by Zelda Knight
“That’s not true! You’re lying! I don’t need any of this hogwash!” Delmar grabbed his knapsack and ran out of the shop.
The baker was stunned, not to mention hurt. “I can’t believe it! I thought we had a close relationship. I can’t believe he’d want to do this!” Tears began to sting her eyes. “He’d better never come back here! I’ll buy a pistol! Of course, this leaves me in a bind, with no assistant.”
Samuel grinned as he put his hands on Kaia’s shoulders. “I think you have a perfect replacement assistant right here.”
“Really? You’d want the job?” the baker asked Kaia.
Kaia beamed. “Yes! Well, if you could teach me.”
“Of course! I taught Delmar everything he knows.” She touched Kaia’s cheek. “You saved my life. I think everything worked out exactly as it was supposed to. How can I thank you all?”
“You’re right,” Samuel said. “It all seems to have worked out. No thanks necessary. But what do we do with this rock? It’s dangerous.”
The baker took the box and closed it. “Leave it to me. I’ll get it analyzed and see if we can get the poison removed. It would be a shame to waste such a spectacular crystal rock.”
“It’s called a ‘petra,’ by the way. It’s very rare and found only at the bottom of the ocean.”
“Then I’ll definitely see what I can do. It’s too beautiful to throw away.”
Smalley waved. “Well, I gotta get back to the Seagate. You all take care.”
“Smalley, wait!” Kaia pulled a small bag from her pocket and gave him ten gold pieces. “Thank you for your help.”
His eyes widened. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” He practically bounded from the shop with excitement.
“So…” The baker turned to Kaia. “When would you like to get started?”
Just as Kaia was about to say something, Samuel interrupted, “Actually, how about tomorrow?” He looked into Kaia’s eyes. “There’s something we need to take care of today.”
When the baker noted the couple’s gaze, she laughed. “No problem. I’ll see you tomorrow sometime.”
Kaia took Samuel’s hand as they left. “So, I guess you’ll be going back to the Dreadnaught?”
“About that…” he replied.
“Yes?” she asked, with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
“I spoke to Captain Van Horne. I told him that living at sea wasn’t something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So I resigned as first mate. Roger got the job.”
“What will you do?” She swallowed.
“I thought I might apply for work at the boat docks. Then I’d still see my mates when they made port.” He stopped outside the bakery and pulled her close to him. “I thought that maybe with some of that gold, we could get a little cottage outside of town, just you and me.”
Tears welled up in Kaia’s eyes.
He kissed her hand. “Kaia, will you marry me? Will you be my ‘mate,’ my ‘soul mate’?”
Her tears spilled over. “YES! Oh Samuel, yes!” She threw her arms around him and kissed him lovingly. He happily kissed her back.
Then she pulled back and gave him many short kisses all over his face. “I love you!”
“And I love you.”
Suddenly, they heard clapping. Samuel and Kaia turned to see a group of people at the tavern applauding and cheering for them.
Samuel laughed. “Let’s get out of here.” Then he stopped as he remembered something. “Captain Van Horne would like to marry us, if you don’t mind having the wedding aboard the Dreadnaught. Then the whole crew could throw us both a party, just like they did for me. They never turn down a party, that lot.” He laughed again.
“That sounds perfect!” she replied.
The couple immediately went to the dress shop, where Kaia found a lovely dress to serve as a wedding gown. It was light pink with ruffles all down the front and a large ruffled skirt. Samuel asked the baker to bake them a wedding cake, which she was more than happy to provide. The crew on the Dreadnaught was thrilled at the opportunity to have another big party and to see off their old first mate as he became an “old married man.”
Captain Van Horne held his trusty Bible in his hands as he led the couple in their vows.
“You may now kiss the bride.”
Samuel happily obliged as he took his new mermaid bride into his arms for a tender kiss. The crew exploded into cheers. The rum and ale were already flowing.
Kaia decided to forego the sweet wedding cake for the moment as she pulled her new husband over to the side railing of the ship. She wanted to steal a few moments with him before they returned to the party.
As they watched the beautiful orange sunset on the golden horizon, Samuel touched Kaia’s cheek.
She leaned into his touch. “I never knew I could be so happy.”
“Neither did I.”
“Are you sure an ex-pirate could be happy living on land in a cottage instead of on the sea?”
“Are you sure a mermaid could be happy living on land in a cottage instead of in the sea?”
Kaia smiled and gave her answer in the form of a deep and loving kiss.
The End
Visit dianadawnbooks.com for more romance and exciting adventures!
About Diana Dawn
Diana Dawn is a writer and author of the new book series, Whispering Willows. As a lover of fairy tales and romance, Diana has focused her writing on romantic fiction, with an occasional hint of classic fables. She has been a lifelong writer and first began creating stories in grade school. When she isn't glued to her computer or lost in her next fantasy story, Diana enjoys taking vacations with her husband and three children.
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Earthen
A Dragon’s Keep Story
© 2014 RaeLynn Blue
Edited by Katriena Knights
About Earthen
A Dragon’s Keep Story
Sonya Gou has a major issue. Her guardian keeps her safe from threats against her life and his heart. How can she survive being so close to the one man she cannot have?
