by Alisa Woods
I glance at Akkan. “He’s not my mate.” We’re still speaking in Elvish.
Akkan steps closer, chest heaving, horror on his face. “Do you know him?” He obviously hasn’t understood us.
“Yes.” I reach for him, and he comes to me, clasping my hand. “We need to leave,” I tell Akkan. Then to Giullis, in Elvish, “He comes with me.”
My faithful servant doesn’t even hesitate. He merely takes my hand, and we teleport away.
Eight
Akkan
The world of the light elves is unsurprisingly made of light.
Literally everything else astonishes me.
Daisy’s speaking in Elvish to the light elf who brought us here. A dozen others have gathered around us, all chattering in the same whispery, tinkling sound of their language. She speaks just like them. If I had any doubts before, they’re not only erased—they’re obliterated, turned to ash, and buried below the softly-glowing floor. Along with my heart.
Because these are her people. Obviously. And I am not, no matter how hard she’s gripping my hand, insisting I remain by her side.
The wounds from the battle, seared across my back and chest, hurt like hell—and will for some time. The one thing that can actually harm a dragon is Elvish fire. But I’ll live, which means I’ll recover. Eventually. Daisy’s yellow dress is charred, but she seems unharmed. Thank magic. I managed to take most of the blast. Meanwhile, it’s becoming increasingly embarrassing to stand next to her while I’m naked and battered, the light elves fluttering around her with their excitement and surprise. We’re in some cramped hall, with seats arranged in a circle around a central altar. I’m fairly certain they want to put her on it and worship her. Doors dot the perimeter of the room, which appears shaped like a star. Every surface glows—floor, ceiling, walls, even the chairs, which look like squishy, oversized marshmallows.
After what seems like an hour, but is probably only minutes, Daisy turns to me. She places her hand flat on my chest and peers up into my eyes, something that would have made my heart soar only half an hour ago, but now just twists the knife in my chest harder.
“You’re so hurt.” Her gaze is all over my body, but in a concerned way, not a heated one. Her eyes find mine again. “But the Dhogerthu can heal you.”
“Did they tell you that?” I can’t help the bitterness in my voice.
“Akkan.” She grabs hold of my hands and brings them to her chest. “I know this is all so crazy. I can barely understand it myself. But Giullis says we’re safe here—”
“Giullis.” My voice is cool. “The one who came for you.”
“He’s my servant.” She must hear my jealousy because her face draws down. “Really more of an elite guard—”
“I’m sure.” It’s petty. I can’t help it. This is the fates stealing her away from me again, and I’m quite certain I will not survive it.
“Please just…” She squeezes my hands. “You’re hurt. They can heal you. Giullis says they have a healing bath that will—”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Akkan.” She moves closer—close enough to reach up and touch my cheek. “I can’t stand seeing you hurt. Please. Go with them.” Three Dhogerthu break from the pack and linger around me, expectant.
“You’re not coming?” Because of course, she’s not.
She pulls away again. “I’m not hurt. And… Giullis wants to talk with me about something.”
“Alone.”
She gives me a look like I’m being impossibly difficult. And, of course, I am. Because I have a feeling the second she’s out of my sight, I will have lost her forever. I pull her close again with our still-joined hands, then cup her cheek with my least-bloodied hand. “I don’t know what Giullis has to tell you, but there’s one thing I don’t want you to forget.”
“What’s that—”
But I’m already kissing her. Deeply. I invade her mouth, stake my claim, and let her know with every inch of my naked body pressed against hers that she belongs with me. Not to me, and she probably was never only mine, but she still belongs with me. My love for her started the moment we were born, and it will continue until my last breath, whether that’s due to Vardigah fire—or Dhogerthu—or simply because I’ll die of a broken heart when she rejoins her people. It may never have been in those cards of hers for us to be together. The fates may have only needed me to deliver her to her destiny—Arenedyl’s destiny—but that stole none of the heat from our first kiss. It doesn’t mean my love is any less blazingly True.
