by Tamsin Baker
She couldn’t go there. Not yet. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about everything, and another run in with Leo would not make any more sense to her.
“Neither have I, but I will not leave them here. Should we try to convince them to come back to Nargoya’s stables? Perhaps they would prefer that?”
Paneer cocked his head, watching his Dragon lick Nargoya’s neck. “I don’t think either of them will want to move.”
“Yes, but….” It’s not safe out here. She didn’t like it. “Let me speak to her.”
Tattiena took a deep breath and stepped forward, unable to believe she was fearful of her own Dragon. She hadn’t worried about such a thing since she was a child and Nargoya couldn’t control her fire power very well. She took another careful step forward, then another, until she was within a few body lengths.
The male Dragon growled a warning and Tattiena’s Dragon flicked her tail at him, silencing him. Nargoya unfurled herself and came closer, keeping her eyes on the male Dragon.
“My beautiful girl,” Tattiena began, stroking her hand down Nargoya’s neck. “We need to go back to the stables. Do you think you can convince him to follow?”
Nargoya snorted and moved back to the other Dragon, making strange noises in her throat that Tattiena hadn’t heard since she was a baby.
Then she twisted her body around and bumped Tattiena in a way that meant to get on.
“Looks like you’re coming back to our stables. You ready?” she called out to Paneer and the other Dragon rider ran up to her.
“Is it safe for us?”
Rain began to fall, cold and heavy on her hair and face. No choice now.
“Absolutely. Please. Come.”
Paneer ran to his Dragon, who was snorting and stomping his feet in a way that indicated his aggression and impatience. Tattiena grabbed onto her reins and Nargoya launched into the air, swooping low and fast, the male Dragon on their tail the whole way home.
When they landed, soaking wet, the thump of the second Dragon on the grass behind her made her smile. He was a huge, splendid looking creature and he would give Nargoya beautiful looking babes...or a baby. She didn’t know much about the nesting period for a Dragon.
Time for her to do some more study. If they could find a book she could read.
The four of them ran into the stables to get out of the rain and Tattiena pressed the button that would shut all the doors.
The rain beat down on the roof, making a lovely soothing thrumming noise like a rhythmic drum.
The Dragons encircled each other again and Nargoya took him into her sleeping area.
“Let’s give them some privacy.” She waved at Paneer and he followed her into the food preparation area where she made them both a hot drink.
“This is all very strange.” Paneer shook his head, and Tattiena laughed as she directed him to a table, gave him a drink, and curled up in her favorite chair.
“I don’t know much about Dragon’s matings and pregnancies. I’ll have to research it.”
Paneer shook his head. “I don’t either. They’re so rare. And my Lordip has never mated before, so this is a first for us all it would seem.”
“Would you like me to introduce you to the king? Would you like to see inside the palace?”
She’d rather stay in the comfort, warmth and happy space of the stables, but she should be hospitable to her unusual guest.
. “No, thank you. I don’t even know where I am.”
“Oh. My apologies. This is Gregorick. The king is Taneel. He is a good, fair, and warrior king.”
Paneer wrinkled his nose. “Thank you for the offer, but we don’t actually live inside a palace, like this, I am quite uncomfortable if truth be told.”
That interested her. Why would a man like this not fight for a king? “Where do you live then? Do you owe your allegiance to no-one?”
“We live in the mountains, far from here, and yes, we are free.”
That was interesting indeed. “Well, I would not want to persuade you one way or another, but my king is indeed a good man, and would welcome you and your Dragon, if you wanted to stay, even for as long as our Dragons wish it.”
He inclined his head. “Thank you. I will see what tomorrow brings.”
“There is a bed through this door, where I stay if Nargoya needs me. You are welcome to sleep here until it is time to go.”
“Where will you be?”
She smiled with happiness, enjoying the differences between them. “In the castle. I will leave you a direct connection to me. Do not worry. You and Lordip are safe here.”
They both fell into silence and Tattiena relaxed further into her chair. She’d woken up with such a bleak view of her future, but now, here, in front of her, she saw what else tomorrow would bring.
Her pregnancy, and thanks to Nargoya, she was pretty sure she had her confirmation, obviously brought with it the right hormones, and release for Nargoya. Thankfully, Nargoya would not be chomping at the bit to fly and fight while Tattiena was at home, unable to join her.
She sighed and let her eyes close, relief flooding her from a place she hadn’t know existed. That had been her fear it seemed, to be left behind, a disappointment, unconnected to her beautiful Dragon.
For Nargoya could not fly without her, and what sort of Dragon rider would she be if she kept her beautiful Dragon grounded.
However, thanks to a twist of two of fate, it seemed that once again they were in perfect accord.
Chapter 7.
Leo couldn’t stand being away from Tattiena. He understood her reasons for pushing him away, he believed, though the longer they were apart, the fuzzier the details became.
The night before he’d left, their love making had been truly life changing. So different to anything he’d ever experienced. Their explosive sex when they first met had been amazing, but that last night had altered how he saw things. He’d experienced, for the first time, what it felt like to be heart to heart with someone. Soul to soul. A true connection had been made, and he didn’t know why either of them should do without that in their lives.
