Scales and Flames

by Catherine Banks

  “I’m sorry you’re still having pain, but it’s good to hear that you’re improving.,” he said. “That’s the important thing. Improvement.” I glanced over to Davian. He was sitting on the edge of the chair with his elbows resting on his knees, looking into the fireplace as the flames danced and flickered. “I hear you’ve been leaving the grounds most days.” He moved forward, keeping his eyes on the ground. I grinned and nodded. My thoughts drifted to Greylore. The feeling of his lips. His touch. His body against mine. “So where have you been going?”

  “Riding the countryside,” I said. It’s not a total lie. “The fresh air and open space are relaxing. The doctor says it’s good for me and helps with my recovery.” My father stood in front of me and stared into my eyes. His gaze felt like an ice pick being plunged into my chest. Why is he staring at me like that?

  “The countryside,” he said, his tone was overly patronizing. My father lifted his hand and smacked the side of my face. The whacking of his palm against my skin echoed against the high ceiling and open space of the room. My head snapped to the side, and I caught sight of Davian as he leaped from his chair. A surging pain on my cheek preceded the rushing heat.

  Putting my hand over my face, I turned to look at my father and immediately saw the anger in his eyes. “Father?” I was going to make him explain himself.

  “Why are you lying to me?” he asked. “I knew you were up to something. I could feel it.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. I moved away from my father, attempting to put some type of buffer between us. “Maybe you should take some time for yourself, to rest and recover from the hunt.”

  “I trusted my instincts and before I left, I arranged to have you followed.” My father’s words were soaked with pride.

  I turned to Davian who did his best to avoid looking me in the eye. You little shit. “Lieutenant Amery followed you on several occasions, including last night.”

  Last night. He followed me last night? I remembered being with Greylore. The waterfall. Standing naked in the lake. Did Davian see me? Did he see us? Did he tell my father? “How could you do that? Have me followed?”

  “I’m your commander,” my father roared. “And your father. It’s not your place to question me.” He let out a big breath with a loud huff. “And it’s a good thing I had Davian keep an eye on you. You have no idea what you were getting yourself into.”

  “Davian?” I whispered. I turned to face Davian, hoping he would give me some indication of what he had shared with my father. “Please.” His gaze moved back and forth between me and my father before he finally turned his back to me, leaning on the mantel.

  “Hensley, you need to understand who it is you’ve been spending time with.”

  I covered my face with my hands. What the hell is happening?

  “That…that man, Greylore Nugu. He is not what you think he is.”

  Shocked at his words, I whipped around and glared at my father. “How do you know Greylore?” I asked. My father speaking my lover’s name made me cringe. “What are you talking about?”

  “My dear naive daughter,” he said. My father stood tall, his head and shoulders back, chest out. “Greylore Nugu is the eldest son of the dragon emperor.”

  I paused, taking in his words for a moment. Eldest son of the dragon emperor. That’s impossible. That would mean that he’s a dragon. But he’s not a dragon. He’s a man. I’ve seen him—every part of him. He is definitely a man. “That’s not possible, Father,” I said. “Greylore is not a dragon.”

  “Not in his human form, but he has another form. That of his dragon side.”

  I think he’s lost his mind. “Father. I think you’ve been fighting—”

  “It’s true,” Davian interrupted me. “I’ve seen it. Greylore is a dragon shifter—half dragon, half human.” I stared at Davian, not wanting to believe his words. “I’m sorry, Hensley. I should have told you.”

  “From this moment,” my father redirected the conversation back to his agenda, “you are forbidden to see Greylore Nugu.”

  “You can’t do that,” I yelled. I no longer cared about the consequences, my standing in the company, or earning my father’s approval. “I am not a child. I’m not a submissive woman you can order around.” I paused. I knew what needed to be said but felt guilty for using it as ammunition for my argument. “And I am not my mother. I know you think she allowed her emotions to outweigh any rational thought. But did you ever think maybe she felt saving me was the logical, most intelligent and best decision for her? I was her child.”