I leave her breathless, which is exactly how it should be.
Then I turn to the waiting Dhogerthu. There are three, all female, and barely dressed. Their bodies would be human except for the unearthly dimensions—a little too tall, a little too thin, their fingers just a bit too long. As if they’ve been stretched while living in this strange realm, separate from the world and softly glowing with magic. And then there are the ears, of course, pointed and sticking up above their heads.
They lead me out of the star-shaped chamber and down a labyrinth of hallways, also with the same softly-glowing walls. The floor warms my bare feet, and the air is likewise body-temperature—enough that I don’t miss my clothes, except for the lack of modesty. Which doesn’t seem to trouble them, given their own sheer dresses barely cover their breasts and bottoms. We don’t bother speaking, given I don’t know their language. Hand gestures and smiles and nods are all that’s needed to bring me to a room with a large, circular pool. Light steam hovers over the surface, and a long, sloping ramp leads into it. A pile of sponges lies in a basket at the edge, and they each grab one on the way in.
As the three of them guide me into the water, I’m wondering if the fact that they’re female is a coincidence. Their smiles are a little too friendly. The light touches of their hands a little too caressing. The water itself is warm and relaxing, with a slight tingle that tells me there’s magic as well. Is this a seduction? Are they intending to pry me away from their resurrected queen, so I don’t interfere with whatever plans they have for her? As the Elven women soak their sponges and start to wash me, I can easily see this becoming a four-way orgy in the water. My body is already responding to their touches, and whatever magic is in the water is easing away the pain of my wounds.
I’ve bedded so many women—women not my soul mate. I’ve sequestered myself away in caves and hermitages of my own, waiting for her. And when the waiting was too much, I would emerge and bed every willing female in a hundred-mile radius. But no matter how lovely or kind or sweet—or how madly they fell in love with me—they were never the one I was waiting for. Even when I loved them in return, they were never the woman who could complete me. The one who could bear my children. I could never build a family with them which was my own, never have the dragon sons I longed for, never recreate the family I’d lost that day in the fire.
They were only ever this—these three women in the pool, lavishing me with their attention, getting a rise out of my body while my heart weeps inside. At least before, I always had the hope that someday before I died—maybe only for a moment—I would find her. In truth, we had that moment. It was on a pier in Greece. It was a passion-filled kiss in a strange Elven realm. And that moment has passed.
The three Elven women stop their ministrations and beckon me to look at my own body. The sear marks are gone. I feel invigorated, physically at least. It appears their healing magic has fulfilled its promise. They lead me from the pool again, and two disappear, teleporting away and leaving one behind. She waves her hand at my body, and a heated wind is stirred all around, drying me quickly. By the time she’s finished performing this magic, one of the others has returned with clothing—a toga made of the same sheer fabric as their barely-there dresses. I put it on, but it’s hardly concealing anything. I guess I’m their pet now—I probably shouldn’t offend them by refusing. They walk me through the labyrinth again, bringing me not back to the star chamber but to a room with an enormous bed. It’s draped in she
er fabric all gathered at the top like a circus tent and falling to the sides, but drawn back to reveal the expanse of it. Perhaps now that I’m cleaned up is when the seduction is supposed to occur?
But before I can wonder, they disappear, teleporting away and leaving me alone.
It’s all very strange, but so is the mere existence of these people. And Daisy’s connection to them. The dragon book of lore, the Mýthos tou Drákou, spoke of both the light and dark elves, but no one had seen them in thousands of years. There weren’t even descriptions, merely that the two races existed, and the light kept the dark in check, for they had a hatred of dragons, especially mated dragons, due to our venom’s ability to kill them. But that was it—almost a mythical tale that could be dismissed as allegory. Until the Vardigah tried to wipe dragonkind out of existence with a simultaneous strike on every lair on the planet.
And here I stand in an Elvish bedroom.
It’s beyond fantastical—it’s absurd.
The door opens behind me. I turn to see who’s planning to seduce me.
