by Donna Grant
“Only Kings? No Queens?”
Varek bit back a smile because he knew she assumed there were no Queens because they deemed it that way. “As I said, the strongest of us is chosen, the one with the most power. While I knew plenty of females who had the power, they didna have the strength. Male dragons are bigger than the females, which already puts them at a disadvantage.”
“Still doesn’t seem fair, but go on.”
He could’ve responded to her comment, but he decided not to. It wouldn’t matter how he replied. She wouldn’t agree with him. She was ill at ease talking with him, but she couldn’t hide her intrigue.
“The magic of the realm looks into each of the dragon’s hearts to determine who is the purest of the clan. When one with the heart the magic searches for comes along, mixed with the magic and the power, the magic calls to them, urging them to challenge the current Dragon King. They fight to the death, and the winner becomes King. If a King dies in battle, then a similar occurrence happens. Although there have been instances where no one challenged a King who stepped into the role when one was killed.”
Varek decided not to tell her about Constantine, the King of Dragon Kings, mainly because he wanted to see how much Jeyra knew about the Kings. He hoped it wasn’t much because the less she knew about Con and the others, the more likely they’d be able to find him.
“How did you become King? Did you step into the role easily?” she asked, leaning forward to prop her elbows on her knees.
“Hardly.” He could spout some lies. It wasn’t as if she would know the difference, but Varek found himself telling her the truth. “I was an orphan, raised with other orphans and unwanted hatchlings. It wasna a good place.”
“I was an orphan.”
His head turned towards her, shocked by her revelation. By the faraway look in her eyes, she probably didn’t even realize she had spoken. Then she blinked and focused on him once more. He hadn’t thought they’d find common ground on anything, and yet there it was. Varek waffled between testing the waters to see if they could share anything else, and keeping things secret. If he wanted to win her to his side, he had to open up more than he might like.
“Did you have a good place?” he asked.
She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “For a bit. I lost that family. Then I was taken in by one of the warriors. Though he wasn’t married and had no children of his own, he took it upon himself to give me a home.”
“Sounds like you were lucky. Every day was a battle of life and death for me. I learned early on that if I wanted to eat, I had to fight for my food. I had to fight for everything. There were times I didna sleep because to close my eyes meant I let my guard down. I saw other dragons killed that way, and I didna want my life taken in such a manner. Over the years, I managed to hold my own, winning when I could, and always strategizing for the next battle. I got away as soon as I was able. I thought it was the smart move, but I soon discovered that being out in the world alone was infinitely worse than where I had been. But I was used to fighting, so that’s what I kept doing.”
Jeyra’s face was lined with confusion. “Did no one step up to help you? Did no one see what was going on?”
“I’m sure they did. Our clan was large with many moving parts, just like in your city. Things happened. It’s the way of life. I didna hold anyone responsible for what became of me. It was my lot in life, and I used it to my advantage. My thought was to become one of the fighters for my clan. I knew I was skilled enough, but many vied for the position. The King at the time saw me and chose me himself. He was a good King. I respected him greatly.”
“But you had to challenge him?”
Varek sat up with a sigh. “I did. The feeling of the magic pushing me was unavoidable. Some want the position so desperately, they challenge the King and end up dying. Kings are challenged more often than no’. I had just watched the King the week before come out the winner of a challenge.”
“Were you afraid?” she asked.
Varek shook his head. “I approached him, but before I could say anything, he told me he was expecting me.”
“What?” Jeyra asked, eyes rounded in surprise.
He chuckled as he nodded at her. “Aye. I was shocked, as well. He said he had a feeling I would be coming for his position. He told me he was tired, and that the magic must have known that.”
“Did he know you would be King?”
“I doona think so. I think he knew someone would best him, but he wasna sure who that would be.”
“Was the battle fierce?”
“Aye,” Varek said, his thoughts drifting back to that day. “For a King who said he was tired, he fought like a dragon who wasna ready to give up. But that’s one of the reasons he was such a good King. I didna like taking his life. Before I delivered the killing strike, his eyes met mine, and he gave me a nod, letting me know that he realized what was coming.”
Silence filled the dungeon. Varek was stuck in his memories, recalling how savage the battle had been, how brutal the King’s attack was.
“You make it sound as if none of the Kings are evil,” Jeyra said.
Varek pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. “It happens. Just as good people turn bad. The magic of the realm constantly watches us. The moment it senses that a King’s soul is no longer good, a new one is chosen. I’m no’ saying there aren’t dragons who do bad things. Dragons are like any species. There are good and bad and every shade of gray in between.”
“I see.”
He studied her, watching as Jeyra picked at a chipped nail. “Will you tell me why you hate Dragon Kings so much?”
“I’m not sure you want to hear that story.”
“I do, actually. I know every Dragon King there is.”
Her amber eyes snapped to his. “Do you now?”
“Aye. All of them are in my realm.” The minute the words were out of his mouth, he thought of the twins. Con, and his mate, Rhi, had twins who were, in fact, on another realm. Presumably with the rest of the dragons.
