by Crystal Dawn
“She’ll accept it when you show her your first kid.” Romo said and laughed some more.
“Obsessive behavior worries me. I think I’m going to talk to the mates program.”
“Is it that serious?”
“Yes, I think it is. I scent her lurking around my house in the morning and at night.”
Chapter 5
Cretia
Dannia looked upset and Cretia wished she was anywhere but here. Kenley paced back and forth, clearly worried about something. Cretia liked Kenley, but he only had eyes for Dannia. It was understandable since Dannia was gorgeous. Nearly six foot tall, it worked for Dannia since the dragon shifters were all well over six feet tall. Her almost white blonde hair, combined with sapphire blue eyed with a circle of silver around the blue was exotic and captivating.
Why would a male look past Dannia’s lithe and perfect body to see anything else? Her large breasts and wide child bearing hips made her the ideal for any dragon shifter. Her pairing hadn’t been a fated mate so it hadn’t affected her at all when he’d died. In fact, it had made her rich and now Dannia wanted more. She wanted power.
“Tell me you’ve gotten Niku to agree to mate you.” Dannia demanded. Her eyes were cold as ice and even resembled it.
“No, and he won’t ever do it. He’s found his fated mate and they will be binding soon.” Cretia admitted.
“Mates can die. Mine did.” Dannia pointed out.
Cretia had suspected Dannia had something to do with her mate’s passing, but this was the closest she’d come to admitting it. Kenley stopped pacing and his eyes stared holes in Dannia. If the male was smart, he would break away from her and all the evil she was about to unleash through him.
“He is my friend and he will be left alone and so will his mate.” Kenley demanded.
It was the first and only time Cretia had heard him stand up to Dannia. They looked different as night and day, starting with the fact that Cretia was short and tended to be plump, but they were half-sisters. That was how Cretia had gotten roped into this thing. Kenley had let his lust draw him in. Sometimes Cretia wondered if they would survive Dannia’s plans. It was fairly certain Kenley wouldn’t. Dannia didn’t like to share her power once she had it.
Kenley might be handsome and likable, but he was a fool if he couldn’t see what Dannia was planning. No one he knew would be safe. Cretia guessed that Dannia would turn on him and try to meet the Emperor. She would cry, that always pulled in the males who thought her beautiful and in need of protecting. It had worked on Kenley and it would work on any male she set her sights on.
None of them seemed to recognize the evil in her blue eyes. Her heart was made of ice and she would destroy this whole planet if she got the chance. There was no love or kindness in her sister. Right now she planned to destroy Niku’s life because it suited her plans. If Cretia were mated to him, he would get her a meeting with the emperor.
“You poor plain thing. I should have found an attractive female to seduce Niku or done it myself.” Dannia was brutal.
“Dannia we have discussed your attitude and there is no excuse for demeaning others.” Kenley said. Yeah, he would try to control her, but it wouldn’t work.
“You’re right my love. I was just upset. Cretia doesn’t seem to realize how important her task is.”
“I think you might not realize how dragons view a fated mate. Even if something happened to her, he would likely stay alone forever. You need to find another pawn, he’s useless now.” Kenley explained and he seemed relieved.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. They aren’t mated yet. Anything could happen.” Dannia hypothesized.
“How did we even get to the point where you are talking about ruining matings and killing people?” Kenley asked.
The poor male seemed surprised but that just showed he didn’t know Dannia, not really. He’d accepted her beautiful exterior and not looked beneath it to the cold, cruel, and manipulative monster that lurked underneath. Cretia knew what her sister was, she had seen it all her life. Poor Nadmor, Cretia’s chosen one was probably another victim of her sister’s plans. Sure, he’d died in battle, but who said that couldn’t be murder?
“You have to take chances and make sacrifices if you want to bring about big changes.” Dannia insisted.
Kenley backed down, just like every other male Dannia influenced. Poor Niku was screwed and his mate was as good as dead. It was a shame, but Cretia couldn’t do anything. Dannia would kill her immediately if she even suspected she might interfere. Cretia was as lost as all the males under Dannia’a power had been.
Cretia watched Kenley and he seemed to be watching her. That was new, he usually stared at Dannia as if he couldn’t tear his gaze away. Whatever he was looking for, Cretia didn’t have it. She was caught in the same web he was.
“Just remember your task Cretia. When the time comes he will need your shoulder to cry on. Don’t mess this up because life is fragile and can slip away in an instant.” Dannia warned.
Sometimes Cretia thought she’d be better off dead so the threat went unheeded. How could two people raised in the same household be so different? Maybe it was because Dannia’s looks had been beautiful at birth. Everything had come easily with the batting of an eyelash or a pout. There were times Cretia had stood back watching in shock as Dannia had manipulated teachers and other adults. Why couldn’t they see they were being used?
When they were older, males fell all over themselves to assist her. She only dated rich or influential males and the gifts she received were valuable. Jewelry worth what their father made in a month were commonplace.
