The Dragon's Queen (Dragon Lords)

by Michelle M. Pillow

“No need. I’ve met my daughter.” Axell’s brusque laugh was low as he went to a pack near the cave entrance. He reached in and took out a square piece of cloth before handing it to Llyr. “I wish you luck, prince. You’ll need it.”

  Llyr watched the man as he walked toward the sick ceffyls. He wrapped his crystal in the cloth before putting it back in his pocket. A small wave of guilt came over him, but he couldn’t bring himself to show her yet. He wanted her to know as innately as he did that they were destined to be together.

  It was easy to discover where Mede was in the cave. Following the subtle glow of firelight, he found her sitting on the floor with the baby animal in her lap. A glance down his side ensured the glow was hidden from her.

  “There’s my sweet love. I don’t know how I missed it before now,” she said.

  Llyr’s entire being stiffened at her soft words.

  “It all makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?” she continued.

  His heartbeat quickened and he fumbled eagerly for his pocket to show her their destiny. This was it. She would see. She did see.

  “Get out.” Mede’s tone lowered slightly. “Your restlessness is breaking my connection.”

  Llyr realized her words had not been for him. He gave a short laugh at himself for acting like a hapless fool.

  “There’s the spot,” she continued speaking to the animal.

  “Will you show me how it’s done?” Llyr asked.

  Mede nodded without looking at him. The firelight caressed her skin with an orange hue. He moved closer. She held the ceffyl baby on her crossed legs while she stared into its eyes. Llyr sat next to her, purposefully letting their legs touch.

  “They can’t see very well at this age, so you need to make sure your face is close.” Mede kept her voice soft and gentle. “It doesn’t matter what you say as much as the way you say it. And this one likes it when you rub his horn nob like this.” Mede glided her finger back and forth over the baby’s head. “How did I miss that spot before? Yeah, you like that don’t you. Should we let the prince try?”

  The animal slithered its tongue. The long, thin length licked at Mede’s arms. She finally broke eye contact and smiled. “You see that. It worked. He likes me.”

  “What’s not to like?” Llyr reached to touch Mede’s face. She misinterpreted the gesture and stuck the animal in his arms.

  “When he licks you, you’re bonded for life.” Mede patted his arm and stood.

  “You’re not staying?” He began to stand but the creature stirred and made a noise of protest.

  “It works better if you’re alone.” She left the cave.

  Llyr sighed. Then looking at the little beast, he said, “You’ll have to teach me your secret. You’re with her for two seconds and already have her bonded to you.”

  The animal made a strange grunting noise and thumped his feet against Llyr’s chest.

  Llyr arched a brow and gave a short laugh. “Fine.” He rubbed the creature’s head as he’d seen Mede do. Instantly the animal calmed. “Try to keep your secret, ceffyl.”

  Chapter Seven

  There was much to be said about late afternoons in the valley. They reminded Mede of childhood, of being made to run a mile to touch a jagged rock and back again, as her father timed her speed. Only later did she realize he sent her away so he could work without her leaning over his shoulder to watch, and incessantly ask questions.

  Campfire light glowed softly in a dirt clearing. The fire was more for warmth than light. Mede inhaled a deep breath of fresh air. The cooling grasses gave off the subtle smell of sweet vanilla. It would only linger for about an hour before fading. In all her running around the wilderness, she’d never found a similar scent anywhere else on the planet.

  “He likes you,” Axell stated, laughing.

  Mede looked at her father and then followed his gaze to where Llyr held the baby ceffyl. Llyr moved as if to set the animal down. The creature protested by kicking his feet. The prince gave in and adjusted it in his arms. The baby instantly settled.

  Mede’s laughter joined her father’s. Axell reached into the food satchel her mother had sent and handed her a cloth bundle. The shape and weight was familiar to her and she smiled in anticipation before even unwrapping it. As she peeled back a corner to reveal the flaky meat-filled pastry, she stopped mid-bite to see Llyr staring at her. He had a strange look on his face, one she couldn’t decipher.