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Zihao Liang. Guardian. Warrior. Earthen. Blood sworn to protect the Gou's treasure, Sonya, he has put his love for her beneath a sacred vow to protect her at all cost.
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Zihao and Sonya must put their love to the test when a powerful enemy threatens all they hold dear.
Prologue
Alaskan Wilderness
May
Sunlight streamed into the large cavern buried deep in the heart of the Xiongxin’s Keep. Zihao scanned the smooth walls and domed ceilings his ancestors and those of his lineage had crafted. Before him, seated on the expensive Oriental rug, sat the clan’s great council. Elder Gou sat in the center, and seated beside him in a semi- circle were the heads of the tribes contained within their clan. Ryuu rounded out the last of the council members. They looked at Zihao with grim faces, and nuisance brewing beneath most of them, except Ryuu. He wasn’t much older than Zihao and, as the youngest council member, didn’t hold many of the same beliefs of the much older men. Ryuu didn’t seem grim. No, he seemed pissed off. Ready to explode.
Maybe he always wears that expression. Zihao didn’t know Ryuu personally, but he didn’t know many people on the council. As a dilong, he had few opportunities to mingle with the political players in dragon society.
Elder Gou gestured to him. “Sit, Zihao Longwei.”
Zihao didn’t like the look of this inquisition. More importantly, he didn’t like being yanked away from Sonya, escorted down the dark corridors, and thrust into the council room without a word of explanation. Even though he’d heard Ryuu to be a fair man, he wasn’t sure about the others. Elder Gou’s reputation carried great reverence amongst everyone, but again, Zihao knew him to be very shrewd but also caution and dangerous when necessary. Zihao just didn’t know if this matter called for shrewdness or danger.
Zihao eyed each council member and noted they wore the traditional robes. They sat cross-legged on the large carpet. In the carpet’s center, their clan’s insignia. Every mated dragon bore an exact replica at the base of their collarbones—a brand seared by the mating fire.
At 29, Zihao’s collarbone remained smooth, free of the mating heat’s brand. He could not mate—his duty belonged to his charge. Not many chose this career for that very reason, but digging out keeps and caverns, repairing the tunnels and corridors—a life spent in perpetual digging didn’t appeal to him either. Unlike seadragons, firebreathers, and the mixed breeds, dilongs could go without mating. It caused a lot of pain, but taking a serum could stave off the hunger, the call for a mate.
But only in dilongs.
Dilongs, of course, did mate and produce offspring or else their lineage would die out. What would the others do for dens if that happened?
A hard clearing of a throat brought him back to the room. “I’m sorry. What?” “Sit.” Ryuu gestured to the spot on the carpet in front of the elder.
“I prefer to stand.” Zihao didn’t want to be seated if something happened. Every fiber of his being buzzed in anticipation. His dragon moved about inside him—restless and anxious. Nothing obvious spoke to the potential for danger, but his instincts hummed in warning. Over time, he’d learned not to ignore it.
“How dare you disobey a direct order,” spat the head of the Chee family, Marvin. He yanked his robe down over his fat frame angrily. “You’re a dilong.”
“He obviously doesn’t know his place,” chimed in another council member with disdain.
“He is a member of this clan and if he chooses to stand, then it is his right,” Ryuu thundered over them. “We have more important things to worry about.”
This must be very serious. It amused him to see the other tribes cower at the thundering of the firebreather. The balance of power clearly shifted to the Jin tribe. Zihao made a mental note. Information meant the difference between life and death at times.
Elder Gou nodded. “You are correct, Ryuu. Zihao’s attention snapped with laser focus back to the council. Most importantly, he is Sonya’s guardian.”
At the mention of Sonya’s name, Zihao scowled. This matter had something to do with her? At once her face appeared in his mind, beautiful as she laughed at his
jokes, or when she emerged ready to attend some dragon or socialite function. In a life filled with darkness, Sonya had been his only light.
She had been his greatest love as long as he could remember. And his greatest torment.
“What is this about?” Zihao interrupted. Even now Sonya remained unprotected, and she was probably worried about his whereabouts.
Elder Gou’s eyebrows rose. “I see. Let us come to the point. Ryuu…”
Ryuu nodded. “My brother, Draco Lo Jin, was framed for the murder of a human woman in North Carolina nearly a year ago. About four months ago, we discovered a siren was the murderer…”
Zihao stilled. He’d heard rumors of Draco’s mate, Anika, being part siren, so she wasn’t completely human. Sirens had long since been believed to be extinct. Whispers flourished about whether Draco had truly murdered another woman or had simply been the victim of human ignorance and bigotry. The keep had been aflutter with conversations about it. Sonya had dismissed it all as hogwash. Everyone knew Draco wasn’t a firebreather, so his burning down a house seemed ludicrous. No, the talk in the keep rested on Draco’s mate—a half-human, half-siren woman, but zero dragon shifter. At the time, Zihao didn’t know what to believe, but he did know that both Jin brothers were clan royalty. The fact neither had mated with a dragon shifter had ruffled more than a few scales around the keep.
And the council.
