by ERIN BEDFORD
“While we were working to create an heir, we had not much else to do but train. Of course, grueling hours in the training yards would yield great results.” Firestar tried to save us, but I could tell by Lady Nariko’s expression that nothing he said would change her mind.
“I doubt it,” was the only response Lady Nariko made. She moved past her son and stopped in front of me. Dark eyes locked on mine as her hand caught my chin within her grasp. Moving my face this way and that she seemed to be searching for an answer. One I knew I would not give her.
“Mother,” Raiden stepped in, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Release Maya, this has nothing to do with her.”
“Oh, I think it does,” his mother purred but released my face all the same. I refused to rub my chin where her pincer like nails had poked me. She seemed the kind to get off on other people’s misery. She and my father would make quite the pair, should they ever meet.
“What are you talking about?” Fujin asked finally taking an interest in where the conversation was going. “How could a woman have anything to do with their powers? Only intense training and time on the battlefield could cause such a boost in power. Right?” Fujin glanced at his brother Raijin, who shrugged in answer.
“It’s been said that a true mate can complete a dragon in ways that no one else could. A force to be reckoned with,” Lady Nariko explained, her eyes scanning over the four of us. “That their love could grow into a monstrous amount of power, enough to conquer all of Waesigar, if they so wished.”
Lady Nariko’s explanation blew me away. The thought that we could become some unstoppable force didn’t seem possible. I could hardly fight my own battles let alone take over the whole world.
“And you think Maya has done such a thing with them?” Fujin nodded to me, wonder and confusion on his face. “How can that be?”
Lady Nariko shrugged. “I’ve only ever heard of it happening between two people. Those two halves completing a whole so to speak but to cause such a change in not one but three men? Now that is something else entirely.” Her eyes lit with a fire that made me take a step back. It wasn’t fear or anger I saw in there but want.
Lady Nariko didn’t want me sexually, but she coveted my power, I could see it in her eyes. If not for herself than for her kingdom. It was Firestar’s camp all over again, and the very thing I feared would happen. If she told anyone, then I would be even more of a target than I already was. I could already tell that wouldn’t bother her. Even if her son loved me. She wanted power, and I had little doubt she would stop at anything to get it.
“Now,” Lady Nariko sighed and fanned herself slightly. “All this excitement is a bit too much for an old lady like me. I think I’ll go lie down.”
“Of course,” Raiden hurried to help his mother over to her handmaiden. Lady Nariko might be a lot of things, but she knew how to play her sons. The weak, fragile facade would only go so far with me. I’d only been playing the game for a short amount of time, and I could already find those who were playing it too. And the Lady of the East played it well.
“Don’t forget,” she added as she let her handmaiden guide her toward the palace. “Your father wanted to meet with you later today. Don’t keep him waiting.”
“Yes, mother,” the three lightning princes answered at once.
Their mother had her claws firmly in them, and I didn’t know how I would get them out. My own mother was lovely if a bit of a pushover when it came to my father. Seeing what they had to deal with I was thankful for my own. I couldn’t deal with two overbearing parents, even if one of them was a bit slyer about it.
“What are we going to do?” I hissed when we got back to Jack’s room. My room was still being cleaned up the door still hadn’t been replaced. I hadn’t even had the chance to ask Raiden’s family about the attack.
“About what?” Raiden asked as he flopped down in a chair by Jack’s dresser.
I exchanged an exasperated look with Jack and Firestar, pleading for them to help me out before I crushed all of Raiden’s hopes and dreams. I was not going to be the one who told him his mother was a power-hungry viper.
“Raiden,” Jack started his voice in his usual emotionless tone. “I believe Maya is worried your mother might let our little secret slip.”
“She wouldn’t do that,” Raiden jumped up from his seat, shaking his head. “I told you before they could be trusted, and I meant it. She wouldn’t do anything that would hurt me and hurting you would hurt me.” Raiden grabbed my hands a self-assured look on his face.
