by Meagan Hurst
“She’s offering you more than trust!” Crilyne spat. “What have you done to her?”
“Nothing.” The Dragon’s tone left little room for debate or doubt, and Z felt the chill in the air as the Dragon’s temper caused some of his magic to react.
“Like you’re doing nothing to her now? I can sense your magic upon her, Nivaradros. You are forcing her to do as you wish already. Your magic is also on her in a way I rarely see used; you sent her subconscious to someone while she was injured. What were you thinking?”
“I let her speak with the Mithane,” Nivaradros answered as his voice turned toneless. He was trying to keep from rising to the Shade’s bait. After a very, very long pause Z knew he used to let the Shade know he was only answering the question because he chose to: “You were too busy accusing me of trying to murder her to listen to any questions I had, and she wished to know how everyone fared. Trying to keep her in the dark—as you should know better than me—doesn’t work. It makes things worse. Likewise, so does trying to keep her contained. If she wants to break free of my magic, Shade, she can do so at any time, and she can do so easily. She doesn’t want to face you when you are like this! I am giving her a path out. But yes, I did send her subconscious out, and yes, that is dangerous, but she needed answers, and I am less than willing to bore myself by speaking with every damn race she has an interest in if I can avoid it. I’m not a social being, but I have tolerated much on her behalf.”
The silence was sharp and carried a magical potential of death within it. “What do you plan to do with her?” Crilyne demanded.
“We have discussed this before,” Nivaradros answered as his voice dipped back toward dangerous.
“Things have changed; she is immortal, and she has chosen you.”
“Indeed, but little has changed on my end. She is free to go—should she change her mind—when she chooses to, but until then she is mine.” The magic that had been trying to push her into a sleep vanished and Z had the option to wake, but the conversation would end the moment she opened her eyes. Seeking its continuation, she allowed herself to remain silent and half asleep. “I plan to stand beside her, Shade. She has the time, and she has always had the power; I intend to make sure she accomplishes what I know she is capable of.”
“And you will force her?”
“I recall telling you earlier she doesn’t ‘force’ well; you know this about her,” Nivaradros remarked dryly. “Besides which, she has given up much to be what she is now. I have no intention to press her further or ask her to surrender anything else.”
“Well coming from you that’s a shock. It’s not like you’ve ever sacrificed something for her.”
The anger at Crilyne’s accusation was so powerful Z forced herself to stir for a moment. Smooth lips touched her forehead as a result. “Not yet, Z, not yet,” Nivaradros whispered in her ear before he let out a low growl. “You know nothing of what I have, or have not, given up to be here, Shade. I would advise you to swallow any other foolish words you are considering. My tolerance and patience are at an end. I brought you here—I allowed you to come—so you could check on Z. I know you care for her, and I likewise know she does care for you, in her not-going-to-trust-a-word-or-action-you-do way.”
There was another cold, cutting silence for a long time before Crilyne was willing to break it. “But she loves you.” There was an accusation, a challenge, and a threat in the words. “And you don’t even know how to react to that in a manner that will not risk her sanity.”
“So far she seems to be holding her own,” Nivaradros replied in a tone that she knew well. He was now provoking the Shade. It was clear the Shade’s accusation over sacrifices had struck a nerve. Nivaradros wasn’t about to tell the Shade what he had surrendered to return to her side, and it made Z grateful she hadn’t spoken about it with the Mithane. A part of her knew if she had spoken of it Nivaradros would not have cared, but it was something that would put him at risk and needed to be shared cautiously. He did not, however, want Crilyne to know. “And your fears are not entirely unfounded,” the Dragon said after a very, very icy pause.
