Betrayed by Dragons

by Caitlin Ricci

  She rose from the bed and quickly dressed in a long gown. It was simple and since she didn’t bother with the laces down her back it fit her like an old sack. But she didn’t care. It was comfortable and she hardly expected company that wasn’t either Caden or Faolan.

  The cool morning breeze raced through her as she stood against the hard stone of the room’s outer opening. Behind her lay their comfortable bedroom and their warm, inviting bed. But sprawled out before her was the harsh landscape that the dragons called home. Less than twenty feet in front of her the ledge outside their room dropped off sharply, giving way to a hundred foot drop into the rocky valley below. Normally the harsh gusts of wind would tear at her, constantly bashing her frail body with their blasts. But this was a rare calm morning in which the air was as still as the sea before a storm. This was the first windless morning she could remember since arriving at the mountains. Isabelle tentatively took a step out of the safety of the room. Without the wind it was quite peaceful out on the ledge, surrounded by nothing but open air and the sky bright and endless above her. She could understand why Faolan spent so much time out here just gazing out over the wilds of his home. She had come out looking for him before when she had awoken to an empty bed as usual. She had wanted to speak to him again about what had happened with Andrew. But he was nowhere to be found.

  A dark shape caught her attention as it skimmed the canyon floor. As it grew closer, Isabelle could just barely make out the shape of a small black dragon. Isabelle nervously looked around for others, but he seemed to be alone. In fact the only two creatures awake this early seemed to be the dragon and herself. She watched it, almost mesmerized by its grace and beauty, as it flew silently through the still morning air. Slowly it drew closer with each careful, methodical beat of its large wings until she could see the shiny blue tint to its sleek body.

  Suddenly Isabelle backed away from the ledge as a gasp escaped her lips. She had not realized before why his grace and power seemed so familiar, but now as she stared as his ever-nearing form there was no mistaking that he was the dragon that had saved her from Andrew’s attack the day before. She tentatively crept toward the edge of the ledge, hoping to get a closer look at him. After quickly scanning the canyon below her and the sky above, she did not see him. As she glanced to her right, she was surprised to see him stretched out on a ledge much like her own. His wings were folded closely to his back and he was panting slightly. His head slowly turned as he took in the surroundings, almost like a scout.

  As if he could feel her watching him, the dragon turned toward her and stared intently until Isabelle had the impression that the dragon wasn’t looking at her at all but rather through her. She was frozen as those large eyes seemed to cage her, trapping her in place without even trying. The anger and rage that had seemed to consume those eyes yesterday no longer existed, leaving only a look of mild curiosity playing against high intelligence.

  Isabelle blinked rapidly, desperate to free herself from the dragon’s spell. Finally she managed to stumble backwards, landing with a hard thunk on the rock ledge. She cried out as a sudden sharp pain shot through the wrist she had landed on.

  A blast of wind took her attention from her injury, causing her to look skyward in silent alarm as the form of the black dragon blocked out the sun above her. With a graceful thud, he landed squarely before her. With unnatural agility and speed, he took a few silent steps toward her, his large eyes taking in her form with intense curiosity. Isabelle scrambled backwards a few feet, carefully clutching her wrist to her stomach.

  The dragon cocked his head to the side and blinked. He took another step toward her, but once he saw her back away again, he stopped and lowered his head to just above hers.

  “Good dragon,” Isabelle called to him. “Just stay right there and please don’t eat me.”

  The dragon’s head shot up in alarm and his eyes grew wider. His nostrils widened and he sent a hot puff of air toward her. Although she had very little experience with dragons, Isabelle had the distinct impression that she had just offended this one.

  “Am I to understand that you aren’t going to eat me then?” she asked.

  She was almost certain she saw those large eyes roll in annoyance.

  “Then what are you doing up here if you aren’t going to eat me?” She rose unsteadily to her feet as he took a tentative step toward her.

  He paused and tilted his head to the side.

  “It’s okay, I won’t run away anymore. You promised not to eat me…sort of,” she assured him, though she only hoped that she had interpreted his body language correctly. “Besides, Faolan trusts you so I guess you couldn’t be all that bad.”

  Her words seemed to make him grow bolder until his careful steps brought him within feet of her. Though she knew that he was a small dragon by comparison, he towered quite a few feet above her. She was in a hurry yesterday and so barely spent any time really looking at him, but in the quiet of the morning, alone with him, Isabelle couldn’t help her curiosity as her gaze trailed over his powerful shoulders and tightly laid scales. His head was smaller than the others were, but as she had seen yesterday, he still had quite a few very sharp teeth. Overall she thought he was refined, graceful and beautiful beyond anything she could have imagined.

  Without thinking, she reached a hand out to touch the soft leather of the underside of his wings. To her surprise, he extended his wing for her, creating a large canopy for her to stand under. The leathery skin was soft and translucent, allowing her to look at the bright morning sun without her eyes burning from the sight. But as she touched the soft skin, she saw that it was also durable and tough. Her gaze traveled to his large, powerful forelegs as she remained under the shade of his wing. The claws that dotted the tips of his feet she knew were deadly, but even they seemed to fascinate her.

