“I thought that was obvious. They accepted you into our dread.”
“Kas, I don't know what the fuck a dread is or why they accepted me into it. Remember how it was for you with English? You only understood the words that you were familiar with the meaning of.”
Kaspian chuckled. “Ah, yes. Don't worry. I will explain our world to you as you explained Earth to me. Firstly, a dread is a community of Dragons. They are the Dragons of one kingdom. Our dread is the Aravult Dread.”
“So, all those guys are Dragons like you?”
“Yes, they are members of my dread of noble families. Only nobility may serve the King.”
“Holy shit.” I frowned. “Kind of elitist, but I'm not surprised. Dragons.”
“I don't like the way you said that.”
“Oh?” I smirked. “So now you understand why the way you say humans pisses me off?”
“I told you why. Now, you will explain your tone to me.”
“Oh, come on. You know why. We've already established that you think your people are better than others.”
“Yes, and we've already established that it's for good reason—Dragons are stronger than all the other races and the Gods gave us dominion over Serai.”
“Uh-huh. And humans are pathetic little beings without magic.”
“Mate, you are human, and I treasure you.”
“But I'm not your equal, am I?”
“Of course, not!”
“Ha!” I pointed at him. “That's what I mean by elitist.”
Kaspian rolled his eyes. “Fine, then I am an elitist. But once the entire dread accepts you, you will be a Dragon.” He smirked at me. “That will make you an elitist too.”
“First, being of an elitist race doesn't automatically make you an elitist. Second, what are you talking about? I thought they already accepted me?”
“When a Dragon king takes a mate, his entire dread must accept him or her. His mate will have a certain amount of power within the dread, so they must approve of the mate.”
“The entire dread?”
“Yes.”
“How many Dragons are in a dread?”
Kaspian shrugged. “A few thousand.”
“A fewthousand?! What if one of them says no?”
“Then I must choose between you and my crown.”
I gaped at him.
“Don't worry, Mate.” He picked up my hand and kissed it. “I will choose you. I will always choose you.”
My heart melted, but even as that happened, I panicked. “That's really sweet, Kas, and I appreciate it. Thank you. Truly. And thank you for saving me back on Earth.” I paused. “Back on Earth. Holy shit.”
“Mate?”
“Uh, yeah, uh. Thank you, but I don't want you to give up being king for me. Doesn't that worry you?”