“But they are not in any way correct. Yes, Dragons are very selfish, and we do not like to share. I will admit in the very early stages of my interest in Zimliya I fully intended to keep her to myself. But time made it quite apparent that was in no way feasible. For as much as she distrusts anything that breathes, she also has an innate desire to help others. It is what brought her to my side all those years ago despite my death threats and promises. I no longer have any plans to steal her away and try to turn her into someone she is not. I have no intentions of owning her, and I believe you misunderstand the meaning of claim. It is not something undertaken on a whim to my kin, and it is very rare that it is done at all. We do not form the sort of bonds with words or binding as most races do. We claim. In doing so it is similar, but it also allows my people to keep our possessive trait. We get to pretend we have power over someone we care about; they get to pretend they have power over us.
“I am sure you noticed Zimliya had no quarrel over my use of the word?” Nivaradros continued as his voice turned mild. “She knows what it means, and she knows how rare claims are. I was surprised—and relieved—that she didn’t react poorly to it. I had no way of knowing where she stood. She is about as open to read as a piece of smoothed marble is for a blind being. I thought she cared for me, and I hoped she did, but I had no way of knowing, and even less of a way to ask her. She’s not into any sort of conversation about things that might lead to personal questions. She grows uncomfortable. She squirms, and when she has had enough, and someone is stupid enough to back her into a corner, she lashes out.”
“And when you grow bored with her?”
“You are still misinterpreting the word claim. I am not going to use her for a time and throw her away. Her life is mine. Do you understand? Until the moment one of us perishes or she tells me she wants out, I have no intention of letting anything harm her.” There was an edge in the Dragon’s tone that was growing again. “You are treating me an adolescent male who is here for the short term to obtain bragging rights. Honestly, Shade, if that was the case one of us would already be dead and the event would have been long in the past—if it had even gone down to begin with.”
There was a bitter and cutting pause that Z considered waking to break, but the Dragon wasn’t finished yet and his next words shocked her. “I’m devoted to helping her heal.”
His tone was soft, without the edge he had been using when addressing the Shade prior to this, and it sounded almost like a promise. To whom, she didn’t know; she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“I have spoken with both her mysterious and irritating visitor and the Mithane. She will not finish setting the past behind her without help, and I am going to play the part of the healer. They are both unsure as to whether or not it is even possible, but they seem to be in agreement that at this time I am the only party capable of doing so.” He brushed the blankets back to reveal her bandages, and Z felt him begin to unravel them, displaying what was underneath to the Shade. “I get to play the part in more ways than one,” Nivaradros continued. “And I am looking forward to the challenge.”
“You truly think you can manage this? You?” Crilyne’s tone still had an edge to it, but it was softening. Z decided the two of them were never going to get along, but she hoped with time their interactions would improve.
“Of course not,” Nivaradros scoffed. “But I’m the only chance you’ve got. Let me try without your interference—you can attempt to kill me later if I fail.” With that, the Dragon shook her good shoulder. “Wake up, Z,” he called. “I know you’ve been trying to throughout a good quarter of our discussion.” ‘Discussion’ was putting it a little mildly, but Z did stir.
She met the Dragon’s eyes first as Nivaradros offered her a slight smile before moving his head gracefully to the side in a manner that drew her eyes to the Shade. “Crilyne,” she greeted as she ignored t
he fact that Nivaradros was once again working on her wounds. The desire to see how they looked even though she had seen them recently was strong, but she managed to contain herself as she met the Shade’s dark and furious eyes. “You look well,” she added.
As the Shade always looked the same even when he was bleeding, it was more of a smart remark than an actual observation, but after the conversation she had heard, she felt he deserved it. She, on the other hand, felt exhausted still—due to the extent of her injuries—but she was mending faster than she knew she should have been. Immortality at its finest.
The Shade said nothing, but it was the type of nothing that preceded an explosion. His eyes were on the Dragon—or to be more accurate, the wounds that the Dragon was tending to—and his gaze sharpened and grew colder as Nivaradros moved so the Shade could see where her injuries stood.
“She is too thin and her wounds should be further along in their healing.”
“Coming from the undead immortal who managed to let her become about forty pounds lighter and did not manage to get any part of these wounds to close, I believe you are overstepping.” Nivaradros kept his attention on his task, but Z could tell he was furious. His movements were tight and controlled—he didn’t want to hurt her, but he wanted to snap at something.