“A letter for you, Sire.”
Leo’s heart leapt as he took the sealed letter from the messenger.
“Thank you, Thomasee.”
He turned it over, seeing the King of Gregorick’s seal upon it.
Leo frowned. He’d sent a letter to Tattiena a few weeks ago, and he’d been expecting a response. He’d told her he didn’t want to be apart from her. That she was a truly remarkable woman, who he’d been so very proud to fight alongside.
He still had dreams about that war filled day.
Tattiena’s hair blowing in the breeze as she rode the skies on the back of Nargoya. Her white dress, blood splattered from her victims. Her sword swinging, with perfect precision as she took apart the men who would take over Gregorick.
Damn. She was magnificent. In every way.
He tore open the letter and any hope that he may see Tattiena again soon, melted away like winter’s snow.
The king addressed him. Telling Leo that he had intercepted the letter, and was intervening on behalf of his Dragon rider. King Taneel wrote that his daughter had no wish to see Leo, and had expressed it on multiple occasions. That she was happy and healthy, and wanting to stay in Gregorick more than ever.
He ended the letter with gleeful tidings on Davuno and Gregorick’s ties, but it seemed that Leo’s hopes for a future with Tattiena had now completely died.
Leo scrunched the letter un in his fist and threw it towards the waste disposal units.
Why had he thought that is life would change?
Or that the Dragon Rider actually cared for him?
Leo stomped off into his training area, determined to forget Gregorick’s magnificent Dragon Master.
****
Mia confirmed her pregnancy a few days after meeting Lordip and Paneer. As she had expected. So Tattiena spent the next few months researching everything she could about her own baby, a
nd Nargoya’s. Unfortunately, there was very little to be found. The link between a Dragon rider’s pregnancy and her mate was unknown, as was the likelihood of that child also being a Dragon rider.
The Dragon handlers in the stable had suspected something was happening when they’d found Lordip guarding Nargoya, and when they went in to see her one day, she was proudly wrapped around a nest of three small eggs.
She spat fire at the handlers that morning and they had quickly been dismissed. Nargoya wouldn’t let anyone but Tattiena and Paneer near her, and that was fine by Tattiena.
They didn’t need anyone else.
Paneer stayed, despite his reservations about being within the confines of the castle wall. He had been unable to pull his Dragon away from the expectant mother, and Tattiena and he had become fast friends.
“You are expecting a child too, yes?” Paneer asked her one day, months after he had arrived.
Her hand fell to her stomach, only slightly rounded. “How did you know?”
A soft smile lifted his lips. “You and Nargoya are so linked, I began to see so many similarities between you both. You are also pale and off your food, and I wondered…”
She had been off her food, and most other things in her life. Even though Mia had told her it was safe to train with the soldiers, or fly on Nargoya if she would allow it, Tattiena hadn’t felt like it.
She hadn’t felt like anything much since Leo left.
“Yes. I am. I think that is why Nargoya went in search of your Dragon. It was our time.”
He nodded, while cutting up some meat for the Dragons. Nargoya’s appetite had increased dramatically.
“Yes, I believe that is the key also. There is so little known about them, it is very strange that we don’t have any knowledge of what has come before us.”
She nodded in agreement. “I know. It’s like someone took all the recent information and burnt it all. Why did we get so lazy as to stop learning the ancient languages?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
She poured herself a drink and took a sip, her temperamental stomach lurching.
“Tell me more of the other Dragon riders you have met, Paneer.”
“There is not much more to tell. I have met three others—two men and a woman. All living on the other side of Limea. None of them had children, and as far as I know, there are no child Dragon riders in existence. Nargoya may produce the first Dragon babies in decades.”
Tattiena smiled and absently stroked her belly.
Paneer’s gaze dropped. “And you may birth the first new Dragon rider also.”
She let her hands drop away. “I may…although I don’t know how it all works. Nargoya may have three off spring, which means those three Dragons need to bond to three children. I am having one. Does that mean that my child is destined to be a Dragon rider? Or are there other children in the city destined to bond with them?”
She had been thinking long and hard about this and it still confused her. Nothing was certain, and that in itself, was very frustrating.
Paneer sliced and diced some fruit for Nargoya. “Well, I am the son of a Dragon rider, as were the other two men I met. However, Nakeeri. the woman, was not. Her parents had never even seen a Dragon before Nakeeri found Teramessi and brought her home.”
Tears welled in Tattiena’s eyes and she swallowed hard. “Well then, we shall see what the future holds for us then. All of us.”
Paneer indicated to the barn where their Dragons rested. “I was hoping to be able to go home soon, but Lordip won’t leave her.”
Tattiena laughed, happiness filling up the coldness inside her for a moment. “Yes. He has been very doting on her.”
She moved away to check on her beautiful Dragon and then walked slowly back to the castle.
****
The months passed and soon, with her tight, wrap dresses accentuating her stomach, and her inability to ride Nargoya or train with the king’s guard, the men began to notice.
