by Jayne Hawke
We walked in a comfortable silence for a short while. I enjoyed the soft vibration that came from the old trees that were placed some five or so feet apart between the road and the path. A whispering started from one of the trees, but it quickly stopped when Evander glared.
“Nymphs should know better,” he growled.
I was reminded that every fae in Evander’s territory bowed to him, and he owned the very finest parts of the city. We paused on a wrought-iron bench and looked across the river towards the Court buildings. I had been told they were once the Houses of Parliament, before the New Era. The fae had claimed them for their earth-bound court. It saved them from leaving the earth plane when they needed to conduct their politics. The old yellow building stood proud against the backdrop of the main city. The moon hung low in the sky that night, and I wondered how many witches were out trying to collect its beams.
To my surprise, a stray hippocampus thrust its white head and foamy mane above the water and snorted before it shot off in the direction of the sea.
Evander narrowed his eyes. There were arguments about to whom the wild sea horses formed of white foam and glistening scales belonged. Poseidon had tried to claim them, but their myths and tales stretched far into the fae territories. They were one of the very few creatures to sit between the worlds, and no one was happy about that.
I bit back a laugh as I saw a teenage boy jump down onto the surface of the water and run after the white horse. He was fast, but the horse was in its element. I saw the pair of mermaids before the boy did. He was so focused on the horse. It was almost within arm’s reach now. His blond hair was slicked against his forehead, a long slender pole held out before him almost dipping into the water. As far as I knew, only three people had ever succeeded in catching a hippocampus, and they had lived to regret it.
The slender hand of the mermaid broke through the surface of the water and grasped onto the boy’s ankle. He let out a shout of surprise, thus releasing his spell. He was dragged down deep before he had a chance to utter another sound. The hippocampus let out a whinny of victory and slipped beneath the surface once more.
“Were they working together?” I asked Evander.
“I hope not. I have enough trouble with the mermaids as it is.”
Blood blossomed, staining the clear water. We stood and continued our walk.
The tall streetlamps were simple in design and effective, which was hardly surprising given they were fae made. Their black poles were topped with large gold and silver orbs. The light within was taken from the dusk and the moonlight reflected back off the river on clear nights. It was said that those moon beams weren’t pure enough to drink, but they produced a soft light that made everything easy to navigate without ruining the view.
“What’s it like being a lord?” I asked.
Evander smiled ruefully.
“Exhausting.”
FORTY-FOUR
The clock hadn’t long struck midnight. Evander had turned us around, and we were almost back at the car.
“It’s so rare that I can enjoy this peace and quiet, let us stay out a little longer,” I said.
He looked over at the clock hanging from a nearby shop.
“It’s late. I don’t want to keep you out so late that you can’t conduct your study,” he said.
“Then tell me what you know of the dragons,” I pushed.
He smiled sadly.
“I only know what’s in those books that I gave you.”
The car was within sight, and he was slipping between my fingers.
“Do you believe that my sisters and I are wrong to hunt them?”
His step faltered slightly.
“Perhaps.”
He opened my door and I got into the car with a heavy heart. The timing was too coincidental. He had vanished not long after midnight every time I had managed to spend the evening with him. It took everything I had to keep my expression bright and welcoming as I knew that I was sitting next to the dragon.
The man I was falling for was the very man that I had spent my entire life training to kill.
FORTY-FIVE
I had tossed and turned all night. When I did sleep, my dreams were consumed by images of Evander turning into the dragon. My heart was heavy, and I couldn’t shift the cold stone in my stomach.
Connor had come later that morning. His bright smile slipped from his face when he saw me. I must not have been able to hide my sadness as well as I had hoped. We didn’t say a word as he took me down to breakfast. The spread was less extravagant that the previous morning, but I noted there were more of the foods I’d enjoyed. They were trying to be accommodating, and that made everything so much worse.
“Evander’s not dated anyone in all the centuries I’ve known him,” Connor said casually.
“I’m surprised, a handsome lord like that must have had the pick of the women,” I said.
“Aye, he does, but you’re special.”
Connor looked at me meaningfully. I looked away. I didn’t have the spirit to play games that morning.
“You know, I haven’t seen him smile the way he does when he’s around you,” Connor pushed.
I ate a dried date and considered how best to respond. It was clear where the cu sith was going with this.
“He’s the dragon,” I said flatly.
Connor paused and looked at me carefully.
“And what makes you think that?”
“He always disappears not long after midnight, and I’ve seen the dragon very near this building two nights in a row.”
Connor nodded thoughtfully.
“That’s still a big conclusion to draw.”
A thread of hope fluttered within me. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions.
“Would it be so bad if he was the dragon?” Connor asked gently.
The hope died within me.
“The dragon is a monster, a savage beast that takes pleasure in destroying innocents,” I spat.
“Are you sure of that?”
I paused.