  She could feel him watching her, taking her in and studying her as much as she was him. She wondered if he could really be as interested in her as she was in him. She knew that she shouldn’t touch him anymore, that even this had been enough of an invasion to insult most dragons, but she couldn’t help herself as her fingertips brushed the soft snake-like scales of his shoulder. He held perfectly still and did not move away from her touch as her fingers traveled downward over his smooth muscles to the soft scales just behind his elbow. She couldn’t explain how she knew, but somewhere inside of her understood that this is where the dragons were most vulnerable. In a second, she felt his heartbeat below her fingertips and realized what he had allowed her to find.

  Her eyes caught his and she smiled widely at him as she pressed her palm against the constant drumming. “Thank you, dragon.” she whispered softly to him.

  The shiny black head bobbed once in a nod before he took a step away from her.

  “Must you go? Already?” she asked as he began walking slowly toward the edge.

  His gaze traveled far above them, to a solitary dark shape flying against the sunlight. Her eyes also focused on the form, but she could not make it out. By the time her gaze returned to the dragon in front of her he was nowhere to be seen.

  It was only hours later that she realized her wrist had stopped hurting while she was with him.

  Chapter Four

  Isabelle lifted her eyes to find Faolan standing at the foot of the bed. She watched him for a few moments before he turned away. “Faolan?”

  He caught her gaze in the dying candlelight. “Yes?”

  Isabelle gave him a soft smile. “Do you want to feel the baby?”

  Faolan paused, the shirt that he was pulling off hanging loosely in his hands. “I don’t understand what you’re asking.”

  “He’s big enough that I can feel him turning sometimes. He’s been restless since this afternoon so I was wondering if maybe your touch would calm him down,” she said, her light voice hiding the vulnerability beneath her request.

  He flushed and began to fidget. “I—”

  Isabelle sighed. “You don’t hav
e to though if you don’t want to.”

  He gulped nervously. “How do I?”

  “Just touch my stomach,” she replied with a soft smile.

  He gently ran his fingers over her stomach, slowly circling the outside. He paused in hesitation and then laid his palm gently over the top of her stomach. “Like this?”

  She had her eyes closed, a contented smile playing on her soft lips.

  “Isabelle? Is this right?” he asked uncertainly.

  “Mmhmmm.”

  “He seems so small still.”

  Isabelle opened her eyes, nodding to him. “He is and most women can’t feel it moving at this stage, but I think that because this child is part Draconian perhaps that makes a difference.”

  “Do you think he’ll have your eyes?”

  She quickly pulled away from him. “Why would you ask that, Faolan?”

  He shrugged, moving away as well. “I wanted to know what you thought. We so rarely talk about our baby that I—”

  She rolled onto her side away from him. “This is not our baby, Faolan.”

  He frowned deeply at her. “Isabelle…”

  “I’m going to sleep now. I’m tired. Goodnight,” she replied curtly.

  “Oh…okay…”

  Isabelle nodded and then buried her face a pillow to hide her falling tears.

  * * * *

  Thadius wandered aimlessly through the mountain passages, reflecting on the success of his plan. The girl was pregnant and, according to Kylin, the pregnancy was going well. She was showing now at least. Kylin had informed him that the child was growing faster than a typical human would, but not quite up to the few short months it took a Draconian to give birth. Just one more thing that the humans failed at as far as he was concerned.

  Stopping short, Thadius glared at the closed wooden doorway to his son’s bedchamber. He could practically feel the warmth and love seeping through the pores in the wood. It disgusted him.

  Kylin? He snapped, knowing that the old man would answer him instantly. It was hard to ignore someone yelling into your mind.

  Sire? came the man’s soft reply.

  Thadius smiled. He had known that teaching the healer to mind speak would come in handy one day. What is the nature of their relationship?

  There was a moment of confusion before Kylin answered him. Isabelle and Faolan, sire?

  Yes. Thadius replied, biting out the word.

  I believe that they are in love, sire.

  Kylin’s reply was so soft he thought he had barely heard it. Impossible! Why was I not told of such a thing?

  Forgive me, sire. I had not realized it would be a problem.

  The man sounded small. Thadius was glad he could still cow the old man into behaving as a human should. A problem? This is a disaster! he yelled back.

  Sire? Perhaps I could talk to her. She— Kylin began only to be cut off sharply.

  No. I’ll do it. This must be stopped.

  Thaidus nodded to himself, satisfied with the plan that was forming in his mind when the human healer spoke again.

  I’m sorry, sir, but I fail to understand why this is troubling you so.

  She’s human, Thadius replied as if that explained everything and the man had been stupid for asking. But still the healer pressed.

  Yes. She is.

  Thadius uttered a long suffering sigh. Faolan will be taking over my clan. My power. Human offspring are weak. They will not carry my power. My clan will die under those whelps. Only our kind can continue the clan.

