by T. S. Ryder
“You keep saying that. I wish you wouldn’t.,” Carmichael gasped in exasperation. A hurt expression colored his golden eyes and Karina briefly felt guilt rush through her. “I know we are mated. I feel it deep in my very soul. This yearning to be beside you is insatiable. An explanation is out there. We shall continue our journey to the witch Danasi and bring about her death should the curse not lift before then.”
“Carmichael, my love. What if I haven’t the strength to take her life? And what might happen should I succeed? You say you wish to stay by my side, but should the dragons return will you not want a proper mate?” she asked, trying hard to sound patient. “I just... I have these... doubts,” she admitted, slowing Tarron to a stop so she could properly meet Carmichael’s eyes.
When a look of wonder crossed his gaze, she bit her lip and lightly brushed her fingers against her stomach as she looked away from him.
Slowly, Carmichael dismounted awkwardly from Beau and moved over to her. Tears welled in his eyes and rolled silently down his cheeks as he brushed his fingertips against her. “My dear, Lady Karina. Mating is not something I can reverse. You are as much a part of me, as my eggs are a part of you, or my dragon form is a part of me. I would not give that up, even if I were inclined to do so.”
“Carmichael...” Karina whispered, reaching down to take his hand with a soft sigh. “I believe you, my love.”
“As you should,” Carmichael smiled lightly. “And here I had expected it to be about the eggs.”
Karina jerked slightly and stared at him. She’d just realized something that should have been obvious before. How had the eggs come to be? “Eggs? Are you... Carmichael, you’re a male. Males don’t have babies or carry… eggs.” she said in wonder. “How?”
“Human males do not carry the egg, only the sperm. But a dragon always has eggs, whether he is male or female. We do not see gender, Lady Karina, so both of us must carry the egg and the sperm.”
She looked at him in wonder, but nodded in acceptance, her fingers lightly stroking over the egg lump. A strange thrill of apprehension and excitement gripped her until her head swam with endless possibilities of the unknown.
“I did not know that dragons could take human mates that also laid their eggs,” Karina said.
“I did not know myself. Tales of dragons falling in love with humans have been told, but such tales age far before my time. I had never seen such a thing occur...” he grinned. “You really are quite different, aren’t you, My Lady.”
Karina blushed lightly at this and shrugged. “You should get back on Beau. There is still an hour’s worth of daylight. We should keep going before the sun starts to lower. Tomorrow, we shall reach the Queen’s castle.”
“As you wish, My Lady.”
Chapter Eight
It was apparent Karina had fallen head over heels for Carmichael. He’d given her flowers that morning, a bouquet of wild honeysuckle and jasmine that hung from Tarron’s saddle as they rode. It had all but melted her heart. The feeling was short lived. They arrived at the castle just before sun down, as Karina had expected.
As they stood at the foot of the Queen’s castle, Carmichael helped her don her black tarnished plate armor. This was the reason they’d traveled so far together, yet he stared at her with tears in his golden eyes, a new found fear for his new found mate blossoming in his chest.
“My Lady, my dear... You will take care of yourself?” he asked, with his watery eyes. “I fear for you, as much as I believe in you.”
For once, Karina was the one that felt she could see straight into his soul. His love for her shone brightly in his eyes and it nearly broke her heart.
“Carmichael. This is why we came all this way,” she reminded gently, her helmet beneath her arm and her sword strapped down to her hip. “I won’t leave without defeating the Que-”
“Witch!”
“Witch...” she paused, glaring lightly at the interruption. “You’ll have your dragon form back, my love. Trust in me,”
“It isn’t you I don’t trust,” Carmichael murmured darkly.
“All the same,” Karina sighed, pressing a swift kiss to his cheek. “Believe in me. So long as you believe, I can do this. All will be well.”
Carmichael just shrugged and pulled her roughly forward into his arms. Together, they stood, locked in an embrace that both would have preferred to last forever. Couldn’t time simply freeze in that moment? The thought was wistful, though and all too soon, Karina pulled free of his arms with a loving smile on her face.
“Take the horses to the trees, love. Keep them close. We might need to make haste when we leave,” she said. Determination colored her voice and the warmth and love he’d come to know had been replaced with the warrior she appeared to be. Even still, unease flooded through him as she told him to leave her.
“I’m coming in with you!” he cried out, terror filling his golden eyes.
“Carmichael, no. I need you out here. If something goes wrong, I need you here to help,” Karina said, pulling on her helmet. Every inch of her was covered with her jousting armor once the helmet was on her head. Carmichael had to admit she looked foreboding and menacing. Still, worry ate at his heart.
“I will come to you if you don’t return by sundown,” he promised as he swept Karina into his arms. At first, he just held her, but as time wore on, he sighed and pressed a sweet, gentle kiss to her lips. “Go, my dear. My heart goes with you.”
As soon as Karina was free from Carmichael’s arms, she smiled at him. “My love, I shall return to you. For now, I must depart,” she said. He said nothing, but nodded his head while she turned with a wave and crossed the bridged moat. She could feel him watching her as she went.