Jeyra didn’t hide the contempt in her expression or in her voice. “I thought you said we would be honest with each other.”
“I am being honest with you.”
A brow quirked at his words. “You’re really going to tell me that you don’t know there are not only dragons here, but Dragon Kings, as well?”
Varek blinked at her, trying to decipher if she was telling the truth or not. His next thought was that he might be on the twins’ realm, the one that Con and Rhi had been trying to get to for months but couldn’t because the twins had blocked the doorways.
He rose onto his knees once more and clasped the bars of his cell that separated him from Jeyra. “How many? Who are they?”
“You really didn’t know,” she whispered, her brow furrowed deeply in confusion.
“I didna.” Varek swallowed and caught her gaze. “Tell me what you know of them. Please.”
Instead of answering, Jeyra jumped to her feet and began to pace. He watched her closely, his mind sorting through everything she had told him to see if she had let something slip that he hadn’t realized when she first said it. He waited with bated breath for her to give him something, anything. Because if there was even the slightest chance that there were other dragons—or even the twins—on this realm, then he might be able to contact them through the mental link so they could help him.
Jeyra suddenly halted and whirled to face him. “A few moments ago, you were sure there were no other Dragon Kings but the ones on your realm. What made you say that?”
“I told you how the Dragon Kings are chosen. It’s no’ an easy process.”
“None of you ever left your realm?”
“There wasna a need.” Varek had a feeling he knew what her next question would be.
Jeyra walked a few steps closer to him. “What about visitors? Did you have any?”
Just as he expected. He sat back on his haunches. “We did.”
“Who?
” she pressed.
Varek ran a hand down his face and sat once more. He scratched at the corner of his eye and condensed the very long tale. “Since the beginning of our world, it was only dragons and other animals. One day, humans arrived. They were defenseless and without magic. We Kings approached them, and the magic of the realm allowed us to shift into this form so we could communicate with them. We then vowed to protect them.”
“Somehow, I don’t see that working,” she stated as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“It worked. For a while. Then little things happened. Sometimes it was a dragon eating the herd of a human or even a human.”
“I knew it,” Jeyra interjected, disdain dripping from her words.
“Other times, it was the humans hunting the smaller dragons to extinction.”
At that, Jeyra cocked her head. “I think it’s a fair trade.”
“Do you?” Varek asked. “One human is worth an entire clan of dragons? The Pinks were no bigger than a small dog. You think it was right for the mortals to slaughter each and every one of them?”
Her chest expanded as she breathed in deeply. “No, I suppose not. Why didn’t any of you help?”
“Our realm is a large place, and each clan had a section to itself. There were dragons of all sizes. Some as small as the Pinks, some bigger than you can imagine.”
“Oh, I know how big they can get.”
Varek didn’t push her to say more. The tidbits he was getting showed that she had a particular hatred for dragons, and he feared that they had somehow harmed her or someone she knew. “The point, lass, is that by the time the King of Pinks realized what was going on and sent out a message to the other Dragon Kings, it was too late.”
“Is this where you wiped out all the mortals?” she scornfully asked.
He shook his head. “We managed to come to a truce. It wasna until one of the Dragon Kings decided to take a human as his mate that things went to hell. She planned to try and murder him on their wedding night. And before you say that she feared for her life, you should know that the Dragon King she spent years living with is one of the best I know. He was kind and loving, and he offered her everything because he loved her. Instead, she allowed herself to be manipulated by others who hated us.”
Jeyra’s gaze was riveted on him. She asked in a soft voice, “What happened?”
“We knew if Ulrik discovered what she was going to do, it would destroy him. So, we Kings tracked her down.”
“You killed her.”
Varek wanted to deny it, but he didn’t. “It’s easy for you to stand there and judge me for what occurred, but you were no’ there. You can no’ know everything. Aye, we killed her in order to stop the war that she wanted to start by murdering Ulrik.”
“Did you stop it?” Jeyra asked.
He looked away and sighed. “When Ulrik found out what his future mate had planned, he was furious. He took his Silvers and began attacking mortals.”
“So, you did kill them. Just as I expected,” Jeyra stated indignantly.
Varek swung his head to her, his hands clenched in fury. “Many of us set up our dragons around mortal villages to protect them from Ulrik and his Silvers, but do you know what the humans did? They killed those dragons. No’ once did any of the dragons even attempt to defend themselves or flee because we Kings had ordered them to protect the mortals. Doona lecture me on the right and wrong of things because you know verra little of what I’ve endured or had to witness happening to my clan.”
He took a couple of calming breaths before he could continue. “The war raged, and we knew that it had to be stopped. Nothing could allow the mortals and dragons to live together. There was only one thing to do. The Kings gathered together and used our magic to open a dragon bridge to another realm. We sent our dragons away hoping they would find a place where they could live free. Once they were gone, we Kings retreated to our land, used magic to ensure that no human would cross the border, and slept away centuries, waiting for the time they would eventually forget about us. When we finally ventured out, we hid our true selves. It’s how it has been for eons.”