  She closed her mouth without taking a bite, looked down at her food, and then extended her hand toward him so he could eat without putting the animal down. The action forced her to lean forward. He parted his lips slowly, but he didn’t lower his eyes. She trembled nervously as she watched the food slip past his lips.

  “Here,” Axell said with a small clearing of his throat. “Let me take the little one from you, or he’ll start thinking you’re his mother. I believe Tomos should be done repacking his supplies. I’ll have him bond to this little beast. He’ll be one of the most social creatures I’ve raised in a long time.” He took the protesting ceffyl from the prince and carried it away from the campfire, leaving them alone.

  Mede quickly looked away from Llyr. What was she doing? Her heart raced and her head felt as if she’d spun in circles and had yet to stop twirling. She found herself wondering if his broken crystal had somehow stopped working correctly because she felt a pull toward Llyr. It was fierce and hot, and she suspected if she didn’t put distance between them soon something would come of it.

  Fate was pretty clear. They were not meant to be together as man and wife. But what if they were meant to be together as something else? Mede knew the men of the planet sometimes found physical pleasure with offworld unmated women. Onworld she was the only unmated female and that wasn’t an option.

  But, what if?

  She didn’t meet Llyr’s gaze as she held out the meat pastry he’d taken a bite out of. His finger brushed hers as he took it from her. The shock of the brief contact worked its way up her arm.

  Stay or run?

  Her body begged her to stay. To touch him just one more time. Two more times. Three…

  Her mind yelled to run. This was exactly the thing she’d never wanted to feel. She’d just joined the Dead Dragons, proven herself one of the elite. She was a dragonshifter first. Always a dragon. Not a woman. Not like her mother. She was fierce and independent. She had a warrior’s soul. She…

  She couldn’t quit looking at his lips, couldn’t erase the tingling in her fingers where they’d made contact. The war inside her made her want to cry out. His eyes picked up a gleam from the firelight. The magnetic pull became worse. It was as if the gods played tricks with her.

  Curse the gods.

  Curse the prince.

  Curse her body’s betrayal of her mind.

  “I’m sure Tomos would like to go to the village to see his family soon. It’s not a long journey,” Mede said in an effort to dismiss the prince from the campsite. Being alone with Llyr made it very hard for her to maintain her composure.

  “I thought you’d like to spend time with your father before we left,” Llyr answered, not looking like he was going to move anytime soon.

  “I did plan on staying with my father to help him while you went to Mining Village,” she said.

  “Your father insisted you show us out of the valley.” His charming smile stayed intact. She wondered if he could help the look. Being born the future king probably gave him the confidence that radiated from every look and gesture. Gods’ bones, that look was alluring.

  “How is it our prince can’t navigate himself out of a valley?” Mede asked.

  “Perhaps I want the company,” he said.

  “Perhaps I had important plans you’re interrupting,” she answered.

  “Tomos is going to abandon me for his family, and I don’t want to impose upon them. I thought about exploring the mines.” Llyr gave a meaningful look around. “Surely a fellow Dead Dragon wouldn’t be adverse to some adventure.”

  At the mention
of the mines, she sat a little straighter in excitement. “I haven’t been in the mines. They’re dangerous and restricted to the miners.”

  “I’ll tell you a secret,” he whispered, leaning in to her. She automatically moved closer to hear it. “I’m a member of the ruling family. I can pretty much go anywhere I want with anyone I want.”

  His breath whispered over her cheek. The light caress was like fire to her skin. She found herself nodding.

  “Wonderful.” Llyr kept his voice low. “I will enjoy finding trouble with you.”

  “I put the ceffyl with Tomos to bond,” Axell announced. Mede gasped and drew away from Llyr. Her father stood next to the fire, studying them.

  Mede blinked, trying to regain her senses from the fog that had been settling over her. She opened her mouth to babble out an excuse for her behavior, but didn’t get the chance to speak.

  “Your daughter has agreed to show me the fastest route to Mining Village,” Llyr said.

  “Mede has a good sense of direction,” her father said. The words were low and even, but his pride in his daughter was evident in the way he let a small smile curl the side of his mouth.

