by Kym Dillon
Feis gasped, and a giddy smile spread across her horrid face. “Find it while you can,” she ordered.
“Look, I’m doing my best, but I’m starting to think this might be a hundred-year job,” Daya snapped. She softened her tone, remembering Neigen was still in the temple to take the lashing the dragon eater couldn’t give her for her insouciance. “Just give me another month, and I’ll see what I can do.”
She blew out a breath as the mirror went dark. The longer she was there, the more time passed in her own world. She wondered if she was asking for more time to actually find the diamond…or to spend more days with him.
4
Arken paused in the shadows of the jasmine scented bedroom, wondering if he should return to the great hall. Against a backdrop of stars, Daya’s milky skin reflected the full moon. Waves of dark brown hair, freed from the perpetual ponytail, fell over her shoulders. She was striking. She also seemed lonely, and frightened. He cleared his throat to announce his presence.
Daya started and glared at him. “What are you doing in my room?” she asked.
“My apologies,” he murmured, crossing to her. He placed his hands on the parapet and leaned out, studying the distant beach. The ocean was black tonight.
“You don’t seem very apologetic, considering you’re still here, and you haven’t answered my question.”
“I came to see you.” He finally met her gaze. “How are you holding up?”
Daya leaned against the stone beside him. “Let’s see. I’m in a bizarre ‘realm’ that isn’t my own. I’m the prisoner of a psycho high priestess. I can’t go home until I find what she wants. And, I’m stuck here with you, the reptilian veterinarian.” A saccharine smile tugged the corners of her lips. Gods, she was beautiful.
He hesitantly laid a hand atop hers, and she didn’t pull away. She simply stared at where their skin touched. Hers was soft as silk. Arken brushed aside the hunger that tightened in his loins. “I’ve been thinking,” he replied. “What if we joined forces and looked for the stone together?”
In fact, he had been thinking, and he had come to the conclusion that if he didn’t find a way to get her out of his keep, they would be stuck together for an eternity. Arken wondered if a cleverly disguised decoy, a large red gem of lesser value and power, would rid him of his unwanted guest.
She slipped her fingers from beneath his and surprised him by smoothing a hand over his shirt. “What’s in it for you?” she asked coyly.
Arken emitted a dry laugh when he realized she would try seduction as her weapon. “We’re both trapped together until one of us finds the stone. I can help you. I know this place inside out. You’ll have to trust me.”
He gently removed her hand, but she replaced it with the other. This time, caressing dizzying circles. Her touch wreaked havoc with his senses. His nostrils inhaled the powdery floral notes of her skin, and the warmth of her palm burned through his clothes. He watched her mouth, longing for a taste.
There was no hiding his desire, and she saw it and didn’t hesitate to use it against him. He heard the quiet whisper of a blade sliding from a scabbard and held still as she eased it to his throat.
“Daya,” he murmured in warning.
“What’s in it for you?” she whispered.
“I didn’t get the same bounty she promised you,” he ground out as he clutched both her hands. Applying a little pressure to her wrist, she dropped the knife with a yelp. “I’m not in competition with you, Daya. There’s no need to fight me because there is no freedom for me after this. So, you see, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain by double-crossing Feis.”
“Then, tell me why you’ve been here far longer than me! What are you hiding?” she shouted, cradling her arm.
He wondered if he had pressed harder than intended. Her face was clouded by pain. Arken reached for her, and she darted away. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I hurt you. Please, let me help. Let me see your wrist.”
“I don’t know what to do,” her voice trembled. It tore at his heart, but she wouldn’t let him touch her. She fled into the room, and he followed. She slumped on her bed holding her injured wrist to her chest.
Daya dashed a tear. “Feis will want an update in a month. Even if I find the diamond and get home, I don’t know what comes next. Everything just builds and builds. What will happen to this world when she gets more power? I’ve seen what she does to people who can’t defend themselves. I don’t want to unleash that.” He gingerly sat beside her.
