We were in a medium-sized cavern where the rock surface, seeping moisture, sloped down to a fresh water pond that fed the aqueducts. The other dragons were already started to crowd in and set up camp, filling water jugs and laying down sleep mats, gathering some dead grasses to feed the campfire we had already started.
We weren’t home. We weren’t even in one of the proper dragon holdings. We had no meeting room. We had no room at all.
“Why not that way?” Aurekdel repeated.
“Ezeru’s down there,” Seron said.
“Ezeru.” Aurekdel repeated the name, each syllable sharp. “The Traitor King’s most dangerous pet. So he is here, then. And he didn’t harm Himika? What did he want with her? Just what happened here?”
“That’s why I want to talk to you in private!” Seron snapped. “Trust me. I handled the situation. But I don’t want to bring him out until we’ve had a chance to talk. I’m going to tell the guards not to let anyone down that passage.”
We moved to a tiny, dark corner of the cave. Seron shooed off a few children who ran over to see what we were doing.
“There’s no easy way to say this…” Seron began. “When we found Himika, I—ah—”
“You had sex with her,” Aurekdel prompted. “And you lost control. And somehow, it healed her.”
Seron looked annoyed. “How did you know?”
“As I touched her, I could sense that her bones had changed. Her very step has more confidence. I knew by some baffling circumstance, she had been healed. The rest, I can only presume because of the way you’re stammering with embarrassment. It isn’t like you to lose yourself in amorous intent, is it, Seron?” He smiled faintly. “So…is it true, my gem? Are you well and whole?”
It was so dark I could barely see his expression. “Yes,” I said softly. “Seron…”
“Your parents,” Seron said, “might have been Tiriana and Morlis.”
Aurekdel breathed in sharply. “You are saying that you healed Himika because you are the true king?”
Seron paused. “I don’t want anyone to know. I don’t think it matters. Blood doesn’t matter. You’re the king.”
Aurekdel reached a hand out sideways until he found the wall, and his claws scraped against the rock. As the king, he was the only dragon in the court who kept his hands in their dragon form at all times. It was a mark of his royal blood. The simple crown of the dragon kings, made of shaped crystal, hooked around his horns and came to points on his forehead. “Our nurse…,” he said. “She…lied to the court? She took two children away from the court during the attack, and brought them back three years later with different names? Is this truly what you believe has happened? Why?”
Seron lowered his head. “I think—”
“Did she do it because I went blind?” Aurekdel’s voice was barely a whisper. “Because blind dragons are good for nothing but weaving baskets?”
“No,” Seron said. “I think—”
“Did she do it because she wanted power?” Aurekdel asked more fiercely. “I remember how the other women didn’t like her much. They said she was haughty.”
“Listen to me!” Seron said. “Ezeru just told us that Tiriana didn’t die in the battle years ago. She was taken by the Traitor King. And when Morlis vanished, he wasn’t kidnapped. He was going to her. He gave himself willingly…and they both committed suicide.”
“Suicide?”
“They left a note. It says ‘long live King Aurekdel’. But before that, Morlis said some things to me I didn’t really understand. He told me that I was a gentle boy and that Tiriana didn’t want me to be your champion. He said…they were trying to protect me. It made no sense. I didn’t know what they were trying to protect me from. I think I understand. When we were kids, you were the natural leader. Your mother saw that, and she felt you would make a better king at a time when the country needed someone with confidence to stand in front of a crowd and bear the burden of the crown.” Seron swallowed. “That wasn’t me.”
“You’re trying to protect me now,” Aurekdel said. “Seron, you are a good friend. You’ve been robbed of your birthright, and you’re telling me that my…conniving…mother…” He trailed off, speechless.
“It is not an enviable job,” Seron said.
I was having a hard time figuring out what they both thought on the inside. Especially Seron. I had seen a spark in him now and then that suggested otherwise.
On the other hand, I knew that having the rule of a kingdom on your shoulders was a heavy burden. My brother had tried to run from it in various ways all his life.
“So, Morlis left before the truth came out,” Aurek said. “We would have had no choice but to throw him in prison. Truthfully, by law, he should have been executed. Sticking a blind peasant on the throne and telling the true king to serve him!” His laugh was a little twisted.
“I think he wanted to spare us that decision,” Seron said. “I think that’s why…”
“Is this…really true?” Oszin was at my side but he hadn’t said a word until now. Neither of us knew that much about all of this business. “Wouldn’t people have noticed that you don’t look alike, even as babies?”
“No,” Seron said. “We’re both winged crystal dragons. Like all crystal dragons, we were born colorless and took on pigment as we developed an affinity for certain types of crystal around our second year.”
Oszin and I exchanged another brief glance of, That’s weird. Sometimes we both felt very human and very clueless.
“I suppose there is no way she could have planned this crime in advance,” Aurekdel said. “Or was she in on the attack?”
“No,” Seron said. “I don’t think that was it. I think that during our early exile, as she saw how you led and I followed, she did what she thought was best. When we returned to the fortress and you took the throne as a child, there is no way I could have managed that role the way you did. And you know that, Aurek. She was like a mother to both of us and she was trying to save the kingdom.”