  Just as he did whenever I mentioned my mother, my father remained silent. His jaw clenched. His eyes glazed over. And his chest heaved in and out. “And you know what, Father?” I began to move toward the door. “This is the most logical and best decision for me.”

  Without saying another word, I ran out of the room and didn’t look back. I had to find out for myself if what Davian and my father were saying was true. Unfortunately, that’s as far as I made it with my plan. I had no idea what I was going to do if I discovered it was true.

  Please don’t be true. Please don’t be true. Please don’t be true. Oh, fuck. Did I have sex with a dragon?

  Ten

  Racing outside, I put my palm to my cheek again. The skin was still warm and sensitive from the sting of my father’s hand. I didn’t care who saw me this time. My secret was out. There was no need for stealth. I ran to the stable and mounted the first horse I could find with a completed saddle.

  “Hurry,” I said to Marcum. “Unsaddle all the others and hide the bridles so no one can follow me. It’s important.” Marcum nodded and jumped to his feet, immediately tucking leather straps behind bales of hay, and unbuckling saddles from the closest horse. “Thank you,” I shouted. Kicking my heels into the horse, we galloped off. I had to hurry.

  I’d grown up with stories of dragons. Father warned me repeatedly of the dangers of their kind. I was taught that dragons were horrible, demonic, evil embodiments of destruction and death. Leagues of men would set out to hunt them down only to return a shell of their former selves. They would come in the night to steal women and children, some taken for slaves, others for food. Regardless of why they were taken, they were never seen again. Just like my mother.

  I was young when it happened. Almost too young to remember. My mother and I had been in the meadow picking berries and flowers. Suddenly, she picked me up and ran, pushing me into a small space under a grouping of boulders and tried to climb in with me. She didn’t fit. I heard men yelling and screaming.

  In a sweet and calming voice, my mother had turned to me and said, “Hensley, I need you to be brave. I need you to close your eyes, cover your ears, and sing 'Ring Around the Rosie' until someone comes to get you. Can you do that?”

  I nodded. My mother kissed my hands. “And never forget how much I love you.” I did as she said. When a man dressed in silver armor came to get me, my mother was already gone. They told me a dragon took her away. And from then on, I learned about the horror of dragons, and the war between dragons and humans.

  But now, I was being told of dragon shifters—half human, half dragon. Where did they fit into my father’s stories? Where were they on the scale of horrible beings that ran rampant through these lands? Where did they come from?

  I wasn’t going to believe that Greylore, the man who had saved my life, the man I had fallen in love with, the man I had given myself to, could be a dragon shifter. I had to find out for myself. My mind raced almost as fast as the horse’s legs as we sprinted our way to Greylore’s cabin.

  Finally arriving at the cabin, I settled the horse into the stall and wrapped the reins around the post. This wasn’t Aurora. This horse didn’t know the area, or Greylore. Patting the horse’s head, I turned and began making my way through the trees toward the lake. Greylore wasn’t expecting me and I was nervous about what I might walk into.

  Walking down the path, I heard a whoosh sound overhead. I knew t
hat sound. I’d hunted dragons long enough to know the sound of wings. I darted into the cover of the trees. The whooshing let me know they were very large wings, which meant a very large dragon. I listened to determine which direction they were heading. The lake.

  Following my instincts, I moved slowly through the trees and hid in an area behind the brush where I had a good view of the lake. The ground shook slightly as a large, emerald green dragon landed on the shore of the lake, dipping its large oval head into the crystal blue water.

  I observed from a short distance with baited breath, hiding. The beast didn’t know I was there, at least it didn’t acknowledge my presence. Before my eyes, I watched, doubting my own sanity as the creature transformed from a magnificent emerald green dragon, slowly changing into the most beautiful human form I’d ever seen—or touched. Greylore stood naked next to the water where only moments ago a dragon had towered. Greylore? It’s true? My gaze stayed on his form as he dove into the water, quickly resurfacing and making his way to the shore. The water glistened off his body, heightening my desire for his touch. I wanted to run to him, but I couldn’t. Why didn’t he tell me? How couldn’t he tell me?