Her armored boots clicked on the stone in even beats as she approached the castle gate. Her heart pounded in the familiar feeling of exhilaration with the prospect of the upcoming battle. This shall be no different than that of a joust, or a match between blades, she reminded herself softly as she approached the entrance to the castle. As expected, armed guards barred the way through the gate with scythes as long as her arm and as thick as her head.
“Hail! What purpose have you, Sir Knight?” the guard on the left called towards her as he crossed scythes with the right guard to bar her entrance to the castle grounds.
With the confrontation, a pang of longing for Tarron and Carmichael to be at her side rolled through her. But Karina pressed on. “Hail. I come seeking audience in the throne room with her majesty, Queen Danasi.”
“Under what order?” the left knight questioned.
“None but my own.”
“For what purpose have you to see her?”
“She is but a witch that has laid curse on my lover! I intend to force her into freeing my love.”
The left knight was silent as he looked over at his companion, who shook his head with a frown. “You are denied entrance.”
“Then you will perish under my blade,” Karina warned softly.
The guards exchanged uneasy glances with each other, but held their ground. “You wouldn’t dare!” shouted the guard on the right.
Karina pulled out her sword and pointed it toward them.
“You will let me see her or you will die,” she murmured once more, watching as the guards’ eyes widened as they realized she’d meant her words.
“You... You could be executed!” the man on the right sputtered, as he pushed her away with the head of his scythe. “You…” but before he finished the left knight sighed and dropped his scythe.
“Jerome, no blood needs be shed.”
“What sort of knights are you? So easily beaten?” Karina asked at this, though she sheathed her sword once more.
“We aren’t knights,” the right knight murmured. “She hasn’t a single true knight in her court, just peasants pretending. Peasants who are too poor to pay taxes! Please... Please don’t kill us, Lady Knight!” the left knight sighed, kneeling on the ground before her. “The Queen’s a witch, she is!
She is powerful enough the castle doesn’t need actual guards! We just try to deter people from bothering her.”
His words fell heavily on Karina’s heart and slowly, she removed her helmet.
“What are your names, peasant men?” she asked, helping the kneeling left guard to stand. Eyes full of gratitude met hers and for a moment, she could almost imagine Carmichael’s golden eyes peering up at her. But these eyes were green, not gold and the peasant man’s face was far too large to be her lover.
“Jamison,” he said, bowing slightly. “I am grateful you spared my life. This is Jerome, my younger brother.”
Karina sighed and glanced towards Jamison and Jerome. “I am the Black Knight and I have a favor to ask, Jamison.”
Jamison nodded eagerly, more than ready to help. “Anything, Lady Knight.”
“I need you to get me into that throne room.”
Jamison stared at her for a brief moment before he turned to his brother. “Jerome, go home. This will take a long while.”
Chapter Nine
“Lady Knight, this is not a good idea. If she didn’t know you were here when we were outside, she’ll know you’re here now. She’ll feel it, feel you,” Jamison whispered as he led Karina through the serf passages. Her armor was bulky in form and brushed against the walls of the hallways as they twisted and turned.
“This is something I must do,” Karina stated, her tone blunt and determined. “Carmichael needs my help.”
“C-Carmichael? As in Caichmiorral the Dragon King?” Wonder had flooded through Jamison’s green eyes as he spoke. He paused their journey to turn and look at her.
“You’re the lover of the Dragon King? Of Caichmiorral? Caichmiorral hasn’t been seen for over two centuries because he was cast into his human form by a witch. By Danasi. That is the curse you wish to lift?” Jamison gasped.
“Yes. The Dragon King Caichmiorral is my lover and this is a task I need to complete for him.”
Jamison grinned and laughed, the sounds echoing around them and down the halls. A true happiness seemed to rise up from the depths of his heart as he all but danced in place.
“My lady, you’ve already won! Has he bedded you, yet? Has he lain with you? He was cursed to damnation as human, lest he finds true love. Tell me, this is the man you are trying to save?” he asked eagerly, though instead of waiting for an answer, he pressed a hand to her breast plated stomach. Another peel of laughter split his lips as he looked up at her.
“You can free them from her! You can free this land from her reign! You can bring back the dragons again,” Jamison gasped.
In the back of her mind, Karina recalled their conversations about mating and eggs and the curse. Determination burned in her chest as her resolve for lifting the curse settled over her twice as strong.
“He has bedded me, as you say, but the curse still remains,” she sighed softly.
“He has? But then…”
But before Jamison could finish his statement, the wall to their right was blown wide open and a sickly sweet, smiling face peered out at them.
“There you are.”
The Queen Danasi stared at them. Her lips were smeared with crimson as deep as blood, her skin was paler even than freshly fallen snow and her face was so angular it was a wonder the bone didn’t cut straight through her pale skin. The most disturbing were her eyes, clouded over with scar tissue to the point it was near impossible to see her pupils and irises.
As she raised a hand and yanked it backward as if pulling on something invisible, Karina felt invisible hands wrap around her armored waist. They were impossibly large and she suddenly found herself careening forward through the wall and into the throne room.
A wall of energy, purple and shimmering strangely separated Karina from Jamison, who stared at her, petrified. She stared at the Queen, a hand on her sword as the alien woman paced around her.
