Chapter 19
Arena pulled the blanket between them. “Zocor was injured and died. I had to…”
“I know, I was told how you had to drag his body through the portal so that his blood would close it.”
A tear was building but she didn’t release it. She hadn’t cried in a very long time. “It was the hardest and the worst thing I ever had to do.”
“I wish I could have been there to help you.”
“It was horrible, but I did it. The hardest part was after we arrived on Earth. There was chaos in the beginning. Earth wasn’t what it is today. It was very primitive. The humans didn’t have the level of knowledge of science that Drakonians did and they certainly were nowhere close to attaining space travel. They outnumbered us. For that reason, the council of the kings divided up the territory of Earth among us, spreading us out in hopes of keeping our existence from the humans.”
“I can relate a little bit to that. I didn’t have to deal with humans but both planets I had ended up on were without technology. We lived mostly out of caves and used rudimentary weapons to hunt for food.”
She nodded her understanding. “It got better over time, and as humans advanced, we were able to advance a little as well. We moved around to different locations and stayed at each for a few decades before moving to another place. We bought land and increased our wealth to where we now own mountains, land, and islands where we can live for longer periods of time.”
“You move around?”
“That’s how we survived so long.”
“But from what General Rainier said, the Drakonians here are even fewer.”
“Our numbers are slowing down. We’ve only recently had true matings and dragonlets be born.”
“Did you mate?” he asked, stilling suddenly.
“No,” she reassured him. It pleased her that he worried about it.
“How could there not be a male on this planet that would want to mate you? Are they blind?” he asked, genuinely offended on her behalf.
Giggling, she snuggled into his side. “It wasn’t from lack of suitors.” He stiffened but wrapped his arms around her, stroking her bare back with gentle strokes. “As advanced as our people were, they weren’t used to a female leading them. The elders of my clan tried to persuade me to take a mate, but I refused.”
He moved to lean over her a little to stare down at her. “It must have been lonely. Taking a mate would have alleviated some of that loneliness even if it wasn’t a true mate. Why did you refuse?”
She looked away from him. She had never spoken to anyone about her reasons and wasn’t sure how he would receive them.
He cupped her face to make her look at him. “Tell me.”
“Did you know that mine and Zocor’s mating was arranged?”
He shook his head. “True mates for royals were not always a true mating, but I thought you agreed to mate Zocor.”
“I had never met Zocor. My father had insisted on the union and at the time, I could not refuse my father. I did hear of Zocor’s good reputation on how he treated his people so I wasn’t totally blind in going into it.”
“I’m sure if you had told Zocor that you were being pushed into it by your father he would have refused the union.”
“To be honest, I was grateful to be out of my father’s house. He wasn’t an easy male to live with. Nothing I did satisfied him. Zocor seemed such a blessing. Eventually, I grew to love Zocor, but we both knew we weren’t true mates. He tried to make me happy, but there was always something missing in our relationship.”
“I didn’t know any of that.”
“Why would you? My father taught me well how to hide my true feelings. He said that emotions were a weakness. I kept it all inside.”
There was a small silence as he stroked her cheek with his fingertips. “No wonder you refused to mate anyone else.”
“I won’t mate anyone except my true mate.”
“I agree with that.”
“Haveyoumated with anyone?”
“I came close.”
Something about that felt wrong. “Who is she? Is she in your clan?”
“It doesn’t matter. Our relationship ended.”
She wanted to ask him more questions, but he kissed her and she got lost. They had more to talk about, especially about the fact that her dragon was purring in contentment. So was his. They had time to talk things out later. He was alive and here with her, and that was all that really mattered. The rest of it could be figured out later.