  “Unless you need me here?” Mede prompted. She wasn’t sure which answer she hoped for.

  “I would love your company, but no. There is nothing to be done here but watch the newborn.” Axell took a seat and helped himself to a meat pastry.

  “Your wife is amazing with food,” Llyr said.

  Axell nodded. He gave a little sigh, as if he missed his mate. “She is the perfect wife—sweet, giving, charitable, loving. I am truly a man blessed by the gods.”

  Mede hid her frown. Her father pretty much listed every trait Mede did not inherit.

  “Did she teach you how to cook?” Llyr asked Mede.

  Axell laughed, hard, and began hitting his palm against his knee. “The only thing Mede ever cooked was biscuits, and those she made as hard as rocks so she could pummel some of the local boys with them during a game of warfare.”

  “I didn’t try to make them like rocks,” Mede mumbled. “It just happened.”

  “By all the gods, I swear I tried to eat one and nearly broke the teeth from my head.” Axell’s smile widened and he laughed harder. Mede loved the sound of her father’s laughter, even if her failure in the kitchen was the cause of it.

  “I’ve made other things,” Mede said in protest.

  Axell wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “Don’t worry, prince, I’ll share my food with you. No need to starve on your journey.”

  Llyr chuckled and nodded his thanks.

  Mede made a sour face at both of them and reached out her hand. “May I have a pastry now?”

  Axell reached into the bag and tossed the food in her direction. She caught it with one hand. “This is why I never want to marry. If I live at home I’ll never have to cook or sew or do any of the boring wifely duties.”

  “You’d better not say that to your mother,” Axell warned playfully. “She’ll end your food supply faster than a dragon breathes fire.”

  * * *

  “I like your father,” Llyr said as they made their way from the campsite.

  “He is a good man,” she agreed.

  “Are your cooking skills really that bad?” He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t admit that this revelation disappointed him a little. Her mother’s meat-filled concoction was one of the most delicious things he’d ever tasted.

  “I won’t starve, but they’re not great.” Mede didn’t look at him. She kept her eyes forward as they reached a jutting of rocks. She pointed up. “Fastest way without ceffyls is up there.”

  Llyr watched her shift into dragon form and leap high into the air. Dragon, human, it didn’t matter what form she took, she was exquisite. He heard Tomos’ footfall coming past him. The man had also shifted so he could easily leap up the rock. Llyr’s heart raced in anticipation of a run. He gave a low growl as the hard shell of his dragon overtook his body. Being shifted cooled his sexual desires somewhat but did not lessen the connection he felt toward Mede. As he landed on a rock, he saw that Mede had darted ahead, jumping from rock perch to rock perch, before finally landing on a higher pathway, and breaking out into a full run.

  Not to be outdone, he eagerly followed her up the rock, to land on a narrow path behind Tomos. A wall of dirt and stone brushed past his arm, and on the other side, was a straight drop down. It wouldn’t kill them, but a fall would do some damage even in their shifted state. There was just enough room to run in single file. With Tomos between them, Llyr was left with only peeks of Mede’s hair and long legs as she led them through the wilderness.

  * * *

  Mede glanced over her shoulder to see Llyr catching up to her. The narrow path opened up to a forest that would lead down to the village. The terrain became unfamiliar, but she knew the general direction. Soon she should be able to pick up sounds of miners and their families, which would help guide her the rest of the way.

  She ran faster, pushing so hard her heart was bound to explode out of her chest. Dodging thick underbrush, she almost ran into a stack of fallen limbs. Mede gasped in surprise and skidded to a stop just in time to keep from impaling herself on a broken branch. Smaller limbs scratched at her, but they didn’t hurt. She pushed back only to discover her hair had flown into the brush and tangled on the sharp yellow thorns. More embarrassed than anything else, she tugged at the locks to free them.

  “Easy, Mede, let me,” Llyr said. He breathed hard.

  “Prince?” Tomos asked, stopping nearby.