“You think she was a heroine?” Aurekdel demanded. “For lying to both of us?”
Seron slowly dropped to one knee in front of Aurek. “My king…I think we must continue on as before. We’ll find a way to explain the queen’s recovery to the people and attribute it to you. I don’t want to take your place. And I don’t really want to speak of this ever again. Even if I wanted your position, the upheaval it would cause would play right into the Traitor King’s hands and put every dragon in the realm at risk, and neither of us want that.”
Aurekdel’s mouth set. Even in the shadows I saw the pain in his expression. He cursed faintly. “Gods, Seron, you are…more noble than I deserve. You make me look bad.”
“That’s not my intention.” Seron stared at the ground and I saw his eyes briefly blaze. “There is only one thing I want.” His hand moved to my waist, shifting the thin layers of fabric of my dress. I could feel the warmth and strength of his hand burning against my skin.
“Yes?”
“Himika…by rights…” He swallowed. “Himika is well now. She can have children, and no one would be able to tell the difference between my children and yours. I want the chance to have…her children.” He looked like this was very difficult for him to admit.
My skin burned at this reminder that in the end, I belonged to the king of dragons. I was here to give him heirs, the same as every other royal marriage. As long as I was cursed, I was too fragile to bear children, but now that I was cured, everyone would expect it of me. The dragons as well as my people back home. Although my brother had not mentioned it, he was the emperor. His wife, the priestess Phoebe, had four other guardian-husbands and any one of them would make a good match for my children.
The prophecy said this marriage would unite the land of the humans the dragons once again. What better way?
I had never wanted children.
Maybe it was because of what my father had done to me. I thought of childhood as a time of pain and suffering. A time when
adults lied to you.
But my feelings had shifted, the moment I saw Seron gently handing a toy lizard to a little boy to comfort him about the dangerous journey from the fortress Hemara to the palace of Irandal the court had to make every year.
“You want her children,” Aurek repeated.
“Yes…my lord. I do.”
“In secret? Do you want to tell them that I am their father, then? The same way Tiriana and Morlis lied to us?”
“I…” Seron’s hand scraped up a handful of his black hair. It was long, always tied back, but plenty of strands always worked their way free around his face. “I don’t think we would ever know for sure which were mine, and which were yours. But every time she bears an heir, I want to know it could be my own.”
“Well, if they’re seven feet tall, I suppose we’ll know.” Aurek turned to me. “Does Himika want children?”
“I’m a queen,” I said. “It isn’t something I can refuse.”
“I suppose not. But we should at least pretend to talk it over.”
“It’s something I have always desired and never thought I could have,” Seron said. “Unlike Morlis and Tiriana, you would make a good father, and at any rate, all of us would raise them. I realize it is presumptuous, but it’s the one thing I want. Not the crown. Just the thought of a woman I love bearing a child born of both of us, seeing that child grow and learn. I want that.” He said the last words softly. He seemed nervous. But his hand was still firm against my skin, and the longer that hand remained in place, the more my body heated for him. The more I wanted to feel him inside me again, and I started to feel a desire to see him as a father, and know that it was something we had shared.
“It’s not presumptuous, if you’re the true king,” I said, just as softly. “I love all of you. If I could, I would have children with all three of you. I hardly know what to say now. It seems like a fair compromise for this very…unforeseen situation.”
“Very well,” Aurek said. “That settles that.”
Aurek seemed to be taking this very well.
I already knew he was good at hiding his true feelings.
There’s no way this actually settles it, I thought, with a bad feeling stirring up inside me. But then, Aurekdel and Seron seem to love each other as much as they love anyone. So maybe it really is that easy.
“What about this other matter? Ezeru?” Aurek asked. “Tell me everything that happened, and then I want to meet him.”
Chapter Two
Seron
The moment I realized the truth, my very first fear was what Aurekdel would think. How hurt he might be. How to protect him from that pain.
So it had always been. Aurekdel didn’t ask for me to protect him like that, all he asked was for my keen eyes and my ready blade like any champion. I was devoted to him because he was devoted to his people and we were closer than blood family. We’d always shared the same goals and dreams. We would do anything to restore the dragon kingdom to its former glory—but it couldn’t be denied that lately, we’d been disagreeing about how to do that.
I wanted peace.
Aurek wanted victory.
I didn’t know what Ezeru’s presence meant for us yet, but I knew I had to tread lightly.
“He did kidnap me,” Himika was saying. “Sort of. But once he explained, it made sense. He’s been the captive of the Traitor King and Queen all his life, and they asked him to kidnap me. So he had to at least pretend to do it, until he could get away from his own people. He had to buy some time to explain himself to me so that I could explain him to you, so you wouldn’t just kill him or something.”
“And how do we know he’s not lying? He could be a spy. The Traitor King’s greatest weakness is that as far as we know, he hasn’t infiltrated our court,” Aurek said.
“I don’t think he’s lying,” Himika said. “He’s a rock dragon. Well, a half breed, but definitely a real rock dragon. They used the magic of the mists to make him smart and strong like a high dragon. It’s really…kind of tragic, when you think about it. I mean, I would think it was a good thing to be intelligent. But when you’re so much more intelligent than the rest of your kind, it would actually be incredibly lonely. He has no one he can relate to.”