“Tattiena. Come sit with me.” King Taneel’s voice was hypnotic in its strength and Tattiena moved through the hall to his side. Their relationship had been more strained since their conversations surrounding the battle with the barbarians, but since Nargoya and Lordip began nesting, Tattiena had barely had time to think about it.
“Yes, my lord?”
“You are with child.”
Although his tone did not require a response, she gave one anyway. “Yes, my lord.”
No point trying to hide it now. She looked like she too, carried a large egg beneath her dress.
“Whose?” he asked, his grey-tinted eyebrows rising high on his forehead.
She didn’t want to answer that. It would take away what little choices she still had.
“I cannot say, Sire.”
His large eyebrows went up in a comical way. “Have there been that many?”
She choked on a laugh. “Hardly.”
“Then why won’t you tell me…. Is it…” He swallowed, unease written on his face. “My son?”
She grimaced and shook her hands in disgust. She would have rather left Gregorick forever than go to bed with her half-brother. “Oh no. Do not worry about that. No.” She lifted her hands and cradled her babe, whose little arms and legs kicked with happiness within the safety of her body.
“Is it moving?”
An odd question for her king and father, though she saw the true wonder in his gaze. “Why, yes. Would you like to feel?” She didn’t know why she asked. Her relationship with her father was still tenuous at best. A Dragon rider would not ask such a question of her king.
He swallowed obviously. “I would. Yes.”
Taneel shifted forward and extended his hand, placing it gently against the large swell of her belly. The baby kicked and moved and the king’s smile lit up his face. “My first grandchild. Amazing…”
She stared at him, her ribs squeezing her heart tightly. She had never thought about her father’s feelings in this matter. It had never occurred to her that he might care for her outside of her abilities as a Dragon rider. Yes, he had said such a thing around the time of the battle. But she’d never really believed it.
“Daughter...I am very proud of you.”
“Thank you.” She waited for her body to calm down, tears tickling the back of her throat. “Father.”
“I know I have not been a parent to you, Tattiena. Even when you lost your mother, I could not step up and do the role that was needed. But I want you to know, that I want to change things around here. I want you declared as my daughter, so that your heir may be the next in line for the throne.”
“But…my king. Nellid…”
“Nellid has not fathered a child, despite his insistence to bed every woman in the city.”
She took a step back, hurt flooding her body like a hot wave of nausea. “So, you are afraid of your line dying out? Well, please do not worry yourself about such a thing. I’m sure your son will produce an heir and you will not need me, nor my child.”
How could he, after all these years, only want her for her progeny? If she was lucky, the child would also be a girl and would be unable to rise to the throne.
“No. You mistake me. I am sorry. So sorry, for everything.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Her life had been a never-ending battle to survive her feelings of rejection around her father. Seeing him every day and knowing that he was the reason she was parent-less. As she stood before him, pregnant and afraid, the anger flooded in.
“Your mother—”
“My mother died alone…unable to be the woman she was when you met her. You destroyed her.”
“I know…and I am so sorry Tattiena. I tried to get her to move into the castle when she was pregnant, but she wouldn’t. She was so stubborn.”
Tattiena knew that about her mother, although she’d never known her father wanted her close by. “I didn’t know you asked her to move in to the castle.”
“Of course I did. I wanted h
er from the moment I saw her, and when I found out she was pregnant, I thought it was the perfect excuse to keep her close, safe. Give her everything I could. But she refused. And she never rode her Dragon again…” He stopped, his words cracking with emotion.
“But she always said…” That he didn’t want her. That the king had ruined her.
“I always loved your mother, as I do you. But the commitments I made to the queen and the city of Limea had to come first. I am so sorry, Tattiena. Please forgive me.”
She gaped at him “So all this time…I thought you didn’t love me. That you only kept me around because I was the Dragon rider…”
Her father looked taken aback. “I have never felt that way. I told you. I wanted you to live here and be a part of my life. You are far more than just the Dragon rider, Tattiena… So much more.”
Oh Goddess…so many wasted years.
She looked into the king’s blue eyes and a strong sense of peace came over her. It all seemed so simple now. She could have a relationship with her father outside of her duties as a Dragon rider, and she needed to stop seeing her child as being the end of her life as she knew it.
“Yes, Father. Let us move forward into a better future. For us all. But for the moment, please, let’s keep this conversation between us.”
She’d always dreamt of her father publicly declaring their connection, but now that he had offered, it seemed full of danger and unnecessary stress.
“Whatever you want, daughter.”
****
The months ticked by and Tattiena’s belly grew in size, as did Nargoya’s eggs.
It wouldn’t be long now, for either of them.
When Tattiena entered the stables one morning, it was to raucous Dragon noise.
She rushed forward and grabbed Paneer by the arm. “What’s happening? Is it the babies?”
“No. It’s Nargoya. She’s really upset about something.”
Tattiena rushed forward into the sleeping bay and skidded to a stop as Nargoya blew smoke at her. A true warning. She put her hands up and back away, her heart racing in her chest. This had never happened before. “What’s wrong? What has happened?”
