I had weakened several times already, but the Eye had been there to speak some reason into my head for every instance. I was getting tired of hearing her voice while I was getting intimate with my mate.
I know! Now, fuck off!I snarled silently.
Well, as long as you're sure you won't tell him.
I won't!
Fine.The Eye left. Again.
I knew she was never far away. Privacy was an illusion she gave me to preserve my dignity. But if I started to tell Aras who he was to me, I was certain the Eye would immediately start shouting in my mind.
“Penance, eh?” Aras asked as he lightly drew his claws down my hip. He sliced me, and I hissed. “Oops.” He bent his head and licked the wound, aiding my immortality with his saliva. Hulfrin saliva possessed a blood coagulant. When Aras lifted his head, he grinned and said, “I suppose I'll have to do more penance now.”
I brushed his thick hair back and drew my hand down his face to the angle of his jaw. “You can start by bathing me.” I got up and headed for the bathroom. “We could both benefit from a bath.”
Aras laughed and bounded ahead of me. “Yes, Your Majesty!”
The water was running before I stepped into the bathroom. And there was my mate, naked and bent over the tub, the sleek lines of his body extending into his twitching tail. He had his claws retracted too. Both were signs of a happy, secure Hulfrin.
Was Aras feeling my pleasure through our bond? Did he sense how important he was to me? If he had been a Dragon, I wouldn't have been able to hide it from him. Even if he hadn't known about the mating process, he would have felt the bond settle and he would have known we were united forever.
I wasn't sure how it would be with a Hulfrin.
At least they were more primal than say, an Argaiv or an Eljaffna. A Hulfrin would have some instinct to guide him. But I couldn't let Aras's instincts take him too far in the right direction. As soon as that pirate surfaced and led me to the Eye, I would tell Aras everything. Until then, I had to trust in the magic to keep him by my side.
The magic certainly had me bound. Was the Goddess laughing at me? I had just been plotting to use a mating bond against a Sea Dragon. But no, she'd approve of that. The Sea Dragons weren't her children. And I had also been jealous of Vaxarion. So maybe she wasn't laughing at me so much as laughingwithme.
Whoever was laughing, I now found myself feeling the very things that King Vaxarion was doubtless experiencing. Lust was a given, but there were also urges to protect and care. Seeing Aras happy filled my chest with a warm, shivering feeling that I couldn't name. I didn't want to keep this from him. I wanted to tell him everything and the Eye be damned.
I took a step forward.
I will not be damned, but you shall be,the Eye said.
And then I heard screams. The bathroom vanished, replaced by a battlefield. I went still, knowing it wasn't real, but afraid to move. Dragons filled the sky, their roars like thunder, echoing down to vibrate through the ground. Fire blasted the ground troops. More screams came along with the smell of burning flesh.
“What the fuck?” I whispered.
“Ly?” Aras called to me.
I turned, seeing red out of the corner of my eye. At first, I thought it was merely my hair. I've always been proud of the rare color. But I wasn't in my man's body. The red was my dragon's scales. And fire. And blood.
“Lyrandir!” Aras, who I couldn't see, shook me.
Without me, you will never keep your crown,the Eye went on.My name is not Ensarena's Eye merely because I am a piece of her Fire Magic. I can also see—the past, the present, and the future. Your future is bleak without me, King Lyrandir. Your dread may have accepted your reign for centuries, but they will not continue to do so. They have been searching for an excuse to dethrone you and they will find one soon. No one wants you as their king.
They would not dare to come against me!I shouted in my mind.Whatever they think, I won the crown tourney. I am their king.
They don't care about that anymore, and you know it's the truth. They will plot against you. But with me, you can secure your throne and any other you may desire.
What does that mean?
You could rule all the kingdoms of Serai, Lyrandir.
Why would I want that?
To protect yourself and your mate. Rule the world and you have absolute security.
My dragon roared at the threat against our mate and my mind shivered. If someone had said those things to me in person, I would have laughed at them. Or tore them apart. But this was a piece of the Goddess. It was as if she spoke into my mind. And I could not ignore her. As the voice slithered through my brain, the battlefield changed to a mountaintop. Aras stood beside me dressed in fine garments befitting a Duke, and I wore a new crown as I surveyed a kingdom without borders. It was all mine now. The entire world.
