable to decide what to do, I leave them setting up bedrolls and preparing a simple meal of bread, fruit, and cheese to walk out over the hard sand alone. Tiny bushes cling tight to what soil there is, scratching uselessly at my ankles as I pass. Above, stars dot the night sky, impossibly far away and out of reach.
I cannot let her choose him. Having his servant act as her bull is just another stunt. A sneak tactic he thinks he can use to defeat me. But it is my bite on her neck. My seed in her belly, hopefully getting her with child even now.
I must win. All rides on this. For if I lose, there is no returning home for me. Not without her. If she rejects me, I will perish now that my venom is in her veins.
My stomach grumbles. I should have taken the opportunity to hunt while I was in the air, but I was too focused on what was happening in the carriage below, ears peeled to catch any snatches of their conversation I could. Unfortunately it was too windy, and I heard nothing.
I spend some time sniffing out a hare I’m not quick enough to catch and eventually settle on a foul-tasting lizard which I roast with a blast of fire and swallow in large chunks to avoid the flavor as much as possible.
I’m in a sour mood when I return to the campsite only to pause outside the tent when my ears pick up hushed whispers.
“But what could he be doing out in the dark for so long?” Noreth says. “You must admit it is suspicious.”
I creep closer, listening to hear how she responds.
“I will not judge him until I know for sure,” she says, and it’s small comfort. So she half judges me already? And he is in her ear telling her what to think while I am not next to her. I almostburst into the tent right then and there to defend myself, but then I hear something else that makes me hesitate.
“Pull your bedroll closer to mine then and let us take advantage of his absence.”
“We shouldn’t. He could be back any moment.” There is a rustle of bedding though, and I suppress a low growl at the mental image of what might be happening inside the tent. Where is Jah’ruud? Is he watching this or already called on to participate?
The sound of hushed laughter and then a low moan makes my blood boil. She is mine! It is one thing for her to give herself to others before she took my bite, but now? Now it is more than I can bear.
Another moan from Yalina is the flame to the dry grass. I brush aside the door flap and stride into the tent. “A fine way to make sure the solha is safe, with no guard set and all of you lounging around in here.”
As I enter, Yalina lets out a stifled gasp and pushes at the hem of her dress which is pushed up above her knees. Noreth is somehow lying at the opposite side of the tent, and Jah’ruud is nowhere to be seen. A rush of wind seems to germinate from within the tent, and the fabric flaps and billows until it rushes out through the door behind me.
I force down my fire with an effort.