With blinding speed, a hand lashed out and struck Karina across the cheek, leaving her head spinning as she fell to a knee. Blood filled her mouth and a tooth, one of her back molars, rolled about across her tongue.
Karina didn’t respond. Instead, she immediately lunged with her sword and the Queenside stepped her blow. A flash of purple crackled past, just barely missing Karina’s head and she swung her sword again, lightly grazing the tip against Danasi’s thigh. The taste of the witch’s blood left the blade humming in her hands as if it were eager to taste more. Karina was happy to oblige.
They sparred together, locked in a deadly dance of sword and magic. Karina took a blast of purple electricity to the chest with the force sending her flying back a few feet. As soon as Danasi came close to strike again, Karina sprang forward and slashed a deep gouge across her shoulder.
Danasi was easily faster than Karina and her magic was more deadly than her sword could ever hope to be, but she was significantly stronger and had professional training with her chosen weapon. Their match was even and resulted in sweat rolling down Karina’s temple with Danasi gritting her teeth.
Another burst of purple flashed and Karina deflected it with her blade, sending it back in Danasi’s direction though the witch merely levitated up into the air with a grim smile.
“Your time has come, Witch Queen!” Karina called to her as they both bent over, panting heavily. “You can never hope to defeat me!”
Queen Danasi just smirked, opened her mouth wide and screamed so high pitched it left Karina spasming uncontrollably in pain on the floor. The sound cut straight to her bones and left her struggling to stand as she writhed.
“I’m just getting started, knight,” Danasi cackled. In Danasi’s arrogance, Karina recovered enough to slash across her breast. “I am but toying with you.”
With that, she blew Karina backwards once more with a chest full of purple magic. The light given off the beam coming from the Queen’s hands was bright enough to hurt the eyes.
Once more, Karina struggled to her feet and her sword felt heavier than lead in her hand. “Well, that’s good to know. I’d have thought I was too challenging for you,” she growled out, her breath coming and going in rough pants.
“Why don’t we sit down and relax a little. Tell me all about that coward of a man known as the Dragon King,” Danasi sniffed, disdain clear on her face. “What a pathetic excuse for a monarch. He was too weak to hold his throne.”
Karina lunged with the sword and stabbed it deep into Danasi’s shoulder and the witch screeched in pain as she backed away. Yet, with the movement and Karina’s fatigue, her sword was yanked from her grasp.
“You don’t care about Carmichael...” Karina said, defiant despite her defenselessness. “Why kill all the dragons? The elves? Why do this and cause so much hatred and destruction in this land?”
Danasi grinned and her lips split wide with a cackle that echoed sickeningly around the all-but-empty throne room. “Why?” she repeated. “You are about to meet your death and yet you wish for conversation and ask me why?”
“You seem narcissistic enough to want to talk about your so called success story. If I’m going to die either way, why not give you another opportunity to gloat?” Karina snapped. Her words rewarded her with a slap across the face, not nearly as hard as the first had been, yet equally as painful.
“Hold your tongue. I could have you tortured and imprisoned for your threatening presence,” Danasi said as she waved a hand. Karina very suddenly lifted up into the air until she was level with her, suspended in the middle of the room.
“You know,” Queen Danasi hummed. “I always hated the question why. The elves all asked why I killed them, the dragons asked why I imprisoned them and Caichmiorral asked why I poisoned his mate... It’s a very bland question.”
Karina struggled in the air. No matter how hard she fought, an invisible hand clenched around her chest that much tighter, until she was sure her plate armor would bend around her body.
“Put me down!” she snarled, flailing her arms and legs about, but Danasi just cackled and clenched the in
visible hand that much tighter around her.
“I think the simplest answer is because I could,” Danasi continued, as though she wasn’t quite literally holding her audience captive. “Of course, Morrigana was personal,” she purred, floating high enough now to touch the ceiling with her fingertips. Her eyes stared, transfixed at Karina as she struggled and fought.
“You do want to hear, don’t you?”
“Not particularly! Put. Me. Down!”
Danasi huffed, but continued on, as if Karina’s answer didn’t matter one way or another.
“See. I had always loved Caichmiorral. He was strong, valiant, majestic and had the most attractive human form I had ever seen. He loved me!”
Karina’s attention snapped to the story as she listened. Carmichael? Her Carmichael? Loving this... creature?
“You liar!” she snapped, glaring territorially.
Danasi stared at her, as first a look of cruel victory crossed her lips before her eyes flickered down to Karina’s hidden stomach and terror flooded her gaze. Without warning, Karina was dropped and plummeted to the stone ground.
Her breath whooshed from her lungs painfully as she slammed against the ground and her vision swam from where her head had cracked violently against the ground. She could already feel blood rolling through her thick red hair and down both her temple and ear.
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Chapter Ten
Before she regained her feet, Queen Danasi raised a hand and she suddenly lifted into the air. It was unnatural, dangling freely through thin air.
“Put me down, you witch!” Karina demanded.
“Or what, little jouster?” Queen Danasi cackled madly as she threw Karina through the air, up against a wall.