Tradition meant identity, culture, purpose.
“What does that have to do with me? I don’t know any sirens. Hell, I thought they were all dead.” Could they please get to the point? Zihao looked to the elder.
“So did we,” Elder Gou agreed. “We also discovered that the frame, as the humans call it, involved a dragon. The house fire that killed the human wasn’t produced by an accelerant, but by a dragon’s flames.”
Zihao peered at him. “It wasn’t me. I’m no firebreather.”
“Of this we are absolutely sure,” replied Marvin Chee distastefully.
Others chuckled. A chorus of cronies, they all snickered, but Zihao ignored them. Elder Gou raised a thin hand and all laughter ceased. His bushy eyebrows rose,
but settled down as he continued. “Enough.”
Ryuu’s heart-shaped face held dark, intense eyes that locked onto Zihao’s and held them, unwavering. A slash of anger erupted on his mouth as if his words or what he wanted to say annoyed No, the firebreather found none of this humorous. His body language spoke clearly and confirmed that this meeting wasn’t going to be warm and fuzzy. In fact, it seemed he did all he could not to bust heads and spit his famous azure flames. Something deeply bothered Ryuu. Zihao didn’t think it had anything to do with the social mocking of the old council members. Something else caused Ryuu’s rage and discontent.
None of this had anything to do with Zihao. He had been raised to do only one thing—protect the Gou tribe and, most importantly, Sonya. So Zihao broke the other man’s burrowing gaze and looked to the elder. Once more, the reason he was this meeting, before these men, rested in the ancient dragon. His entire life, all 29 years, he’d been at the beck and call and the command of the Gou tribe. Now, Zihao knew without hesitation, this would be no different.
“Zihao, the rogue firebreather is not of this clan. We have spent months investigating. There are no others within our families who breathe fire. Yet, the dragon flames were there at the house and the cause of the woman’s death, despite what the siren’s confession that he had murdered the woman.”
“So, another clan worked with a siren to frame Draco. In doing so they killed a human.” Zihao got the gist of the conversation, but what did it have to do with Sonya? The Jin family had plenty of squabbles with members within the keep, and that was family. No doubt their dealings with others also erupted into disagreements.
Elder Gou nodded and stroked his beard. “With the Gathering, the orchestrator of Draco’s framing may attend along with the other five clans. We have taken precautions and sent Draco and his mate out of the area, but know that tensions will be tight and tempers short.”
“How is this different than any other Gathering?” Zihao wiped his face to hide his smirk. The Gathering always meant tensions and political messes. Collect a bunch of dragons into one spot and tempers flared. Dragons liked to hoard, so a bunch of them— oh, thousands of them—tended to keep close watch over their things. Nothing like adding to one’s hoard.
“You do not see the seriousness of this?” Ryuu pushed himself to a crouching stance, not fully sitting and not fully standing.
“I do. What I don’t see is why I should give a damn.” Zihao’s beast roused inside him. He didn’t like Ryuu’s position—an attack style Zihao had seen with seadragons.
“Why? Because the keep will be flooded with thousands of dragons,” council member Weaver answered. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as if to punctuate his words.
“Yes, but Draco and his mate won’t be coming to the keep. Right?” Ryuu spoke first. “Right.”
“So, there’s no danger. If the person who framed Draco is a dragon, a firebreather, his issue is with Draco, not Sonya or anyone else in the clan. So if Draco is
n’t here, then the danger isn’t here.”
“You don’t understand—” Ryuu started.
Zihao had heard enough. “You’ve kept me from my charge long enough. This isn’t my problem.”
Still standing, Zihao started to bow and offer his goodbye to the elder, but Ryuu shot out of his seat toward him, fists clenched and face set to fury.
He moved in slow motion to Zihao, who with a short and swift wave of his arm, called up a wall made of earth. The firebreather slammed right into it and landed on his butt with a thud. The wall kept Zihao on one side and Ryuu on the other. Zihao didn’t dare venture from around it because he knew what would come next. Within minutes, a stream of fire flicked about on either side of the wall, spilling over from Ryuu’s rage. Zihao, still standing, only strengthened the earthen wall. Ryuu tried to race around it, but Zihao only raised more of the earth until he rested inside walls on all sides.
“How dare you!” Ryuu’s muffled screams came through the dirt. “There is danger for us all!”
Not everyone could control the earth, the sand, the dirt, but not everyone was earthen, like Zihao.
“Enough!” Elder Gou said, so quietly Zihao almost missed it in his earthen cocoon.
Ryuu almost drowned out the elder’s soft voice. Although quiet, Elder Gou’s voice carried power. The magical power of his words caught Zihao’s attention and he dissolved his defenses. The earth looked undisturbed.
Zihao had scarcely looked up from the ground when Ryuu took this opportunity to punch him. “You fucking dilong!”
Furious, Zihao dropped to his knees, and using his arm, knocked Ryuu’s feet from underneath him. Once Ryuu was down, Zihao called upon the earth once more. As soon as Ryuu struck the ground, dirt spread around his body, dragging him underneath, like a burial. The ground acted like water, seeping over Ryuu and dragging him down into its depths.