“Actions have consequences,” he said quietly. He knew better than most. When he had signed the treaty, he had only been thinking of protecting the stone. He hadn’t considered how confinement would affect the rest of the dragons.
“It’s like that sapphire,” she sniffed. “If I hadn’t stolen it, I wouldn’t be here. How does one get a reputation as the most notorious jewel thief in all the realm?” She giggled tearfully. He smiled and stroked her hair behind her ear.
Daya offered up her arm. His fingers plied the joint, and she let out a quiet whimper, but she didn’t pull away. Nothing was broken. “I’ll give you something for the pain,” he said.
Her blue eyes met his in a plaintive stare. “I’m scared,” she whispered. “I’ve been on my own for so many years. My, uh…” She wiped another tear. “My parents died in a plane crash. My father was a jewel appraiser on the way to get rubies when it went down. Without them, I did the best I could at life, but…I think I messed up everything. There’s no way I can fix this. Arken, if we don’t get the stone for Feis, then someone else will.”
He bit his bottom lip, wishing he could trust her. If only she really cared about the Fire Realm. She seemed so earnest. He clasped her chin and tilted her face ever so slightly. “What’s your world like?” he asked.
A look of confusion quirked her brows as she chuckled and pulled away. “Nothing like this one, that’s for sure. Probably nothing like yours, either. You’re too nice for it. In my world, greed, hatred and constant wars threaten to take down empires on a daily basis. It’s overcrowded and polluted. Then, there’s the weather.” She shrugged. “It’s not perfect, but it’s mine.”
He nodded sagely. He understood the sentiment, but he had his answer. Her world would be no safer for the dragons than this one. He licked his lips. “You could stay here,” he murmured. “In the keep. It’s safe.” What was he saying? Her face was inches from his. Her heat was degrees cooler, and it beckoned like the underside of a pillow. He cupped her face again.
“Is that what you’ve been doing here? You don’t care if you find the diamond or not. You’ve found a kind of paradise, and you’re staying.”
“No,” he sighed. Her words reminded him of his obligation. He was staying because he could never leave. Keeping her here, prisoner, would help neither of them. “Never mind, it was wishful thinking.”
“In a place like this, maybe wishes have more power than we know,” she said. Her lips parted, and she dragged his mouth to hers. Arken stiffened as her tongue flowed over his. She tasted exactly as he had imagined—sweet and promising.
He tore away. She was nothing like the coquettish women of his world, inhibited by conventions and propriety. She was bold and unconcerned with following the rules. She touched her lips and stared at his mouth as he slowly rose to his feet. Her look was dangerous. Her look said he could have her.
“I should go,” he mumbled. He hurried from the room. Being kind to her was one thing, but letting down his guard was altogether different. She was a thief after his Heart. He couldn’t trust her, and he most certainly couldn’t bed her. After all, there were obligations. The dragon, for one. Vyda was dying.
Arken fled to the hall of treasures where his intended thrashed in a fever-dream. He leapt away from her swishing tail before it could do him serious damage. When his feet touched the floor again, he raced to her giant head and laid a hand on her scales. She burned hotter than she should have. He clicked his tongue and went to the medicine bag as she re
positioned in sleep.
With her massive size, any sudden move could hurt him. Not for the first time, Arken wondered if he should tend to her while in his dragon form, but that risked Daya finding out about him. Plus, he needed his opposable thumbs.
He rifled through the bag for the hypodermic needle and the tiny vial of serum. It would counteract the poison racing through her system. He had already given her several injections to no avail. But, he had to believe she simply needed more. If she died, his chances of procreating went with her.
Arken ducked a scalding stream of smoke that eased from Vyda’s nostrils. He stooped at her ribcage and plunged the needle through the thick hide beneath a scale. The dragon emitted a faint moan but didn’t move. The agent in the needle offered pain relief.
“You’ve got to keep fighting,” he whispered. “You’re strong and brave. No warrior of mine would give up so easily.”