There was no hard evidence, but it was what I’d always been told. It was in all of the books I’d read while I’d lived at home. There was a shred of doubt now. A question in the back of my mind. There were so many accounts of the dragons being something more, being protectors.
“Yes,” I said.
He shook his head.
“Well, that’s a real shame.”
I reached for my knife. The cu sith didn’t play by normal mortal rules, but I felt pretty good about stabbing him regardless. If it bleeds, you can kill it.
“We’re not going to hurt you, Iona,” he said sadly.
“I’m sorry, Iona, but we can’t let you walk free either,” Evander said from behind me.
“Is it true? Are you the dragon?” I said as I spun around to face Evander.
He tucked his hands in the pockets of his suit and sighed softly.
“I had hoped that you would be able to understand, to see me for what I am,” he said gently.
Hot tears ran down my cheeks, and my throat became tight as I fought to control myself.
He was the first person I had felt truly comfortable and happy with. It felt like some sort of cruel joke.
“You’ll be well cared for while you’re here, and you’ll have access to the library,” Evander said.
“My sisters will come looking for me,” I growled.
“No. They won’t,” Evander said softly.
This wasn’t how it was all supposed to end.
FORTY-SIX
Connor had ensured that I had a large platter of food when he left me for the day. The lock snicked closed, and I was stuck in my suite. I had thought it felt like a cage when I first stepped into it. I had no idea then how right I had been.
The books on the dragons sat nearby, taunting me, along with the copy of Jekyll & Hyde. Had this all been some twisted game that Evander had played? Was Connor in on it?
I paced around the room, trying to think about my options a
nd how to get out. Evander was a lord; the sisters wouldn’t cross him. This was entirely on me. I needed to find a way to kill him and escape. A lump formed in my throat. I didn’t want to kill him.
Killing the dragon had felt so easy and like such an honour mere days ago. Now that I was facing the reality, it was a great weight. Closing my eyes, I steadied my breathing and reminded myself that this was what I had trained for. Of course the dragon was sneaky and intelligent, he had to be to live as long as he had.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t hold onto the sensation of Evander being a cold cruel asshole. It just didn’t feel right. He’d had so many opportunities to kill me. He knew what I was and what my goal was. I went around and around in my head until I lay back on my bed.
What if the sisters were the bad guys in all of this?
With nothing else to do, I had begun rereading the first book on the history of the dragons. It portrayed them as gallant and courageous protectors that stood against great armies to protect the innocent. It was the stark contrast to what I had been taught for so many years. I recognised some of the slaughters, and they were written so very differently in the books Evander had given me.
I had been taught about the very first killing. The dragons had swooped in and massacred an innocent village near the Wilds in fae. Not a single soul had survived the brutal attack that had come out of nowhere. In the books I was reading then, it showed the village to have come under attack by a vicious and expansionistic lady. She wanted to claim the old starlight farms and edge of the Wilds for herself. There was a great deal of money to be made there. The village was a rare independent village entirely free from the control of the surrounding courts.
The elves watched over the village without interfering, but the lady’s mercenaries had crept through the night while the elves were celebrating a festival. The dragons had caught sound of the attack and had fought off the lady and her people. Some people did die, and the dragons killed every one of the lady’s people. She herself was made an example of. She was strung out upon two of the starlight poles and left to die a slow and agonising death.
The village moved into the edge of the Wilds after that, and their farms were lost for the next century. They were the first and only non-elves to ever be allowed to live within the confines of the Wilds.
My mind was a tangled mess. I didn’t know why the sisters would have taught me something so wrong, or why there would be many books portraying the dragons as guardians if they weren’t. The fae had nothing to gain by making them out to be good.
The small warm spark of hope began to form deep within me again. If Evander really was a guardian and protector, then maybe he could be allowed to live.
Closing my eyes, I knew that could never be the case. If I didn’t kill him, then more sisters would be sent until a dagger was driven through his heart. He might still be a monster, I reminded myself. I had already fallen for his charms once; what was to say that the books weren’t just more tricks and games?
A soft knock came from the door before the lock snicked open.
“Come and join us for dinner,” Connor said.
I wanted to tell him I wasn’t hungry, but I wasn’t a petulant child. I wanted a chance to confront Evander.
FORTY-SEVEN
Evander stood with his back to me as I entered the room I’d come to think of as the breakfast room.
“Why? Why me? Was this all some grand scheme, a joke to you?” I snapped at him.
He slowly turned to face me.
“I would never hurt you, Iona. My feelings for you are genuine,” he said sadly.
“Then let me go.”
“You know I can’t do that. You would go straight to your sisters and have me killed.”
I sat down opposite him at the smaller circular table. Connor had settled himself next to his lord as a loyal attack dog.
He wasn’t wrong. I hated that. It felt as though I had been shown an incredible life and real happiness and someone was snatching it out from my fingers.