“Tell him, Nivaradros,” she said in a lowered voice. When the Dragon didn’t even acknowledge her words, she sighed and reached out to touch him on the shoulder. Well, she tried to, the Dragon caught her hand on its way there.
“I do not believe it will help the situation, and I do not wish to endanger your health.”
“Tell me what?!” Crilyne demanded as his anger rose. “If he has harmed you in any way I’ll—”
Trust the Shade to jump to that conclusion. “Nivaradros…” Z tried again as she raised her voice. Nivaradros continued tending her wounds in silence, but when he finished wrapping both of her injuries he stood with caution and turned to regard the Shade. Holding her breath with unease, Z watched as Nivaradros took a step away from her, and a step closer to the Shade, drawing himself up as he did so.
“I didn’t do anything to her,” Nivaradros growled as his power began to swell in the room. Z continued to hold her breath as the Dragon’s eyes reached their most perilous shade, and his hands clenched into fists. “I did something for her.”
The Shade seemed taken aback by the Dragon’s words and her reaction. His eyes went to hers for the briefest of moments, but then returned to the still approaching Dragon. He did not, however, step back as Nivaradros approached.
“Oh?” he sneered as he met the Dragon’s burning gaze with a cool one. “And just what did you do for her? Relinquish your seat on a council you’ve never sat on before?”
Nivaradros snorted, and there was a hint of smoke, but it was weaker than Z knew it should have been. She wondered which innate talents Nivaradros still possessed, and which ones had been taken with his form.
“No, nothing that insignificant,” the Dragon scoffed as he slowed and paused mere inches away from the Shade. “I was offered a choice by the ancient being that helped me. I could either surrender my mortal-appearing form and a small fraction of power to cover the extensive damage I had taken, or I could surrender my natural form and be forever bound to walk upon the ground.”
Crilyne froze. It was at times like this that Z wished his eyes could change color, because she couldn’t discern what the Shade was thinking. His gaze moved around the Dragon to meet hers and hold it. She inclined her head just a hair in response to his silent question, and Crilyne returned his attention to the Dragon.
“You had time to consider?”
“When are we ever allowed time to consider such a choice?” the Dragon snarled. “I was dying. I was possibly—at that point—dead. I was presented with an offer and I considered both sides with care, but no, I was not given any more time than that moment to decide. Being as you see me now meant surrendering the skies, some of my innate talents; my ability to taste my surroundings instead of just smelling them, and a few other things I will not list. I still have the ability to call scales in this form,” the Dragon added. “And obviously my eyes still have their slits and their range of color. I still have the sight I have always had, my sense of smell is the same, and I retained other talents I will not mention. This was the choice I made, and it was one I made before Zimliya was injured.”
Crilyne’s expression was blocked by the Dragon’s bulk from her viewpoint, and Z desperately wanted to see what it was. “You gave up your Dragon form. Why?” the Shade asked in a whisper. “Your kind has not often—”
“Possibly twice in history, only once that we have recorded,” Nivaradros agreed. He turned to look back at Z, who still hadn’t tried to leave the bed. As she knew she couldn’t, and as the Dragon was far enough away that if she tried, she would fall on her face, Z had opted to say put. “And it is exceptionally rude of you to have asked—even for you—but I will answer since it may end this discussion, so we can discuss how to handle the future, instead of dwelling on a past we cannot change.
“I accepted this form over my other for one reason: I was not, and am not, willing to risk losing Zimliya. The ability to safely touch her ranks at the very top. In my Dragon form I could have seen her of course, and possibly helped her, but if she had been wounded on the field of battle the only thing I would have been able to do is carry her to someone else for healing; I’m not that trusting of others, and I personally have enjoyed her prickly temper that tends to appear when she is injured.”
“Thanks,” Z inserted, feeling less than amused over his word choice. “Are you two done with your stupid male play for power?”
