“Who do you think you are, to speak to me so?”Smoke curled from the dragon’s nostrils, the glow in his chest deepening.
“Nobody. I am nobody. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you since you found me at that stupid lake,” I dared to snarl back.
“If that is what you believe, then that is all you shall ever be.”
What kind of nonsense was this? “Nobody is all I will everbe because of creatures like you. Creatures who boss me around, treating me like a servant.”
“If you don’t like your circumstances, then change them.”
“That is easy for you to say. You’re a dragon.”
“Cursed to remain in my beast form and yet for a thousand years, I never surrendered. Never stopped searching for the solution.”
Heat wafted from his glowing chest, and I raised my arm to shield my face.“The goddess gave you a tremendous gift. Made you, of all the females in the realm, her handmaiden. And when faced with one small obstacle, you give up.”
His tail lashed again, sending me tumbling across the arena floor, where I further scraped my hands and knees.
“Blast it, Alaric. Knock it off,” I snarled through gritted teeth. What happened to the dragon who’d guarded me while I bathed? Who showed me his treasure?
“I’ll stop when you make me stop. Defend yourself.”
“Against a dragon?” I barked a bitter laugh.
Just as I made it upright, another smack sent me tumbling. Only this time, I failed to catch myself. Pain exploded through my elbow and hip, my head just shy of striking the ground.
I rolled upright and groaned, hand cupped beneath my throbbing arm.
“Why are you doing this?” I shouted, tears of fury burning my eyes.
“On your feet,”he snarled.
“And have you knock me down again? No thanks.”
“Again, you surrender. Is this why you remained a slave all those years? Because you were too weak. Too cowardly to rise up,”he roared.
His words carved through me, sharp and cruel, making me feel small.
“What would you know about being a slave?” I balled my hands into fists, nails sinking deep enough to draw blood.
“More than you could ever imagine.”Flames danced in his eyes.“Now, get up!”
“No!”
“I could make you,”he said, low and menacing.“As I do Thorne.”
The glint in his reptilian gaze sent a shiver down my spine. “Wh–what do you mean, as you do Thorne?” Did he hold some power over his brother?
“Get. Up.”The command rattled my bones. Fire seared my chest, and I groaned, placing my bleeding palm against the burn.
“What’s happening?” I cried out.
“It will only get worse,”he warned.“Because I am king, Thorne’s flame answers to me.”
Thorne’s flame. The one tucked beneath my ribs.
“Get. Up,”Alaric repeated.
Sparks exploded from my center outward, spreading to my arms and legs. Pressure built beneath my sternum, pushing, throbbing. Hot. Hotter. Sweat ran down my chest only to turn to steam, vapor rising from my skin. My heart pounded, vision blurring. Fates save me, was I on fire?