“We’re protectors, Iona. We have never hurt an innocent. Your sisters, on the other hand...”
“We protect the innocent!” I snarled.
“Do you? Have you ever stopped to investigate the situations you are sent into?” Evander asked gently.
No, I hadn’t. That wasn’t how they had trained us. I felt as though my world were falling apart around me.
“The dragons, as you call us, are dragon knights. We were called that long before we were cursed with our dragon forms. We were a group of highly trained and skilled warriors who fought to keep the more vicious of the lords and ladies in line. We were close to the elves of the Wilds and worked with them to maintain a balance that kept the magic of the fae world healthy.” He paused and ate a bite of beef. “In those days, there were a handful of powerful witches in fae. They were the offspring of witches that had been brought to fae to be studied centuries prior, when the world was wild and full of magic. One such witch felt that we were arrogant. One of my knights denied the witch’s daughter. The girl had never been told no and wanted to make my knight her husband and servant.”
“When the witch heard this, she spun a curse unlike anything the fae had seen before. She said that if we were going to call ourselves the dragon knights, then we would take on the form it claimed. And so, when the witching hour struck at 1:00 am each night, we would turn into dragons. We would be freed and returned to our true fae forms at sunrise. At first, we fought and tried to break the curse. The witch gleefully told us that only true love could break our curse. We need to find our other half, our soulmate, have them fall for us and sleep with them. Only then would we be free.
“You are the only one who can break my curse, Iona.”
The silence stretched out between us. I had no idea if he was lying. If he was telling the truth, then he had just stated that I was his soulmate. That I could save him.
I was torn. The man I had fallen for was sitting across from me, and yet all I saw was the great black dragon that flew across the skies. Fae were notorious for being charmers and talented liars. What if this was all just more lies and games? It wouldn’t be the first time a lord such as him had used a part-breed like me as a toy.
I wanted to desperately to believe him. To think that I could free him and continue to live this beautiful wonderful life full of books and happiness. I couldn’t do it. All I saw was the monster, and that broke my heart.
FORTY-EIGHT
Connor came for me in the morning.
“Evander would like you to join him for breakfast,” the hound said.
“Tell him to go fuck himself,” I said as I turned my back to him.
“Iona...”
“He’s the dragon, he tricked me, and now he’s holding me captive. I will not play this game any longer,” I said.
Connor sighed and closed the door. The lock snicked back into place and I closed my eyes, steadying my breathing.
There was no escaping that room. I’d checked every space. There wasn’t even something to try and pick the lock with. I’d known when Connor had said my movements were limited that the beautiful suite would be my cage. I’d just never guessed quite how bad it would become.
I paced around the room, trying to gather my thoughts and find a solution to my problem. Evander was a powerful fae lord. I’d never get out of the building alive if he didn’t want me to.
Connor returned with a large plate overloaded with my favourite breakfast pastries and dried fruits. He placed it down on the chest of drawers nearest the door without a word. I glanced at the open door, but we both knew I’d never get to the elevator before him.
“At least read the book he gave you,” Connor said.
I looked down at the beautiful copy of Jekyll and Hyde Evander had given me. It had seemed like such a sweet gesture at the time. Now there was a bitterness in the back of my mouth when I looked at it.
My sisters would mock me for falling into such a ridiculous situation. We
were supposed to be trained better than that. Would they come looking for me? I didn’t think so. The most logical assumption was that the dragon had eaten me. That the lord tasked with assisting me had imprisoned me in my bedroom wasn’t even in the running.
Time was crawling by, and the boredom was gnawing at me. Finally, I settled myself on the bed and opened Jekyll and Hyde. It seemed better than reading more of the dragon books.
It took me a couple of pages to settle into the rhythm of the archaic language, but the images on the page soon came to life in my mind. The city was a very different place back then. Darker and, in a strange way, wilder. Beneath the corseted order and hierarchy was something dirty and unrestrained.
I followed the story of Dr. Jekyll and his gradual fall into darkness. The horrors of the crimes committed by Mr. Hyde rang out throughout the book, but there was a veil of sadness hanging over the entire book. Innocent people had been harmed, but most of all was the feeling of loss from the doctor himself.
It was easy to see why Evander had chosen that book to give me. Out of all of them, the story was the most familiar, and to my distaste it did draw out some sympathy for him. Dr. Jekyll had fallen prey to the darkness within them. He had left behind polite society and embraced the sweet release of the monster within.
If Evander was to be believed, then he had never made such a mistake. Where Dr. Jekyll had chosen to create and experiment with the potion, Evander had been cursed. He had no say in his fate, or what had become of him. In the end, Mr. Hyde had won out and consumed the last remains of Dr. Jekyll, but Evander had proven himself to be kind, sweet, and considerate. There was no trace of the savage beast that I had been taught roamed the streets of London.