By the time Dannia was considered an adult, she was rich. It didn’t stop her from choosing a wealthy mate. When he died shortly after their mating, she was richer still. Cretia had watched Dannia slowly tear down other people to claw her way up the ladder of success until now what she wanted was more than just riches. The power to rule a planet was next in her sights.
Cretia watched and listened as Dannia hatched her plans explaining her grand design to Kenley. It occurred to her for the first time that her sister was insane. What was Kenley thinking as he listened to the female he wanted spouting such crazy stuff? There was no obvious reaction from him. Could a male want a female so badly that he was willing to hurt anyone to make her happy? It certainly looked like that was the case.
She didn’t know how she would live with herself if she was forced to tear Niku’s life apart. He was a friend and she didn’t really want to mate him. There was no spark between them and she’d realized that right away. Cretia would probably have remated but her sister forbid it. Dannia had said she would find a mate worthy of their family. What she had really meant was a mate that would further her evil plans.
Sometimes she wished she’d died when her intended had. Not because they were fated, but because her life was meaningless to her and would only hurt those near her. Never had she expected a true happy ever after. There was no fated mate or never ending love for her. Cretia had been happy accepting the offer of mating from a nice guy she could get along with, but even that had been taken from her. She had accepted she would never find any true happiness but she had hoped for a better life than the one she now had.
“We need to wait until the males I selected are accepted back into the fold.” Kenley insisted.
Kenley was a good brother who wanted to send his youngest brother back into regular dragon society. The young male wasn’t a warrior and didn’t belong here among the rough and tumble, and sometimes vicious males. Cretia didn’t like coming here either. Some of the males looked at her like she was dessert. Kenley would growl and they’d look away but Dannia would smirk as if she’d promised these males something.
She’d go back home if she thought her parents would accept her but they always believed whatever Dannia told them. Beauty truly could blind everyone to anything going on. Poor Niku who would lose his mate and then his mind. Poor Kenley who would eventually die suddenly and poor C
retia, she would have the slowest death and die in shame.
Dannia had finally run out of air and stopped talking. Kenley didn’t look pleased which meant Dannia had revealed too much of her plan. It was her arrogance taking over and telling things before it was time.
“I’m glad you finally shared your plans with me.” Kenley admitted.
“You are?” Dannia’s eyes narrowed at him.
“Of course I am. We’re partners aren’t we?”
“Of course my dear. We are partners.”
Kenley smiled and hugged her. Foolish male, he just couldn’t see past her looks. Dannia patted him on the back. That female was poisonous and no one realized it until it was too late. Once he’d served his purpose, he’d be cold as ice and buried deep in a grave.
“Maybe I should go back home?” Cretia asked.
“Come eat midday meal with us first. The males never get to spend time with a female.” Dannia invited.
There was no point in turning her down, she would just insist. It wouldn’t be long before she turned her over to these males if she wasn’t careful. Dannia must think she was dumb as a stump. Her plans were obvious and the way the males drooled over her told her what they’d been promised. She would do whatever it took to avoid that fate.
One of the males led her to a seat in the middle of where other males sat. She felt stifled and surrounded. Someone set a plate in front of her, the food was alright. It was filling more than tasty and they lived in caves with no luxuries at all. There were fifty males, give or take. Not enough, as far as she could see, to impact anything when compared to the thousands the king had.
That only proved the point that Kenley was a fool. He risked his life and the lives of males loyal to him to follow a cold and evil female. These males were just being herded along down a path of destruction and offered crumbs as a reward for something that would end in their death. Kenley was seduced along the same path and she herself had been terrorized by her bully of an older sister.
Once the meal was done, she asked to leave once again. “Can’t you stay and talk to the males a while? It’s not like you have anything important to do.” Dannia asked.
“I’m too tired to talk. I just want to go home.”
“But the males.” Dannia was cut off.
“Let her go home.” Kenley demanded.
“Alright. I just thought she would enjoy so many males fighting for her attention. I guess not.” She pouted.
An airbus pulled up and took her home. The driver was a follower of Kenley who hid among regular society. He borrowed the bus when it was needed. There were a handful of supporters like him hidden in plain sight ready to help whenever Kenley called. The guy dropped her at her door and she hurried inside. It was a small hut in the country. Her intended’s family had kicked her out when she had turned down the first offer of a mating.
She had found this hut and lived here in return for completing some monthly chores and caretaking the property. With unlimited plants surrounding her, she ate only vegetables by necessity, but she dreamed of a meal of meat of fish. Making mats and a few other crafts gave her a little money to buy clothing and those things she couldn’t make. Luckily she could make most things including soap and perfume.
Dannia and she had come from the primitive planet, Laurelia Proper, which was destroyed by a meteor. Her parents had escaped and now lived far away. It wasn’t like they would help her anyway. Dannia was by far their favorite.
Oh gods! She knew she needed to get over the pity party she was having. Life wasn’t fair and sometimes it just sucked. For her, sometimes was now. Cretia walked into her one room hut. There was a bed with storage underneath in the form of baskets she had made herself. It was in one corner of the room. A bathroom was in the other corner with drapes that curtained it off from the rest of the house.