Himika’s concern was so tender. She looked incredibly beautiful pleading the rock dragon’s case. And even though I had found release in her arms just hours ago, that felt like another lifetime. I was tormented by the thought of making love to her again, now that she was healed.
She still didn’t feel like mine. She would never be my queen.
I ground my teeth, shoving the thoughts aside. What was this jealousy that kept creeping in to my mind? Aurek had practically forced me to share their bed when I was reluctant, and how did I repay him? By asking to have her children? Why did I even care? Aurekdel’s children would be like my own, in any case. I should have kept my big mouth shut.
“A rock dragon,” Aurek repeated. “With enough power to crush us all while we sleep, mind you.”
“Okay,” Himika said, a little grumpily now. “Why don’t you just meet him before deciding that he was sent here to betray us?”
“I’m jaded,” Aurekdel said. “That’s all. He’s killed a few of our people.”
“Because the Traitor King forced him to!”
He slipped a hand around her elbow. “Lead the way, my lady. I’ll reserve judgment.”
“There’s another thing, too,” Himika said. “He said Guardian Niko’s mother is still there, with the Traitor King. The king cut out her tongue. Ezeru wants to save her.”
“Cut out her tongue?” Aurek said. “The mist dragons really are barbarians.”
I pilfered a lantern from one of my fellow soldiers along the way and walked just behind Himika and Aurek, into the dim passage where Ezeru had staked out a place to camp.
The rock dragon was sitting in the darkness, obviously listening to the voices filling the larger cavern. Wisely, he had stayed put. It was going to take some diplomacy for my fellow dragons to accept him, no matter what how good intentions were. As much as I wanted peace, I had to be careful too.
When he saw my lantern coming, he rose and then dropped to one knee. “Your Majesty.”
“At least you do have manners…,” Aurek said. “Ezeru.”
“I have caused trouble here,” Ezeru said. “I know you don’t have much reason to accept me, but we have the same goal. I want to see Dvaro and Izeria dead. I want to see the rock dragons set free. I will do anything to see their heads on pikes.”
“Shining stones,” Aurek said. “When they said there was an intelligent rock dragon, I have to admit I still expected somewhat of a brute…”
“Well, dreaming of heads on pikes satisfies that requirement,” I said drily. “We don’t really do that anymore.”
“They do. Dvaro and Izeria tried their damnedest to raise me to be a killer,” Ezeru said. “So…it is only fair.” His dark eyes were so serious as they pointed down at the shadows cast by my lantern, that I really didn’t like the thought of having him around.
“I can’t say I disapprove.” Aurek offered Ezeru a hand. “Well, Ezeru, as I’m sure you know, we are heading to the palace Irandal. If your story is true, your magic would be welcomed. You did hand the queen back to us safe and sound, but my ministers will want to question you to check your story.”
“Understood,” Ezeru said.
“I won’t bore you with an explanation of what will happen if you are not telling the truth.”
“My only value in this world is to attempt to correct the evils Dvaro and Izeria have committed,” Ezeru said. “If you punish me, it will be your loss, but not mine.”
“I guess I can’t argue with that…” Aurek turned to me. “I’m going to call an council meeting. I’ll tell the court not to bother you in the meantime. This will take some smoothing over…”
Aurek didn’t miss a step when it came to ruling. Well, of course not. It was the only job he’d ever known. And this wa
s the only job I’d ever known. So everything would go on as it had before, and that was very reassuring.
I glanced back at Ezeru. We thought he would be an enemy, but instead he was an unlikely ally. A powerful one, too. The heavy sense of magic and the thirst for revenge hung around him like a cloak. The Traitor King would probably lose his shit when he found out he’d been betrayed by a man he’d basically created.
Yes, the best I could hope for was to keep everything else as stable as possible, and forget the shocking truth that I had been born a king.
Chapter Three
Himika
Before long, the dragons had set up a pretty cozy camp. Ezeru slunk back off into the shadows as everyone stared at him. The kids were playing in the water while Oszin was fishing in one corner of the lake with some of the dragons. Even across the cavern, he noticed me looking at him and waved me over.
The rest of the court wasn’t supposed to know I’d been cured. Aurek and Seron decided they would announce that I was healed as soon as we arrived in Iranda. But I felt amazing. It took some effort not to run to Oszin’s side, or jump in the water with the kids and splash around.
Besides that, I was still thinking about last night. Oszin and Seron had actually made love to me together.
As soon as Oszin saw the goofy grin on my face, he frowned. “Stop.”
“Stop what?”
“You know.”
“Do I?” I gave him a innocent look.
“You’re way too happy about this,” he muttered. “Is this how all women are? Secretly dreaming about sleeping with three men at a time?”
“It’s a lot better than having a secret lover on the side,” I said. “And you know that’s all you’d be. I’m just glad you were there when I was healed…” I put a hand over his. “It hardly seems real, that I’m…I’m not in pain. And I get to be with you.”
He squeezed the hand back. “Me too. It’s just really embarrassing to enjoy it so much…”
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