  But I didn’t tell him my secret either. My mind began to envision all the dragons I’d slain over the years. As I recalled them all—red, blue, black, silver—the images changed, and the beasts shimmered, changing to men and women, injured, bleeding, from wounds I had inflicted. Had I not killed dragons? Were all the creatures I’d killed humans? Shifters? Did my father know?

  What have I done?

  Eleven

  I didn’t bother knocking this time and I didn’t care who was in there with him. He was going to give me some answers. “Did you know?” I shouted, bursting into the room. I scanned the large room until I caught sight of him at the map table. Davian and one of the generals stood on the opposite of my father. “Father. Did you know?”

  He looked at me, his face blank.

  “Gentlemen,” he said. “Will you give me and my daughter a few moments alone?” Daughter? I can’t remember the last time he referred to me in that way. The two men nodded at him and quickly exited the room. Davian kept his gaze on me until the door latched closed. My father turned his back to me and walked to a table against the wall covered with various food and drink. “What can I do for you, Hensley?”

  “Have you always known about dragon shifters?” I had to ask but was terrified of his answer.

  “Of course,” he said. He filled a glass with something from a pitcher, grabbed a hunk of ham with his fingers, and turned to face me. “I wouldn’t be much of a commander if I didn’t know everything about my enemy, now would I?”

  “Did you know they were people?” The horrifying image from earlier—of men and women wounded, bleeding, dying from wounds I had inflicted—flooded back. Tears welled in my eyes. “Did you think for a moment that the creature I was killing for you might not be a demon or a monster as you had led me to believe, but a person? I am the monster, Father.” A tear rolled down my cheek, and I quickly wiped it away. “You turned me into a monster, a murderer.”

  Chewing on a bite of ham, my father took a drink from his cup. “You are still young, Hensley,” he said, his voice and facial expression offering no emotion. “You don’t understand these things.”

  “I understand more than you think, Father,” I snapped. “And I am not as young you wish me to be. I’ve done more in my young life than most men have done by the time they die.”

  He took another bite of his meat, showing no reaction to my words.

  “In fact, I’m not even a virgin.” My father slammed his cup onto the table, the red liquid sloshing out and spilling onto the surface. “Finally. A reaction. You do have emotions.”

  “You want emotions, a reaction?” He took two stomping steps towards me. “How about this for an emotion? It doesn’t matter to me whether they are true dragons or half-bred scum shifters, they all deserve to be slaughtered.”

  “Father…” I had never seen this side of him. I knew he was a soldier. A warrior. A fighter. But he apparently had kept the side of him that was cruel and harsh a secret. At least until now.

  “And I will not rest until every, single, last, one of them is dead.”

  It is because of my mother. He blames dragons for my mother’s death and is on some type of obsessive revenge quest. And now that I see the level of hatred he is holding inside, I fear he may succeed.

  My father let out a growling breath and picked up his cup, chugging the remaining contents. Placing the cup back down, he smirked at me and walked toward his big black chair. “I do want to thank you,” he said.

  “For what?” I asked. I hesitantly followed behind him.

  “Because of you and your deception, we now know where your precious dragon prince is.” I stopped walking. “We can find him, trap him, and use him against his father, flushing out the whole family.”

  My heart sank. I felt nauseous.

  “You’ve given us all the tools we need to destroy the dragon emperor—the most powerful of their kind. Not to mention wipe out his whole family.”