It’s Daisy. A breath escapes me, and I’m so glad to see her, I forget to be angry or jealous or just plain heartbroken. I cross the room and pull her into an embrace.
She hugs me quickly then pulls back, marveling at my chest. “You’re completely healed!”
“I guess the Dhogerthu are good for their word.” Then the rest comes rushing back, and I cringe. “What did Giullis have to say?”
She sobers. “Maybe we should sit down for this.”
“That good?” My heart’s right back to breaking, but I follow her to the bed, where she perches on the side. She’s changed clothes as well—her sheer dress is the same fabric as the Dhogerthu women who bathed me, but Daisy’s has more adornments. Lace cupped to her breasts, a thin golden belt around her waist, and a high band at her neck which holds up the entire affair. The dress is short in front, baring her knees, but has a long train that’s pooled at her feet while she sits.
“I don’t know where to start.” She grips her knees like she did in the cottage before, and somehow that bit of familiarity loosens the tension in my shoulders.
“You’re their resurrected queen,” I prompt. “Aerendyl, is it?”
“Yes. And not exactly.” She frowns and twists, so she’s facing me, tucking her leg up on the bed. “The queen is like… like a Queen Bee. There’s only one. When she dies, her spirit passes on, and she is reborn. The new Queen carries the old Queen’s memories.”
I lean back a little, but this makes some sense—why Daisy would be connected to all this. “It’s like a soul mate’s spirit—if you’re not mated, you keep getting reborn until you find your other half. Only you remember your past lives. There’s something different about you.”
“Yes! Giullis and I had to piece it together—we each only had part of the story.”
The mention of her elite guard puts me on edge. “And what did you figure out?” I picture him seducing her with stories of her royal Elven heritage.
“That something went terribly wrong. It’s hard to know for sure, but…” She grips my arm and squeezes it. “The dragons are part of this, Akkan. A key part.”
I lift an eyebrow. “How so?”
She shakes her head like she’s frustrated somehow. “Let me start from the beginning. It’ll make more sense.”
“Okay.” But I’m intensely interested now. Because if dragons are part of this, then maybe my part in this drama isn’t finished. Maybe there’s still a place for me here, with her.
“Normally, the Queen would pick her successor. She would find a suitable human baby—like me—and make a sacred connection with her spirit.” Her eyes light up. “It’s like when you’re paired as a dragon. You’re connected across magic space, but you’re not fused yet.”
“Queen Aerendyl picked you.”
“Yes! I was nearing the end of the normal two-thousand-year reign. It was time. And my mate was winding down. His final moments were nearing as well.”
“Aerendyl had a mate?” Did Elves mate like dragons?
Daisy bites her lip. “I’m getting ahead of myself. But it’s all tangled up together.” Her hand grips her knee again, the one folded up between us on the bed.
“It’s okay.” I lay my hand on hers. “Take your time.”
She sighs. “I wish I had my cards. They’ve always helped with important decisions.”
“What decision do you have to make?” My chest is getting tight.
She pulls her hand away. “It’s not just me. It’s you.”
I lift my eyebrows again. “Me?”
She clasps her hands and presses them to her lips. “I’m doing this all wrong,” she mutters.
“Just tell me, Daisy. Aerendyl. I’m not even sure what to call you.” I’m trying to be patient, but I’ve been waiting over two hundred years for her—if it will be heartbreak, I just want it done.
“To be honest, I’m not really sure who I am anymore, either.” She drops her hands to her lap. “Aerendyl selected me at birth… but she selected you, too.”
“What?” I have no idea what she means.
“It has always been this way, from one queen to the next. Always the same spirit, every two thousand years, passing down to another dragon-spirited human woman. Normally, there is a great ceremony about it. The Queen knows her time is approaching. She selects a pair at birth—a dragon and his dragon-spirited mate—and she marks them with her spirit. With that blessing, that connection to the magic of the Universe, they grow into adulthood, wise and spiritually inclined beyond their years. Haven’t you always felt it, Akkan? The touch of connection to something just a little… more?”