I wanted to believe him but too many years with my father had taught me better. His mother couldn’t be trusted. His brothers were too dumb to even think of trying to get powers from me and his father - well his father was married to Lady Nariko. There was no telling if he was aware of his wife’s power-hungry tendencies or if she had hidden it from him.
“Still,” I rubbed Raiden’s arms trying to sound conversational and not at all accusing. “I would feel better if we didn’t show any more of your powers while you were in the palace walls. All right?”
“Fine,” Raiden sighed and then added, “But I’m not holding back when we go on the raid later today.”
“Raid?” I raised a brow and glanced at Firestar and Jack for some answers. “What raid?”
This time Firestar answered, “We finally convinced the brothers to agree to my plan. We are going to draw the raiders into one of the smaller villages and then take them by surprise. Then we will get to the bottom of who’s been attacking the Eastern lands.”
I chewed on my bottom lip not liking the thought of them putting themselves in danger. There had been raids all over the world, not just in the East but who was behind them was anyone’s guess. The raiders didn’t exactly wear anyone’s colors or symbols. For all we knew, it could be unaligned dragons attacking the other regions just because they could.
“All right,” I finally said, marching for the door. “The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can find out who attacked me.”
When I opened the door, and the guys didn’t follow I stopped. Turning on my heel, I placed my hands on my hips and scowled. “What’s the problem?”
“We don’t think you should go,” Raiden answered, a guilty frown on his lips. He rubbed the back of his head and kicked the ground with the toe of his boot. “It will be pretty dangerous, and it would be just us guys so—”
“So, I’d just be in the way is what you are saying, isn’t it?” I growled, crossing my arms over my chest.
“We aren’t saying that at all,” Jack tried to explain, but then Firestar interrupted.
“Speak for yourself,” He grunted and when I turned my hurt eyes to him added, “We don’t want you to get hurt, Maya. You’re still rusty, and this is serious.”
“And you don’t think I can help?” I countered, my eyes brimming with tears. “What’s the point of teaching me to fight better if I can’t put it to use? Did you think before all this I just sat around at home while the others fought?”
“Of course not,” Raiden said and tried to take me into his arms, but I shook him off.
Anger fueled me at their treatment. I might not be the strongest of them, but I still could fight. My magic vagina wasn’t the only thing I was good for.
“Stop that right now,” Jack demanded, pulling me from my thoughts. “We all care for you and wouldn’t tell you to stay here if we didn’t have a good reason. No one is saying you are worthless, but this is a sensitive mission.”
“Exactly,” Raiden agreed and then placed his hands on my shoulders rubbing in soothing circles. “You'll be safer here,” Raiden reassured me, and I gave him an incredulous glare. “Well, safer than out there. I can have a guard posted at your door. Plus.” He gestured at my stomach with a frown. “You're supposed to be pregnant. Can't have you gallivanting all over the region.”
“He is right,” Firestar said, nodding. “I don’t like leaving you here alone. Especially after what happened last night, but w
e can’t bring you with us, and we can’t stay here. Our hands are tied.”
I sighed and glanced at Jack, hoping he would have a better option. The ice dragon took my hand in his and caressed my face with the other one. “I am sorry, Maya, but it is for the best. Stay in your room or find Lady Nariko and stay by her side.”
I snorted at that suggestion. I would be even less safe near that harpy. I kept my thoughts to myself, not wanting to hurt Raiden’s feelings. One’s parents could be a hard spot to poke at, and I didn’t want to hurt our relationship. Raiden would have to learn on his own what kind of woman his mother truly was, and if the way she looked at me earlier was any indication, I had a feeling she would show her true face soon enough.
13
Pacing didn’t make waiting any better. If anything, it made it worse. I’d already created a path in the rug from my pacing, and if it didn’t find something soon to distract myself, I was going to go crazy.
But what to do? The guys had told me to stay in the room unless I sought out Raiden’s mother. I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue in disgust. Like that would ever happen.