That was where she went first. Stripping out of her clothes, she got into the shower and cleaned up. It was a small area with a rock floor and a pipe coming out of the ceiling. Care had to be taken since it had no curtain or walls to stop the water from spraying onto the hard packed dirt floor. The toilet was an old canister style one more functional than pretty. The only sink was in the kitchen area and it was small.
The kitchen also had a cooler, maybe from when the owners had upgraded the one in their home. Cretia didn’t mind, she was just happy to have one. There were no laundry facilities so she had to go old school and use the sink or the creek. Once they were clean, she hung them on a line behind the house or laid them out on rocks.
The truth was, that even with such a simple life. She could be happy here if Dannia was gone. She’d taken a shower, not because she was dirty, but because seeing her sister made her feel dirty. It was too early to go to bed so she went back out to the fields and dug some worms to go fishing. It often relaxed her so maybe she could sleep tonight.
She dug a small bucket full of them and went down to the creek to a spot where the water was deeper. Her fishing pole was hidden up against a tree so it would always be ready to go. The hook was pushed into a soft spot on the pole so it wouldn’t hurt anyone.
The creek was a great place to go even though only one side of it belonged with the land she was caretaker of. The other side belonged to Romo and further down to Niku. It didn’t bother her because she’d never seen anyone on this portion of the creek. She baited her hook and cast her bait out into a deep part of the water. The bite was immediate and she pulled in her line. He was a big one and supper would be a tasty meal. She was tired of just eating plants and she craved something different. The reason she didn’t fish all the time was sometimes she was there for hours and caught nothing. One fish was plenty for just her so she headed back home.
She carried her prize home with her. The exterior of the hut was rock and the doors were solid wood. There were two windows and they weren’t glass. She didn’t know what they were but they’d been hit with rocks before and it hadn’t left a ding. The roof was also some unknown material that held up well. It gave her a feeling of security when the weather turned bad.
Cretia loved her yard. It had benches and chairs that could seat a large family. She went to the back yard to fillet her fish. It was a good thing for her that she’d gone fishing with her dad since she was a little girl and she knew how to prepare and cook a fish.
A fire pit was in the back yard and that’s where she started the fire right before she had the fish ready to go on the grate that sat over the fire. As soon as she could smell the fish cooking, her mouth began to water.
When it was done, she sat down and just ate fish. There was a time she would have bemoaned the lack of a salad or other side with her meal. It had been a long time since she’d tasted a dessert. But she had learned to be happy just to have a meal at all.
Once she had finished the last bite, she patted her tummy. It was full and she was sated, that was not the way it usually was. Now she went to her large stack of materials and pulled out a pile to weave into mats. Since the materials were free, all she invested was her time. She needed a stack of mats so she could buy something to wear.
Most of her money was made by harvesting rare delicacies in the creek and the woods. The adorable domed plants made a lot of money for her but they only came out after a heavy rain and you had to be careful, some were poisonous. There were also berries but they only grew at certain times of the year. Shallow roots were more common but brought less money for her.
Sitting here weaving relaxed her but her mind kept rerunning the sad situation she was in. Her parents had not been peasants nor had they been rich. Her father had made a good income as a teacher and her mother had been active in the community. The only thing that had hurt her memories was being in her sister’s shadow all her life. Cretia had joined the bride program to escape all that. Dannia hadn’t allowed it. She had followed her here.
Sometimes it seemed, you couldn’t escape the things that hurt you the most. Even going to a new world hadn’t changed her circumstances. Even if sh
e could get away from Draconis, where would she go? Right now she was full and her weaving had tired her out. She took another shower, this one to clean up and she got ready for bed. Cretia fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Rarely did she dream and if she did during the night, she couldn’t remember it when she woke.
It was early and she hurried to get ready. Why she kept doing this, she didn’t know. She ran down the trail to Niku’s house and was there as she saw him step out the door. He sniffed and she was sure he could scent her. His dragon eyes searched, but for some reason he didn’t see her. That he didn’t find her interesting was best for him. With Dannia on her back, she would bring any male misery if not death.
After watching Niku leave, she headed to her home to collect the mats she had made and the roots she had collected to sell to the stores in town. This was where she would get the money to replace her threadbare clothing.
Cretia was in good shape due to the healthy diet she maintained out of necessity due to the foods available to her and she was physically fit because she walked or ran everywhere she went. She would run until she was tired then walk until she felt rested. Air buses passed her, but they never gave free rides and she couldn’t afford their rates. Once in a while, a passing wagon pulled by razus, four legged work animals, would offer her a ride and she would accept. Today was no such day.
When she arrived in town she was dusty and hungry. Her first stop was to sell her goods. The general market was where she sold the shallow root. They paid more than the herb store and she needed all she could get out of them. The prices changed daily based on how many were available. She was lucky the price was high today.
“You picked a good day, Cretia.” Jin said with a smile. “No one has brought any in this week. I can give you two silver dragons.”
Cretia couldn’t hide her smile. “Thank you, Jin.” She thought Jin might like her but maybe he was just being friendly. Grabbing the silver dragons, she hurried to the herb shop.