Sighing, he stepped back to watch her sleep more peacefully. He hoped the pep talk could reach through whatever nightmares plagued her. Because he needed her. There had been a time the dragon lords mated with mortals and bred halflings. That was how the shifters had come to be, but that was before the high priestesses took control. Now, the Daughters of Men were hollow shells.
He supposed it was cryptic of him to think that way as he strolled to his bedchamber. They weren’t exactly hollow. They still had aspirations and tried to live relatively good lives, but they had lost the touch of magic inherent to all the people of this realm.
The dragon eaters soaked it up to feed their long lives. The same hunger that made them devour dragons, made them drink the last sips of magic from the land. Only a few retained their inherent gifts. The Mindreaders, the Healers, the Makers who controlled the elements. Only a few.
Arken sank into a tub of water that cloaked the spacious bathing room in copious steam. It was hot enough to scald a man, but just right for him. He rested his head on the ledge of the warm porcelain tub and thought of his immediate future. He would have to get Vyda well. His warriors were losing faith in him. Producing an heir might placate them a while longer.
But, there was the issue of Oedaya of the Blue Sky Realm. His heavy eyelids closed, and he moaned as the silky water caressed his skin. He imagined it was her touch, her fingers as they raked over his skin. He thought of her soft curves and tantalizing lips. If he had met her long ago, she would be his. He would be done with the madness of wanting her because he would have taken her by now. Being king had turned him into a bore.
“She doesn’t want me,” he told himself drowsily. She wanted his diamond, and she had already shown that her feminine wiles were a part of her arsenal. He sighed and allowed himself to drift to sleep. Ainley. She would know what to make of this strange turn of events. The oracle would have advice.
She was waiting for him in The Realm of Dreams. Arken landed on the stony bluff overlooking the ocean and folded his wings to his formidable black scales. It was dark out, and a dense fog lay over the gently swaying grass. Ainley was one with the fog.
“Did she get there safely?” she asked.
He studied her. “She’s injured. She attracted the huntsmen, and they took her down with a poison arrow. I’m nursing her to health, but she doesn’t seem to be responding to my care. Can you help me?”
“The dragon,” Ainley nodded. She reached in a fold of her gossamer white dress and drew out a vial, similar to the one he already had. “Use this. Half will wake her. The rest will heal her and return her strength. However, I was talking about the girl, Oedaya of the Blue Realm. Is she safe?”
“What do you know of her?” Arken asked warily.
“I know she’s come a long way for a lot of disappointment. When Feis gets the stone, the Fire Realm won’t be the only one to crumble,” said the Sylph. His brow furrowed, and he shook his head with regret. Ainley walked through the shifting white mist toward him. “Oedaya’s future is unclear. Yours, however, is becoming more troubling to me. Feis is planning a preemptive strike on the Isle of Warriors.”
“Amazing how the things you assured me centuries ago would never happen are all suddenly very much options on the table,” he muttered. “How, Ainley? How can Feis get to the island? The treaty we signed ensured her navigators wouldn’t even know where to look. They can’t get to it.”
“Not on their own, but with help. I see ships on the horizon. I see dragons fighting, and I see you.” Ainley stopped before him. “I see you betrayed by someone close to you and sacrificing everything. Someone has already given the high priestess the secret location of the isle.”
“What can I do?” he growled. “You left this undone, with loopholes everywhere! It’s like you wanted this to happen!”
“I want what’s best for the realms. You’re not the only one whose existence is at stake,” she reminded him firmly. The Sylph moved to the edge of the cliff and pointed at the ocean. “You will make your last stand there, to the east.”
“I’ll be free of this place?” he asked in wonder. She nodded.
“Yes, and you won’t be alone. You’ll have help. Unfortunately, you will also have many enemies, not least of which, the dragon eaters. There are things I didn’t know that I didn’t know, Arken. Now that I see clearer, I must warn you to rethink what it means to do your duty. Sometimes it can blind you.”
“More riddles.” He turned away in frustration.
Behind him, Ainley added, “Find out why the dragon disobeyed orders and left the island to come to you.”
