Darien let out a quiet laugh. “I’m not a slayer. Let me keep talking so I can explain this to you and then you don’t have to imagine any other wild ideas?”
She stared up at him, shrinking deeper under the covers.
“As I said, my name is Darien Oceina.” He moved to sit on the foot of the bed. “I’m not a slayer, quite the opposite actually. I didn’t save you from the dragon. I can’t save you from the dragon because, well, because I am the dragon.” He chewed on his lip while he waited for her to react.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” A dragon? He actually expected her to believe that? He definitely didn’t look anything like a dragon.
“Well, it’s true. I am a dragon. And last night was our marriage ceremony, just as the previous sacrifices were wives to my brothers, and other territories have provided sacrifices for my cousins and other kin.”
Great, I’ve been kidnapped by a lunatic, she thought with a loud sigh.
“Hey, I am not a lunatic,” he snapped at her. “I’m telling you the truth.”
“I never said....”
“But you....” He stopped and gasped. “Oh.... That’s right. I forgot about that.”
“Forgot about what?”
This, he responded. Tai jumped as she heard his voice distinctly in her mind.
“Okay, now I’m freaking out.”
“You’re not the only one.” He mumbled in agreement. Louder, “Now do you believe me? That I’m one of the dragons?”
“No!” She said. “But you are a freak!” How could he read her mind? Reading minds was impossible. Not unless he had magic, but humans couldn’t use magic. Only dragons could.
Darien scowled. “I can prove to you I’m one of the dragons.”
She groaned. “Oh, whatever. Fine, prove to me you’re one of the dragons then.” She sat up and folded her arms around her in such a way that she pinned the sheets to her chest. There was no way he was going to be getting any free shows.
“Hold your horses,” he said. “I’m working on it.”
He stood up and moved directly in front of her. He extended his left hand out for her to see. The first thing she noticed was the glittering gold band on his ring finger. It had three small blue diamonds placed in it. Then she noticed his hands were slightly larger than any other guy his age would normally have, but that wasn’t the factor which tipped the scale for her. When she saw the thick black claws he had instead of normal fingernails, she considered believing in him.
Darien closed his eyes for a moment before opening once more, and she watched as his skin began to grow thick blue scales. His skin, which had been so soft and warm last night, now looked hard, rough, and cold. Under the light the scales shimmered like they were wet even though he was dry. She swallowed hard as these scales began to grow on his neck and face. His face. It was changing shape as well, as though it were in the beginning stages of forming a snout. The only thing that remained unchanged about it was his eyes. His eyes never left hers. They were filled with determination. She shivered under his gaze. Just as quickly as those scales had formed, his skin went back to normal.
“Now do you believe me?” He sat back down on the end of the bed and laid a hand on her leg. She flinched away from him and he let out a deep sigh. “Look, I’m not going to hurt you. That’s the last thing I want. I know this is bizarre and scary, but I promise you, it’ll all be okay.”
Tai stared into his eyes again, trying to decide for herself if he was truly being honest with her or not. “Fine, so you might be one of the dragons. If you are one of dragons, why is all of this happening?”
“You know how it’s said that man was not meant to be alone and that’s why God created woman?” he asked her quietly. He still never looked away from her while he spoke. His fingers picked at stray fibers of the comforter though, and she realized then he was just as nervous as she was. She nodded slowly, listening intently. “The same can be said for the dragon kind. You see, we were created as our own unique species, but to make sure we didn’t over run and abuse the humans of the Earth, we were also given the ability to transform into a human. To help us understand what a precious creation you are, dragons are always only male. We need a human female in order to…”
“Oh.” She didn’t need him to continue explaining it any further. “I see, so I’m basically a glorified breeding tool for you then with a label of wife to make you feel less guilty about it. That’s why you married me.”
“No,” Darien said quietly. “You mean a lot more to me than a breeding tool. Being married is so much more than just a label. We are married. When you took the vows of loyalty at the temple yesterday afternoon, I took the same vows. Vows to be loyal and protect and love you. That was our wedding ceremony. Last night was our-.” He stopped and shifted under her glare. Tai made sure to communicate just how much she didn’t believe him with that look alone.
“I still don’t-.” She began, but stopped when she looked down at the diamond ring on her left hand. The same ring she had greatly admired the previous day. Then she noticed the ring he wore as well, and she remembered the vows she had spoken in the temple. She would be loyal and she would be honest. She would do as God willed her. She had thought they pertained to the sacrifice. Now she realized how much like wedding vows they had sounded. If she broke those vows, what would happen? Would she be struck down with lightening on the spot? Would God curse her for the rest of her life?
“Maybe we are married.” Tai said after a long moment of silence. Darien was not staring at her anymore. He was looking down at one of the fibers he had plucked off of the bed.
“We are.” He insisted.
“I didn’t want to get married.” She said firmly. “I’ve never wanted to get married.”
Never? I wish I’d known that before I fell in love with her. I should have known this wasn’t going to be so easy. Darien’s thoughts popped into her head. He stood from the bed, his hand trailing dangerously close to her legs. “I’ll let you get back to sleeping before I confuse you more. We can talk later after you’ve had some time to settle in. I don’t want to rush this or overwhelm you.”
