I swallow my urge to correct her about which of my forms is more natural.
“How did you take the form of a man?” Her voice tightens slightly.
“I crossed the veil.” I keep to the facts. “When I did, whatever spell kept me trapped on the ground as a dragon was broken.”
Her face twitches. She must somehow be responsible for my entrapment. But I don’t know how she did it, or how she’s stayed alive for so many years. If anything, she seems younger than she did four hundred years ago. Basic mages are not that long lived.
“Haveallthe dragons crossed the veil?” Her eyes flicker, revealing the possibility of fear.
“I am not the only one,” I reply. Truth without full disclosure.
Her expression shifts as she consumes this information. It also betrays her fear. We dragons can destroy whatever it is that she’s built here. She knows it, and she also knows I have the power to expose her.
Rising from her throne, she drops the thick robes from her shoulders, revealing a tight-fitting garment that exposes almost as much skin as some of the outfits I saw in the Darkness.
“Zogar, King of Dragons, I have a proposition for you.” She smiles seductively, as if she thinks I’ll be easily tempted.
“I’m listening.”
She sashays toward me, wielding her hips like a weapon. “Let us join forces.” Her hand slides onto my chest and then glides over my shoulder and across my back. “We shall rule together.”
When she completes her circle around me, her expression is full of desire. Not only lust for sex, but lust for power. “Themortals who chose to live in the Light are fools,” she says. “Easily controlled.”
I nod, trying to seem interested without commitment.
“And now that the kingdoms are united as one, the mortals are even easier to command. The remaining sovereign was so hungry for power that, to rid this land of its other kings, he gave up everything but theillusionof authority.”
With a cruel smile, she shakes her head. “King Lancet is an idiot. Easily seduced by power. Power, and the promise of my cunt.” Her hand slides onto my chest again.
I growl in a way I hope she interprets as desire.
“Would you like my cunt to be yours instead?” she asks as her hand slides over me. “I pledged to marry this human king today, but our union would be far more advantageous—to us both.”
I try my best to look and sound impressed, hoping she’ll trust me, hoping she’ll reveal more of her secrets so it will be easier to bring her down. “You’ve used your powers to great advantage.”
“Yes, I have.” Her hand slides over one of my arms, lightly squeezing my muscles. “And with you at my side, we can rule forever.”
“What magic have you used to live for so long?” What I really want to know is how she trapped us, but I suspect Surath was right about flattery. Playing along, acting impressed, acknowledging her youthful beauty is a good segue into my more important questions.
Her smile shifts to smugness. “I trapped the last manticores.” Her fingers trail off my chest and onto my neck.
I shake my head in amazement. Because this time I actually am amazed. Amazed at how casually she’s confessed to this crime.
“Manticores are extinct,” I say as if curious.
“That is what we wanted everyone to believe.”
“We?” I ask. “Have more of your followers survived since the Separation?”
She flips her fingers, as if batting a fly. “I am the only one who remains.”
“What happened to the others? Did they die of old age?”
“Some.” She shrugs as if it’s nothing. “I couldn’t waste manticore blood on those who weren’t worthy.”
I nod as if I agree.
“What say you?” Her hand slides across my belly. “Shall we rule together?” She licks her lips. “Shall we wed and quickly consummate our marriage? Trapped as a dragon, it must be some time since you’ve taken a woman.” Her fingers slide lower.