“What of your dragons? You never brought them home?”
Varek shot her a droll look. “How could we? Our two species couldna live together on a planet that had room enough for both of us. With the dragons gone, the mortals reproduced at a shocking rate, taking more and more land. We kept hoping we would find our dragons again and bring them home, but we all know that isna possible now.”
Jeyra dropped her arms as she sank to the ground. “You never went looking for them, did you?”
“We’re lost without them, but a part of us knew if we went looking and discovered they had perished, we wouldna survive. If we found them, we would either want to bring them home or go to them.”
“Why couldn’t you go to them?” she asked.
“Earth is our realm. It was our home. Is our home. Why should we have to leave it?”
“To be with your dragons.”
He blew out a breath as he nodded. “Aye. That might have been easy before many of the Kings took mortals as their mates.”
“You keep saying ‘mortals.’ And you mentioned eons. Are you telling me you’re immortal?”
Varek shot her a crooked grin. “The only thing that can kill a Dragon King is another Dragon King.”
Her eyes bugged out in shock. “What? But…wait…you said that woman was going to kill a Dragon King.”
“I said she planned to try. She wasna aware that Ulrik was immortal and that she wouldna have been able to do any damage.”
Jeyra dropped her head back to gaze at the ceiling. Then she looked at Varek. “You say you’re immortal, but are you still?”
“Why wouldna I be?”
She jerked her chin to the dried blood on his shirt. “You’ve not healed, and I have a feeling that if you’re immortal, you wouldn’t have wounds for long. What about your magic? Have you ever been without it?”
“I’ve no’.” And he didn’t like being reminded of that.
“I’m leaning toward you being mortal now. Which means, you can be killed.”
Now he understood. “That’s what you want with me. You want to kill me for something that was done. If you think you’ll get justice or whatever it is you’re looking for by doing that, it’ll be short-lived. My brethren will look for me, and we’ve some verra powerful friends. When they find me—and they will find me—and discover what you’ve done, there willna be anywhere you can hide.”
A smile pulled at her lips. “They’ll never find you.”
Chapter Seven
Varek’s words lingered long after Jeyra left him. She suspected that he would most likely tell her more, but she needed time to absorb what she had learned so far. She sat in her flat, staring into the empty fireplace as a candle flickered on the table beside her. Her mind drifted back to when Varek had spoken about his realm and the battle with the humans. There was no way to know if he was telling the truth about any of it. There could be a grain of accuracy in the story, or it could be completely made up, simply to save his hide.
For a Dragon King who had known immortality for eons as he’d said, and had magic every day of his life, he must be suffering greatly. And yet he hadn’t complained once. He hadn’t asked for anything regarding his injuries, either. He wasn’t at all what she had anticipated. Though, to be fair, she hadn’t planned to share one word with him once she delivered him to the authorities. Being told she had to get information from him had been an unexpected blow.
Jeyra couldn’t stop thinking about the poignant loss she saw in Varek’s eyes when he talked about the dragons’ deaths. Or worse, when he told her about how they’d sent the dragons away. She didn’t want to feel sorry for him, and the fact that he’d managed to make her continue thinking about him and his story irritated her.
He was the enemy. Nothing he said should matter.
But it does. There’s no getting around that.
She
was really beginning to hate her subconscious. Yet, she couldn’t disagree.
Her thoughts then turned to his excitement at the prospect of her realm having dragons. She knew he was thinking of somehow freeing himself. That wouldn’t happen, but she didn’t bother to share that tidbit with him. It suited her purposes to allow him to believe that there was a chance—however slim—of getting out of the dungeon and going home.
Jeyra refused to spend another minute thinking about Varek. She rose and grabbed the base of the candle to carry into her bedroom. After removing her clothes, she doused the flame and climbed beneath the blanket. However, sleep evaded her. Through the long hours of the night, she tossed and turned, catching brief moments of rest before she woke again to stare up at the dark ceiling.
And each time, her mind went to the one place she didn’t want it to go—Varek.
When the first streaks of light crossed the sky, she rose, washed, and dressed. Jeyra briefly considered going to the arena to train, but her head wasn’t in it. All she would do was find her arse planted on the ground because she wouldn’t be able to concentrate. And that’s the last thing she wanted.
Instead, she stopped in the market district for a loaf of bread, some dried venison, and a block of her favorite smoked cheese, along with a jug of goat’s milk. Her stomach grumbled, and she realized that she hadn’t eaten the night before. The fact that Varek and his words had troubled her enough to miss a meal, as well as sleep, vexed her. A lot.
To complicate her already bad morning, two council guards stopped her and ordered her to follow them. Jeyra tried to pretend there weren’t numerous eyes on her, watching everything. The one thing she detested most was the gossipmongers looking for anything and everything to blather about. With yesterday’s council meeting and then being requested to return, she would definitely be the talk of the city.
Jeyra followed the guards through the streets to the extravagant building that housed the council meetings. Once inside, she was shown to a table where she set down the food items she’d bought before being brought before the assembly room.