“You should have thought about that more thoroughly last night,” she said.
“I...” He shook his head and waved a hand at her. “Never mind.” That was unfair of her. I didn’t do anything she didn’t want me to.
Tai grunted. “Just get out already.” What a jerk.
“All right, I’m going.” Darien winced slightly, obviously hearing what she had thought just as clearly as she had heard his thought. He quickly retreated from the room.
Chapter Seven
This wasn’t exactly how he had always envisioned it beginning. He knew it wouldn’t be perfect, and he knew she might have a hard time dealing with the sudden changes in her life, but he had been hoping for things to go a little more smoothly. With a deep sigh, he absently stirred his cereal. He felt his body’s call for food, but he just couldn’t make himself eat. It was early, a lot earlier than he had realized when he had gone in to check on her.
She was probably just tired. He was a beast in the morning as well. Even though he had slept well next to his bride the previous night, he hadn’t slept for long. He wanted to be gone when she awoke just in case she got scared. He had checked on her a couple of hours after sunrise.
That particular floor of their condominium complex was shared between Darien, his two older brother’s Tony and Lance, their respective wives and children, and their father. The entire building was designed for the family. Five floors in its entirety, the first floor was a party room and office space to help take care of large family functions. The next floor was where his two eldest brothers lived with their wives and children. The next up was his middle two brothers and their families, and then above that were his living quarters. The last was their gym, pool, and sunning space. The vision his father had was for the family to always be able to be together, but also live independently.
Each
living space had a communal kitchen, nursery/playroom, and den. Then it was divided into the individual bedrooms for the parents and children. Each master bedroom had a private den and office as well. It would be odd for Darien to share his living space. He’d never had to do it before. Still, his room was much too big for him to keep it to himself. He always knew this. He had been waiting for this day for a very long time, almost his whole life. He was very eager to share all of his things with Tai - if she’d let him.
“Everything okay?” His older brother Tony asked him quietly as he ambled into the kitchen.
Darien glanced up at Tony and then nodded at his brother before returning his attention to his cereal. “Everything is fine. I think. I don’t know.” He always rambled when he couldn’t quite put his thoughts together.
He didn’t understand what was going on. He had no relationship experience to draw from. There were the encounters he had with his brother’s wives, but those weren’t very good ways to gauge how a woman behaved. The wives treated him like a little brother. His brothers showed him what a good husband looked like, but he didn’t understand what motivated them to do what they did for their wives. If needed, he could ask them for advice, but it still wasn’t quite the same.
“Are they always so…moody?”
Tony laughed so hard he snorted at his question. “They’re women. They think on a completely different level than we do. We have different mind maps and everything. I’ll tell you what Dad told me when I was talking to him about women stuff. They’re very different, but not always wrong. She’ll probably say a lot of stuff that confuses you.”
“So that’s a yes then? Cause I mean, last night she was really into me. Today she’s looking at me like I have three heads or something, and I’m some kind of a monster!” He paused before he continued. “Does this mean she’s going to be like Ashley?”
“Not necessarily,” Tony said. “It just means you two have to talk more, and Ashley isn’t all bad. She’s a modern traditionalist. I like it.”
Darien shrugged a little. He didn’t want to get into this conversation with Tony. Ever since Tony had married his bride, Ashley, eight years ago in human time, he had always avoided the topic as much as possible. He didn’t like Ashley much, and she didn’t like him. In fact, it was pretty clear she didn’t like much of anyone in the family. He never felt qualified to say anything on the matter because he wasn’t married.
“I do.” Tony insisted. “The past two years I’ve spent with her by my side have been amazing. I know she’s not the nicest to everyone, but I promise she’s not as bad as she seems. Different, not wrong, like I said. You’ll understand, and I’m sure your new wife will be great too.”
Darien gave him a weak smile. The optimism was appreciated. That was just Tony though.
“Right, you’re right. I just need to explain everything to her and then she’ll understand and everything will be fine.” Darien looked at Tony for some kind of a response, some kind of support. What he got was a small nod, which was better than nothing. I just have to figure out how to do it.
“Everything else okay?”
“I think so,” Darien said quietly. “It went well, up until this morning.”
“I didn’t really get to see you yesterday outside of dinner, so happy birthday again.” Tony nodded at his little brother’s pathetic attempt to eat breakfast. “Finish that up and get dressed. Dad said he wanted to talk to you. No, he didn’t tell me what about, but he told me to let you know to stop by as soon as you could.”
Darien nodded and then let out a deep sigh. He glanced down the hallway to his room, a little wary of going back there and seeing Tai again. He wanted to be with her, but not when she was so mad at him. He didn’t like how she treated him. It was a little too soon to go back seeing as how they just fought. Still, he needed to get out of his sleep clothes and he needed to shower - badly.
“Alright, I’ll be there in about an hour.”
“I’ll pass it on.”
“Thanks,” Darien looked at his soggy cereal and carried it over to the sink.