I might have to deal with her for Raiden’s sake, but that didn’t mean I was going to go out of my way to seek out that horrid woman. I had little doubt she was plotting how best to exploit my abilities or rather her son’s abilities. I shook my head in shame.
I barely knew the woman and had no right to criticize her or her motives. Just because I was assuming didn’t mean I was right. Though, if I wasn’t right about Lady Nariko, I’d eat my left shoe.
Stopping mid-pace, I glanced around the room for something to distract me from thinking of that foul woman. My eyes settled on Jack’s dresser, and a naughty part of me snickered. I strolled across the room and placed my hands on Jack’s dresser. Pausing, I had a moment of guilt. I shouldn’t look through his things, it wouldn’t be right.
Then again, they had left me here with nothing to do while they go off saving the kingdom. Could the guys really fault me for getting bored? They were lucky I wasn’t getting drunk and running around naked, which I had longed to do since I arrived home and could actually get drunk. Sadly, my lie had made that impossible.
Pulling the top drawer open, my heart beat rapidly in my chest. I felt like a child getting presents for the first time. Except when I dug into the draw, I felt like the child who only got socks when they really wanted the hottest toy of Christmas season.
I should have known better than to expect anything naughty in my ice dragon’s drawers. He was far too sophisticated for that. However, my eyes darted to the nightstand. Perhaps he wasn’t completely a stick in the mud.
Ripping the drawer open, I pulled a bit too hard, making the contents fall all over the ground. My eyes shot to the bedroom door, expecting Jack or the guys to come bursting through at any moment.
When no one did, I knelt on the ground beside the bed searching my treasures. I picked up a dark-colored book and glanced at the spine. My brows rose in surprise when I realized it was a romance novel. A red bookmark stuck out of the side and when I opened it my brows shot even higher.
My eyes skimmed the words on the page, my skin getting heated at the steamy scene on the pages. A deep ache developed between my thighs and I hurried to close the book before I got too excited. Who knew when the guys would be back to help me itch my scratch?
Putting the book aside, I picked up the rest of the things that had fallen. A hairbrush, a pale blue ribbon that I could just imagine in Jack’s hair. When I finished picking up everything and putting it back in its place, I moved to stand up, but a glinting under the bed stopped me.
Kneeling back down, I reached under the bed. My fingers wrapped around cool metal and I withdrew it with interest. A dagger with an ornate silver handle. A bright blue sapphire was fitted into the pommel, and without even touching the short blade, I knew it was razor sharp.
Fingering the dagger, I stood. I wondered where he had gotten it. Maybe a family member? Or a lover? Jealousy flared up at the thought. It was silly to worry about past lovers when Jack was here with me now, but the blade was obviously meant for a woman. Chewing my cheek, I flipped the blade over in my hand as I contemplated the possibilities that Jack might have a lover back home.
My heart ached at the thought and my eyes pricked with emotion. Thankfully, before I could go down the spiraling slop of misery, there was a knock at the door.
I stuck the dagger in my boot, careful of the tip and then marched over to the door. Behind it stood a nervous young man. He couldn’t have been older than sixteen. His eyes met mine briefly, and his ears and face turned redder than Firestar’s hair.
“M-my lady,” he stuttered and half-bowed. “Lady Nariko has requested you have tea with her.”
Forcing back the immediate rejection on the tip of my tongue, I sighed. I had wanted something to do, and while I hadn’t sought Lady Nariko out, it couldn’t hurt to see what Lady of the East wanted, maybe I’d been wrong about her? One could only hope. Before I could decide one way or the other, my stomach decided to growl its vote.
The teen before me blushed even harder, eyes flicking to my stomach. I laughed and put him out of his misery. “Very well, lead the way.”
By the time we arrived at the Lady of the East’s rooms, I was questioning my sanity. Had I really agreed to have tea with the woman who hated me? Sure, her sons were wonderful, her youngest in particular, but how those three came from such a horrible woman mystified me.
Before I could back out, my blushing guide had taken off, leaving me at the open door he had already knocked on. A voice from inside beckoned me in, and I took a deep breath before letting it out. Be nice. For Raiden’s sake.