All of this is making my heart pound. “Yes. Always. I spent years in retreat, seeking spiritual guidance. I was…” I swallow because this feels too vulnerable. Too open. “I was keeping my soul pure for you.” I expect disbelief—she must know I’ve slept with many women—but she just nods instead.
“If all had gone according to plan, Queen Aerendyl would have approached us once we were paired. Once you’d started your romance of me, but before we’d mated. She would have explained how all of it worked. That if we agreed, and if we mated, that she would begin the ritual, the Dar-reth.”
“What’s that?” My mind is reeling.
“The sacred transfer. Her soul, her memories, would become mine. Her previous form would pass away, and I would become the new Queen. And you, Akkan, would have been my mate. The new Queen’s Mate. Because we’re two halves of the same dragon soul, right? Queen Arendyl’s mate was a dragon, too. And when she passed, his time would end as well. This is the way it has always been, for as long as our kind have lived. We are all connected—the humans, the Elven, and the dragons. Even the witches have their role in bringing us together. It all works in harmony.”
“Until something went wrong.” But my heart is soaring with ridiculous hope. Somehow in all of this, I am supposed to be with Daisy. Aerendyl? I almost don’t care how it works. The fates may have a use for me yet… one that actually keeps us together.
“Something went terribly wrong.” Daisy sighs. “Giullis never could figure out what happened precisely. One moment, the Queen was receiving guests in her court. The next moment, she dropped dead. The Queen’s powers are legendary. She’s nearly immortal. There’s no poison that could touch her. At first, they thought perhaps she had simply died of natural causes. And of course, her mate had died as well. That was assumed to be because she died. But later, after the confusion and panic settled, Giullis wondered if the Queen’s mate had been murdered. Maybe someone—an assassin—somehow reached the Queen’s mate and killed him… and thus her. Prematurely. Before she could enact the Dar-reth.”
“But her soul must have joined with yours anyway.” I’m not piecing it together myself.
“Remember how I died when I was ten?” she says. I nod. “I think the problem started there. That reset the clock. Queen Aerendyl had to wait another ten years, just like you, for
me to be reborn and to grow to adulthood once again. And she almost made it. But before you and I reached the age of pairing, someone killed her mate. And her. And suddenly, all the Dhogerthu were in chaos. They can’t exist in the same way without their queen. She ties them together. It’s not just being a leader… there’s some actual magic that keeps everything in harmony.”
My eyes go wide. “That’s when the Vardigah rose up.”
She nods solemnly. “The dark forces of the Elven world assembled. Maybe they were the ones who killed the Queen’s mate to begin with. Giullis isn’t sure. But before he knew what was happening, the Vardigah struck. They went after the dragons—because they knew, Akkan. They knew the Queen might yet still resurrect in a dragon-spirited human woman, and the only way she could come into her powers was by mating with her dragon soul mate. So they sought to destroy all the dragons.”
“To keep her from returning.” Holy magic. “But she did return. Just now… when we kissed—”
“Just her memories.” Daisy peers into my eyes, searching my face for something. “I’m not the Queen, not yet. Giullis says normally, I would mate first, and then the Dar-reth would transfer the Queen’s memories and powers all at once.”
“Wait… so… does that mean—”
“We don’t know,” she says. “Our kiss awoke her spirit—her memories. But I don’t have her powers. I’m not the resurrected Queen. If you and I mated, would that summon forth the rest of her powers? I don’t know. There’s no precedent for it. There has always been the Dar-reth. Without it… perhaps the Queen’s magic is simply gone. And the Vardigah will reign forever.”
I just blink, stunned by all this. “This is the choice you have to make,” I say to her, “is whether to mate with me and possibly become Queen… or not.”
“Yes. And no.” She bites her lip again. “Queen Aerendyl would have given us both the choice because this affects you too. If you mate with me, it won’t be as a dragon, Akkan. You won’t come into your dragon powers.”