Feeling like an invader in his own bedroom, he was scared to open the door and enter. He knocked on the door, just in case she was up and about or getting dressed herself.
“Tai?” he asked quietly before slowly turning the knob and opening the door. He couldn’t find her. She didn’t try to run away did she? “Tai?” he called again. “You okay?”
“Stay where you are.” She said from the closet. “I’m trying to find something to wear.”
He let out a quiet sigh of relief. “There’s clothes for you on the right side,” he offered. “Try the middle drawer.”
The wives of the house had gone on a grand shopping spree for her, ensuring she would have comfortable and stylish clothes to start out with. When she felt comfortable, he would take her out again to pick up some more things of her choosing.
After a moment and some more mumbling on her part, she emerged in a loose pair of jeans and a modest blue t-shirt. “What is it?” she asked. He could hear the irritation in her voice. She folded her arms in front of her as soon as she saw him.
“I just wanted to let you know I was coming in,” he said quietly. “I didn’t want to scare you by coming in unannounced.”
How thoughtful, she quipped in his head. He didn’t appreciate her sarcasm.
“Anyway,” he continued. “I need to take a shower and get dressed.”
“You have to do that here?”
“Well, it is my room,” he pointed out with a glare. “Don’t worry; I’ll bring my clothes in with me so you don’t have to worry about me prancing around naked or anything.” Even though you might like it. He hadn’t meant for her to hear it, but it was hard to tell if all of his thoughts went to her or if only certain ones made it into her mind.
“What? You gushed for five minutes in your head about how hot I was this morning. I’m stating a fact,” he added when he saw her glaring at him. “Anyway, if you wanna get something to eat, the kitchen’s out the door and to the right.”
Tai’s blue eyes widened. “You mean I can go out of the room?”
“Of course. This is your home just as much as it is mine. I don’t want keep you locked up in here.”
“Well, considering I’m just a breeding tool, oh great dragon lord, I wasn’t sure.”
“You’re a lot more than that,” he said to himself so quietly that he hoped she couldn’t hear it. He didn’t care for her mock reverence for his species. He might not have looked like a dragon just then, but he could easily start something on fire to help her remember he still was one. It wasn’t time to tell her his true feelings for her. He was too tired and frustrated for theatrics. Besides, he didn’t want to stoop to her level.
“You can come and go about the house as you want. I’d say you could leave, but it would probably be better if you didn’t. You’re far away from home. I don’t want you to get lost or hurt out there.” He said trying to keep calm.
She looked up at him, still startled by everything he was telling her and cocked her head slightly. “What do you mean I’m far from home? Where am I exactly?”
“Oceina City. On the main continent,” he replied honestly. There was no point in hiding it from her. Even if she did decide to flee, she wouldn’t be able to get far. It wouldn’t take long for him or his brother’s to find her scent. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.
The country of Oceina was a part of a large continent that shared land borders with the Inero country to the south and had several small islands within its territory. Oceina City was towards the middle of the continent, and slightly North. It extended for miles, until it reached the ocean. Her home was on Little Oceina Island, which was an island far to the Northeast and near the Aero water borders.
Slowly he watched the color drain from her face. Her eyes dimmed with tears, and he felt horrible for causing this amount of heartache.
“So when can I go home again and see my mom?” she asked.
He swallowed hard. “You can’t. Everyone on your island thinks you’re dead. I know it’s hard. I understand because-”
“No,” she said sharply. “I don’t think you can say you understand what I’m going through here. You still have your family and can stay here in your home. You weren’t taken away from everything you loved like I was.”
“Okay, maybe not exactly, but I know what it’s like to lose my mother, and not have any control or say in the matter.” He said. “I may be with my family, but not all of them are fond of me because she died when I was born.” He shook his head. “This isn’t about me.”
Tai stepped back slightly and he couldn’t tell if she sympathized with him or if she was simply surprised by the confession. He was trying to be open with her so she could trust him. As long as he retained his honesty, she at least couldn’t accuse him of lying.
“Good because I’m not trying to compete with you over sob stories anyway,” she said at last. “How long has this practice of yours been going on anyway? Taking girls from their homes and forcing them to mate with you?”
“A long time,” Darien said. He finally grew tired of waiting in the doorway and stepped into the room. He had to show that he had some authority or she’d never respect him and his right to be there too. “Hundreds of years, actually. I’m pretty sure it began with the first of my kind, my great, great, great, well, many greats grandfather. He fell in love with a human girl while trying to figure out how to solve this predicament of having a mate but not exposing our secret.”
Darien walked past Tai so he could go into the closet to get his clothes. “He came up with a plan,” he explained as he flipped through his shirts. “That plan was the ruse of the sacrifice. Granted, in their situation, he and my, however many greats, grandmother had courted and were already madly in love. They continued to try this method, but then people began to get suspicious. Now we love and admire from far away, and hope it really is destiny. Our brides have certain conditions they must meet. It’s a lot of rules and formalities, unfortunately.” When he exited the closet and saw her, she was frowning in confusion. “It’s complicated.”
Legend of the Oceina Dragon (The Dragons Saga) Page 3