“To tell me about the stillborn.”
“It wasn’t stillborn. It was killed.”
Arken had sank into the tub in his sleep. He broke the surface with a loud gasp and swiped water from his eyes. There was something in his hand, the vial Ainley had given him in the Realm of Dreams. He set it aside and shoved his fingers through his wet hair. Suddenly, his face tightened with fury, and he heaved himself from the bathtub.
His footfalls echoed as he stormed to the hall of treasures. He reached the dragon and readied the syringe. “Vyda,” he snarled as the needle plunged into her side. He watched the pearly fluid decrease in volume, making the dragon stir. He stopped short of giving her all of it. He couldn’t afford to have her at full strength if what Ainley had implied was true. “Wake up!” he ordered.
A large eye opened and rolled his way. Vyda tried to prop herself up, but couldn’t quite manage. “Is something wrong?” she breathed weakly.
“What happened to the egg?”
The dragon froze. “It was stillborn, Your Majesty. It simply didn’t hatch on…on schedule. The nurses—”
“You’re lying to me!” he roared. The vibrations from his booming voice sent landslides of gold crashing to the floor. His shifter power filled the air with the smell of ozone like lightning’s aftermath.
Vyda whimpered, “Someone tampered with it.”
“Who?”
“I—I don’t know!”
“You deceived me, and you expect me to believe you now?” His voice dropped to a deadly whisper she strained forward to hear. He opened his hand, and the Heart of the Dragon sparked to life. It held the power to destroy. The dragon scuttled back in panic.
“Your Majesty, please! I swear, I don’t know! When I went to nest duty, I discovered the shattered shell and the baby not breathing. I told everyone it was stillborn because I didn’t want them to accuse me! Please!”
“Who sent you?” he asked. “I know it wasn’t my sister, the general. Who sent you?”
“I fled,” she replied. “The other warriors started asking questions I couldn’t answer, so I fled. Once I reached the shores of King’s Isle, I took woman-shape to try to disguise myself, but I knew I couldn’t hide for long, so I…”
“So, you what?” He took a menacing step toward her with the stone. Her eyes rolled in terror.
“I went to Feis! I thought I could talk her into allowing safe passage so the dragons could recolonize other islands. It’s the isolation. It’s not good for
our health. Even now,” she panted, “even now, being away from that place has helped.”
Her sparkling eyes implored him. “I’m in heat,” she whispered. “I haven’t been in heat in centuries.”
He closed his hand, and the light of the diamond disappeared. The stone faded from view as his shoulders slumped. “You inadvertently told her where the Isle of Warriors was located,” he sighed, understanding now.
Vyda blinked in confusion. “I thought she knew.”
“Of course not. How do you think I’ve managed to keep the rest of us safe? Feis would never have allowed you safe passage.”
Vyda said hopelessly, “She told me the only way she would consider it is if I got her the Heart of the Dragon. She promised she would give me and half the remaining dragons amnesty. I had a choice between saving the few or sacrificing the many.”
“And, you decided to save the few. But, Vyda, she deceived you, and now she has sent you here to betray me. You can’t give her the stone. She won’t stop at destroying half of our number. She’ll kill us all.”
“I know that! That’s why I told you I wasn’t worth saving, but when you offered to mate, I realized we had a second chance. Don’t you see, Arken?” she pleaded. “Together, you and I can replenish our race. As long as we keep the Heart of the Dragon, we can stay here and build our numbers until the prime time to strike.”
“The offer to be my mate is off the table. You miscalculated, my darling fool,” he snorted as he left the hall. “Feis won’t give us time to raise an army. She plans to attack the Isle of Warriors, now that she knows where it is. You’ve begun the war.”
5
Daya lounged in the deep-basined tub with the device she had pilfered from the music room playing in the background. Candles flickered, turning the white walls a rosy pink. She balanced the ancient dragon history book on the ledge of the tub and continued leisure reading. Under normal circumstances, she’d keep such a priceless tome far away from moisture, but she needed this.