  “Send my greetings to your family. We will camp in the mines tonight if we are needed,” Llyr called out in a gravelly voice. Mede’s eyes met his. Alone? All night?

  “Very good, prince,” Tomos said. She heard the man continue his run.

  Llyr shifted back to human form, prompting her to do the same. It would be easier to free her hair with fingertips instead of sharp talons.

  “Unless you’re scared of sleeping in the cave,” he said, gently pulling strands of her hair free.

  “Why would I be scared of a cave?”

  “Trolla, the protector of the mines, doesn’t take kindly to non-miners in her territory.” Llyr freed the last of her locks but didn’t immediately let go. He slid his fingers over the strands.

  “I fear no woman,” Mede said.

  “You really aren’t afraid of confrontation, are you?” Llyr chuckled. “Trolla is a goddess.”

  “No. I’m not.” Mede grinned at the compliment. “But if a goddess reveals herself to us and asks us to go, I promise to leave without starting a brawl.”

  Llyr dropped the hair behind her shoulder and let the tip of a finger drag over the flesh of her neck. He traced a light path to where her crystal would have hung had she not destroyed it. “I have a feeling not even the gods themselves could tell you what to do, my lady.”

  “The name is Mede,” she countered out of habit, but the words lacked their usual strength.

  “Mede,” he whispered. His voice was more intimate than a caress. The forest sounds became loud around them, the chirps and bleats drawing her from his spell. She shivered and pulled away, unsure of what she might do if she didn’t put distance between them.

  Before she could respond, a flock of red birds dove down toward the yellow thorns and plucked them from the bush. Mede made a small sound of surprise and jumped back. They were gone as fast as they’d come, disappearing into the branches.

  “The town should be quiet. Come.” Llyr grabbed a pack that he must have dropped when he came to help her, and then navigated a path through the forest. He walked at a brisk pace but did not resume the run. When she would push ahead of him, he held out his arm and pointed. A small home came into view. Light glowed from within and she watched a shadow pass by the window. “Take it slow. We don’t want to alarm the local families.”

  They came to a path cut into the forest floor by decades of foot traffic. Mining Village was nestled into a long valley li
ned along the north by trees and jagged cliffs, just past a ravine to the south. The flowing water provided a backdrop of sound in the valley. She focused her hearing, detecting water cascading down stone.

  The town seemed a strange combination of dusty tents and newly built houses. It was evident that much care had been taken in the placement of the homes. They were clustered on a grid pattern, in a line of four houses separated by side streets. A few homes were still under construction, as if they’d started in the center of town and simply worked their way outward.

  However, the surrounding tents along the edge of the village were more haphazard, situated to optimize space, and most likely, block the wind coming down from the cliffs. Tent paths converged into a main roadway leading down to the houses. The streets were dirt but the walkways up to the house were lined with cut stones.

  A small group of Draig men walked toward the tents. Their tired laughter came softly and they spared Mede and Llyr a passing glance and gesture of greeting, but did not stop them. They were dressed in loose drawstring pants and tunic shirts, covered in dirt from the mines. Only their eyes and mouths were clean where they’d most likely worn goggles and respirators to work.

  Llyr turned from the town toward a cliff along the ravine. Thick bushes and trees filled the landscape below, making it too hard to see how deep it really was. The water she’d heard earlier was actually a waterfall. It pounded down upon stones and echoed around the cliffs like constant thunder.

  Llyr’s hand on her arm drew her eyes to his. He nodded to an outcrop before shifting to jump up and then disappear over the other side. She followed him, discovering the opening to a cave behind a veil of bright green vines. He pulled them aside like a curtain to let her pass. When the vines dropped behind them, it created an insulated wall that blocked the thundering water.

  Able to talk without yelling, she shifted to human form and asked, “These are our great ore mines?”

  She looked along the walls of the large cavern, trying to see the Draig fortune in the thick patches of blue stone threaded with a silvery grey. Giant crystal formations blocked the path as they mimicked thick fallen trees. They glowed, the luminescence giving light to the cavern beyond. Mede ran her hand over the smooth surface, watching it turn her flesh red as it shone through her body.