“Possibly,” Nivaradros answered as he turned to regard her with a raised brow. “What about you, Shade? Are we done with our power play?”
“For now,” Crilyne muttered.
“Crilyne!” Z snapped. He stepped with ease around the Dragon to regard her. “Honestly, will you just let it rest?! Why are you being such an ass? I am fine with the Dragon. He hasn’t attempted to harm me in years. Will you let it go?”
His features were smooth enough to give nothing away. Then again, they were always smooth and flawless enough to give nothing away. “I will let it lie…for the present time,” he said after a long pause, offering her a compromise. “But I do not like this.”
“You tolerated him when he was dead,” Z pointed out in a tone she thought might catch fire.
“Well he was dead, hence he was bearable,” Crilyne answered with a small, cutting smile.
“It’s nice to know I am tolerable when dead,” Nivaradros inserted. The sarcasm in his voice was thick. His eyes, however, were a calmer green when he turned to regard her. When the silence became awkward, he added, “are you going to let me feed you?”
She glowered at him but nodded once. A small smile was the answer to her irritation, but Nivaradros did gather up a plate full of food before moving to her side. Crilyne followed him, but at an acceptable distance, and the Shade proceeded to watch as the Dragon badgered her into eating the contents of the entire plate. She could sense Crilyne’s surprise here; she gave into Nivaradros’s harassment with little anger and little argument. Yet he said nothing and did nothing with the information he had received. She wasn’t sure what he made of the evolving relationship she had with the Dragon, but after the Mithane’s question the night before she was positive the lack of knowledge was a blessing.
What was obvious was the pleasure Nivaradros took from his ability to care for her. Almost immediately after he had set himself on the bed beside her and begun to offer her bites of food, his eyes had darkened into their most relaxed shade, his stance lost some of its hostility, and a small and somewhat mocking smile appeared while he teased her.
And he did tease her. Dragons seemed to be good at it in general, but Nivaradros had fine-tuned his ability until it took a lot of thought on her part to banter with him. Before there had always been a chance of offending—which wa
s a death wish—the Dragon during their exchange of insults, but now the only response he gave her was a crooked smile, a shake of his head, or a raised brow. There wasn’t even a change in shade to his eyes to tell her he was annoyed. Something else had changed with his time away.
Throughout it all Crilyne watched them in silence. His surprise changed to confusion, and Z could feel him contemplating something, but whatever it was that occupied his thoughts stayed behind his lips as she fought with the Dragon over her eating habits and her condition. In the end, he stood and bowed low to her. He also bowed to the Dragon, but that bow was layered with mockery.
“I should leave,” he murmured.
“Indeed, you should,” Nivaradros agreed without taking his eyes off Z.
“Nivaradros!” Z snapped, rising to the ice in the Dragon’s words. The Dragon offered her a sly smile, but he did fall silent. “Crilyne—?”
“I know you spoke with the Mithane, but others need to know of your condition. The last most of them heard was that you were still alive, but dying, and that I had been forced to withdraw from your side and hand your care over to an unknown stranger.” Crilyne glanced at Nivaradros and frowned. “I am certain most of them will be reassured to hear your Dragon has returned and is with you—”
“He is not my Dragon!” Z interrupted.
Nivaradros raised a brow. “I believe you are incorrect. Last time I checked I believe you had claimed me in return.” She blinked in surprise and stared at him as she felt her eyes round. “Unless I am wrong, and since I am a Dragon and we are going by Dragon terms that would be quite embarrassing, that more than makes me your Dragon.” He chuckled as she glared at him and he leaned forward to kiss her.
She froze but managed not to react in any other manner as his lips brushed over hers, and she was proud of herself for clamping down on her other possible reactions. She heard Crilyne inhale with surprise and knew her lack of any other reaction surprised and confused him—possibly angered him as well. Offering Nivaradros a smile, she closed her eyes a moment later as a wave of exhaustion hit her. “If you say so,” she answered in response to his earlier comment.
