“No…”
He takes a step nearer, and as we were already close, the proximity causes my heart to beat even faster. “Are you having second thoughts, Princess?”
His voice is quiet—soft, even—and both his tone and question puzzle me.
“Pardon?”
“Do you wish to return to Vasna?” he asks.
Of course I do, I want to shout. I’m only here to help my people, and every other moment with this dragon seems like a mystery to be untangled.
Demur, Serah. Demur, demur…
“I will remain here,” I say, “as was agreed upon, Your Majesty.”
The king’s gaze sharpens on me. “Then you accept it? The gem?”
A strange fluttering starts in my belly and trickles to my limbs as I look back at him. I almost feel I could lift my arms and soar away. Likely a reaction to the heat, I tell myself.
“I do,” I say.
The king looks almost as relieved as I felt a moment ago. His shoulders relax, and an actual smile plays about his lips.
“I am most—”
“Your Majesty,” a voice calls, cutting him off.
When I peer past the king, I see a trio of men, bare from the waist up, which under normal circumstances, might shock me to spot on palace grounds.
It might, if they weren’t gliding down from the sky on wings as red as blood.
8
All my life, I’ve been told dragons could hardly even be called so anymore. After all, they only take human form and have done so for ages. They are no longer the fire-breathing creatures of myth who hoarded jewels and stole maidens.
As I watch three men descend from the sky like birds, one of them clutching a gilt-edged chest, I wonder how my education could have been so lacking.
The king reaches out to take my hand in his and I am somewhat relieved to be holdingsomething. The men stalking across the courtyard are not only half-clothed, but the wings fanned out behind them are formidable. Far more than a bird’s wings, they resemble a bat’s, with a hand-like appendage perched at the highest point. I flush as one of the men catches me looking and uses the hand to give a cheeky wave.
Rally and Ty take up positions on either side of the king and I as the men close in. The two in the rear look to be about the same age as the king’s attendants, and though the man in the lead appears only slightly older, the harsh lines about his mouth age him. And imply he does a lot of scowling.
“Soren,” he says, holding his arms out in greeting. An oily smile spills over his face. “What fortuitous timing.”
“Your Majesty will do fine, Lord Tallin,” the king says, his tone expressionless. “May I present my betrothed, Princess Serah of Vasna.”
The man’s smile remains as he turns to me. His eyes flicker to the jewel at my throat and something flashes in his gaze—anger? Surprise?—before returning to my face.
“Well, well,” he says. “King Soren and Princess Serah. Your names fall like a fated flame.” He sweeps a bow, and the two behind him follow suit. “Had we been informed of your impending arrival, princess, we would have greeted you upon your landing. As it is, we wish to present you with a gift.”
He waves the man holding a chest forward, but the man has barely raised his foot when the Dragon King says, “You’ll do no such thing.”
Lord Tallin looks at him with mock offense. “Whyever not? I know we have our differences, but surely, a friendly gift on such an auspicious occasion, and between old friends no less, can bring no harm.”
“No.”
Lord Tallin tsks. “Perhaps your future bride holds a different opinion?” With a snap of his fingers, his companions raise the chest's lid, revealing an interior brimming with glittering jewels of every color. I will my eyes not to widen at the fortune before me.
I expect the king to rebuke him, but he stays quiet. Several seconds tick by. Is he waiting for me to respond? I hardly know what I would say. My role as a fourth daughter has been to smile and serve our people by drawing water where it’s needed, not engage in political rivalries. As thesun beats down, and the silence drags on, the atmosphere veers fully into awkwardness.