“Maya,” Lady Nariko cooed as I came through the doors. Her room was set up more like my parents with a small sitting room for guests in front of a door that led to the bedroom. A cute table and chairs were set next to balcony doors which were thrown open to bring in the air. If my nose could be trusted, we were going to have rain soon. Not that it meant much since it seemed to always be raining here.
“Lady Nariko,” I greeted, taking the seat, she gestured to. I felt underdressed sitting across from her in my jeans and t-shirt. Lady Nariko, on the other hand, looked every bit the ruler she was in her long green skirt and high-necked blouse. Even her dark hair had been twisted into a delicate up-do that could have been a crown in its own right.
Forcing a smile onto my face, I picked up my already steaming teacup. “Thank you for inviting me. I was simply going mad in my room.”
Lady Nariko chuckled and sipped from her own cup. “I can imagine. We women have to keep busy when we’re left behind.”
I tried not roll my eyes. “Sadly, I’m not used to being left behind. I’d rather be in the middle of the fight than sitting on the sidelines. Even worse sitting at home and not even getting to see what is going on.”
“Yes, well,” Lady Nariko started a sly smile covering her lips. “When we carry precious cargo, we must make sacrifices. You are pregnant, aren’t you?” A delicate brow rose, but I had a feeling she already knew the answer.
“Yes, of course,” I murmured into my cup, not meeting her scrutinizing gaze. After a moment, I cleared my throat and opened my mouth to change the subject. Before I could, Lady Nariko sat her cup down with a loud thwack.
“Let’s stop pretending here,” she quipped and laced her fingers in front of her. Her dark eyes on me had a sharp edge to it. “I know you aren’t pregnant, and I also know that until recently, you hadn’t mated with all the men in your entourage.”
Mouth agape, it took me a second to find my words before they tumbled out, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Oh, please stop it.” Lady Nariko waved me off and shifted in her seat. “We are both grown women here.” She leaned forward with a conspiratorial gleam in her eyes. “Let’s be honest, you aren’t very good at lying.”
Instead of answering, I chugged my tea even though
it burned my tongue. Taking a deep breath, I settled into my seat and met Lady Nariko with a stern look of my own. “What do you want?”
“See.” Lady Nariko pointed at me with one finger as she picked her cup back up with the other hand. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now, let’s get down to business.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Lady Nariko held all the cards, and I wished I knew what she planned to do with them. I reminded myself it couldn’t be any worse than what my own father had done to me. I hoped.
“You must have some reason for pretending to be pregnant.”
“I—” I tried to interrupt and explain, but she waved me off.
“Honestly, I don’t care about your reasons. All I care about is what you have going on down there in those ridiculous pants.” Her eyes shifted to my lap underneath the glass table. I shifted in my seat and crossed my legs over one another.
“Excuse me?”
“Please don’t play coy,” Lady Nariko sniffed. “We both know that your men didn’t just come into their new abilities because of intense training or whatever other nonsense you four are spouting. I’ve read the histories enough to know what you have is rare.”
“True love is always hard to find,” I interrupted, trying to remind her of the reasoning she and her sons had talked about before. If she believed it was only because we cared about each other so much, then she wouldn’t be able to use me. Which hopefully would spread around to the rest of the kingdom, and I would have one less target on my back.
“So, you love my son?” She raised a mocking brow at me as she poured me another glass of tea. I opened my mouth to answer, but she cut me off once more. “Of course, you do. Why wouldn’t you? My son is a remarkable man, and he makes you laugh. But did you love him before you two fucked?”
I choked on my second cup of tea, not expecting this perfectly put together lady to curse so freely. “I don’t really think that’s any of your business.”
“Oh, pish posh.” If she waved me off one more time, I swore I was going to cut her hand off with the blade still in my boot. “Do you think you are the first dragoness to mess around with men they didn’t care for?” Lady Nariko snorted and rolled her eyes. “There’d never be any children running around if we waited for true love.”