  He could almost see Kylin nodding along with his logic. But the child growing inside of her now is part human.

  And he will control the Phaedran Empire. He is our way back into to power. Thadius informed him.

  There was a long pause during which Thadius began moving through the halls toward his study where he could come up with a plan to fix his son’s mistake.

  Your plan is quite well done, sire, Kylin finally said.

  Thadius didn’t need the man’s approval in the least, but it was certainly nice to know that someone thought he had a few good ideas left in him. Yes, I thought so, too. Until I saw him with her. Now I need to fix this. Damn him for making this more difficult for me than it already was.

  Kylin was silent after that.

  Chapter Five

  Once again Isabelle awoke alone. She sat up slowly, her eyes drifting lazily to the cold gray sky of the early morning dawn. She stretched, running a hand roughly through her thick hair before rising stiffly from the crumpled sheets. With a sigh, she frowned at Faolan’s side of the bed with its crisp sheets and cold pillow. Could she really mean so little to him, even after he invited her back into his bed? To his room? Possibly even into his heart? Isabelle shook her head, fighting back the tears that threatened to spring forth. She blamed them on the child inside of her. Kylin said she would have different moods now. Perhaps this sadness could really just be caused by that. Somehow that didn’t make her feel all that much better.

  Hearing a low guffaw from the opening that led to the ledge, Isabelle went to investigate. Outside, waiting patiently for her, with his large black wings outstretched and his wide eyes scanning the gray sky, was the black dragon.

  “Um…” Isabelle said hesitantly.

  The dragon’s neck craned around, his head coming within a foot of hers.

  “Hi,” she said.

  His scaly lips curled just slightly, imitating a smile.

  Isabelle returned it a bit uneasily. “Will you still not eat me?” she asked him.

  He snorted, hot hair blasting into her face, making her hair fly back. She giggled and patted one scaly cheek, marveling at the smoothness of his snake-like skin. “Do you shed your skin like the snakes do?” she asked, thinking aloud.

  To her surprise, he shook his large head. Encouraged, she thought of more questions she could ask him.

  “Faolan said you were young, for a dragon I mean. Are you younger than me?”

  Again his head swayed back and forth.

  “Are you younger than Faolan then?”

  He paused, but then shook his head again.

  Isabelle frowned. “You’re older than Faolan? And you’re still considered young?”

  He seemed to puzzle at this, too. His head tilted to the side and his eyes closed momentarily. After a few moments, he shook his head again.

  “You are a boy though, aren’t you? I keep thinking of you as a he but it’s not like I’ve been there to see or anything,” Isabelle said with a blush.

  The dragon nodded slowly, a faint tinge of pink forming on his cheeks, too. Isabelle reached a hand up to touch the color, strange on skin as dark and shiny as his. The dragon’s eyes drifted closed and leaned into her touch. She could hear a low grumble coming from deep within his chest, almost as if he was— “Are you purring?” she asked, a grin lighting her face.

  Instantly he pulled away, the noise stopping, as he lifted his head away from her. If she hadn’t seen the slight smile curving his lips she would not know that he was teasing her so she merely ignored him and chose to sit down next to him, her back pressed against his shoulder.

  “You haven’t seen Faolan today, have you?” she asked him, all playfulness gone from her voice as she looked into her lonely bedchamber.

  He turned back toward her, shook his head slowly no, and then dropped his head next to her hip on the stone.

  “I don’t know where he goes or where he’s been. I know there’s some secret he’s keeping from me, something horrible that he doesn’t want me to know. I’m sure he doesn’t think I could handle it. That I couldn’t take it. Well I could. I really could,” she said, her hands balling beside her. The dragon lifted his head slightly only to rest it again, this time on her lap. He blew comforting puffs of warm air against her stomach.

  “Thadius won’t tell me,” she continued, her hand absently coming to his forehead, stroking him gently as she stared up at the empty sky.
“I’ve asked him and he says the same thing every time. Faolan is out. Leave him be, he tells me. As if that could explain anything. I know we aren’t an actual married couple. But…But I somehow thought we were getting closer. Close enough that perhaps he would tell me these things. At least confide in me somewhat. Trust me a little. But I guess he can’t. Or doesn’t want to.”

  She sobbed miserably and pushed her palms against her eyes as her body trembled. Beside her the dragon shifted, moving around her until she now rested against his chest, his large, powerful arms circling around her, loosely holding her against him as she cried. She twisted in his hold, curling up on her side against him, her face buried in his neck. He held her quietly, letting her cry until the tide ebbed and she sniffled loudly.

  “Damn these mood swings,” she whispered hoarsely.

  Isabelle reached up to his neck, petting him. “Thank you for this.” His dark head nodded. She leaned back against him, sighing. They both looked up into the bleak gray sky.

  “Looks like rain,” she said after a while.

  The dragon nodded in agreement.

  “Does the rain bother you?”

  He shrugged.

  “Is it harder to fly in the rain?” she continued, knowing that if she wanted a direct answer she had to get more specific.

  He paused, thinking about it and then slowly nodded.