  “Father, you can’t do this.” I was overwhelmed with a sense of panic and dread. Maybe Greylore was a shifter, but it didn’t change the feelings that I had for him. And until I had a chance to talk to him, I wouldn’t believe that he could be the same mindless, evil demons my father taught me about as a child. I’d witnessed his kindness, his loving heart, first hand. Plus, Aurora loved him. And she was a great judge of character. She didn’t like my father.

  “I guess even when you’re not even trying, you’re still my most dedicated, most powerful, most successful warrior.” My father plopped down into his big chair, looking most satisfied with himself. He’s right. This is all my fault. “And don’t worry, Hensley. Everyone will know it was you who helped rid the world of dragons once and for all.” I can’t let this happen. I have to fix this. I have to get out of here.

  I turned around to see two guards at the door, with Davian standing between them. They were blocking my only exit.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” my father said. “And we can’t have you running off to warn Greylore that we’re coming.”

  I spun around, my hair slicing through the air. “I don’t want any part of this,” I said. “If you’re going to kill those innocent people, then their blood is on your hands. You leave me out of it.”

  “They’re not innocent!” he said, bounding out of his chair. My father’s voice filled the room, bouncing off the walls and hitting my body from every angle. “They took your mother from us. Don’t you understand that?”

  “I understand that something took her,” I said, begging him to reconsider. “But you don’t know it was the shifters. Maybe if you talk to—”

  “You want me to talk to them?” He scoffed. “Maybe try to make nice and become friends?”

  “No, Father. But you could at least—”

  “Enough!” He put his hand up, stopping me from saying anything further. “I’m not debating this with you.” I have to get out of here. I can’t let him get to Greylore. “You will be confined to your room under a twenty-four-hour guard. Your meals will be delivered to you. The maids will visit you twice a day under supervision. And again, I will not debate this with you.”

  “Lieutenant Amery,” my father moved passed me, talking about me as if I weren’t in the room. “You will escort my daughter to her room and see to her confinement. You will be responsible for ensuring she is always guarded. I expect you to check on her at least three times a day to verify she is physically present in her room.”

  Davian looked at me, furrowed his brow, and turned his eyes to my father. “Sir,” he said. “What about the search? Capturing the prince? The battle? If I am guarding your daughter, I won’t be able to lend my assistance.”

  “Lieutenant Amery,” my father’s cocky commander tone returned. “Do you think you know better than I do? Do you think you could plan a better attack? Do you thi
nk you could create a better war plan to wipe out the plague that continues to destroy our lands day after day, year after year?”

  “No sir,” Davian replied. “I just…” I studied the look on Davian’s face. I saw the hurt, the disappointment, the growing anger. My father wasn’t acknowledging Davian in the way he needed, wanted, or deserved. I knew how he felt.

  There, in Davian’s disappointment, I saw an opportunity. I saw hope. Perhaps I could use Davian’s feelings—both his current state of contempt for the Commander and his feelings for me—to help me get out of the compound.

  “We will get along without you, Lieutenant. Just make sure she does not leave her room. Now please, do as you’ve been ordered.”

  Yes, Davian. Do as you’ve been ordered. The sooner you take me to my room, the sooner I can work my charms and get out of here.

  Twelve

  Davian held onto my bicep as we made our way to down the hall. I felt a sense of dread as we reached the large wooden door of my room. He mumbled under his breath, his jaw muscles flexing. I could feel his grip tightening, and I attempted to pull away.

  “Davian,” I whined, attempting to play on his feelings. “You’re hurting me.” He pulled his hand back, a horrified look washed over his face.

  “Hensley,” he lightly touched my cheek. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

  “What’s going on with you?” If I was going to find a solution, I needed to know where Davian was mentally and emotionally.

  “Nothing.” He looked down at the floor. “It’s just…I…” Davian let out a breath. “I’m disappointed that your father doesn’t feel I’m more valuable to the force. I thought I was important. I thought he needed me. I thought I was needed.” I could see the hurt on his face. “Apparently, I’m expendable. Nothing more than another pawn on the board. And now I’m simply a babysitter.”