Finn had no choice but to answer the direct question. He scowled at the man. “It is.”
“Is it or is it not true that you invited Prince Ivar here, a foreign royal, to Draig land without the permission or the foreknowledge of the elders and your parents? And that he came without the permission or foreknowledge of the Var king and queen, a mischievous secret you initiated?”
Finn clenched his jaw.
“Well?”
“It is,” Finn ground out from between his teeth. Montague was purposefully framing the facts in such a way that made them sound worse than they were. “But I was not aware that the royal families needed to seek the permission of the elders when no such law or forbiddance was in place. To do so would have merely been a courtesy, my lord, and by no means required.”
“Finn,” Kyran whispered, trying to stop him from prodding Montague’s temper.
“Is it or is it not true that you returned from Earth without the Var prince?” Montague’s voice rose giving away his anger toward the prince’s impertinence.
“It is,” Finn said.
Montague rushed on before the prince could elaborate. His voice rose to thunder over the room. “You returned bloody, undoubtedly fresh from a fight, and without Prince Ivar. The cat-shifter prince clearly had come to some harm—”
“That is not—” Finn yelled, standing from his chair. He hit his fist in the air.
“And you bring a woman—” Montague continued.
“My wife—” Finn broke in.
“A woman who has been hidden from this council’s queries since her arrival, an arrival marred by her terrified screams at having witnessed what you did to the Var prince—”
“That’s not—”
“A woman who allowed herself to be married under a dirty rag, and you would have us believe she is a lady worthy of ruling our great land? A woman you were only able to keep quiet by offering to make her your princess!” Montague finished with his hand held high above his head. He glared at Finn, daring him to deny it. The councilmen grumbled amongst themselves, but Finn was beyond hearing their words. By claiming Sadie was of such low character, she could be bought with a title was beyond insulting. The dragon inside him would not have it.
“When did this turn into a tribunal?” Kyran demanded.
Years of pent up anger at Montague’s passive aggressive behavior of underming the king and queen, exploded in a wild, ugly fury. Finn growled as he surged forward. His talons were drawn well before he reached the elder.
Montague still had a grin on his smug features. Finn couldn’t think. Nor, could the prince reason beyond the primal need to tear out the man’s offensive tongue.
How dare he say such things about his wife?
Chaos erupted around him, but Finn didn’t care. Voices shouted at him to stop. Others yelled at Montague to fight back. Finn’s talons met with flesh, tearing the elder’s clothing as he slashed him across the arm. Montague struck violently at Finn’s skull as if to aggravate his previous injury. He didn’t care, even as the blows sent shockwaves of pain throughout his head. Another blow hit him just right, confusing him. Finn stumbled, dizzy, as he fought to remain conscious.
Finn’s anger had no limits, and he used it for fuel as he again lunged at Montague. The more composed Montague artfully stepped to the side, sending Finn flying into a pillar.
“Brute strength is exactly that. And nothing else,” Montague laughed as his cohorts naturally began to assemble around him. Since their first run in at the lake, when Finn was just a boy, Montague had made it one of his missions in life to embarrass the royal family using Finn.
Dust from the smashed pillar filled the air. Finn’s shoulder ached terribly, and a small voice in the back of his mind begged him to stop. But seeing Montague smiling back at him, only made him try again. The man had insulted Sadie, and he could not let that stand. The single-minded purpose was all his dazed mind could grasp.
He knocked into the elder, sending him to the ground. Blurs flashed across his vision, and Finn felt people pulling him back, and away from Montague.
“Finn, what happened here?” King Severin demanded.
Almost instantly, Finn realized what he’d done. He’d attacked an elder in the council hall. Every implication Montague had ever made against him—about Finn being rash and impertinent, of being ill-behaved and ill-fit to rule—was proven at that moment to be true. Seeing the slight lift to Montague’s mouth, Finn knew the elder had baited him into a reaction, while also imparting his political rhetoric. Once again, Montague had pushed the right button at the precise moment for Finn to flounder in front of the entire world.
Finn had sworn he could take the old man. The problem was he had not fully learned his lesson when it came to controlling his emotions and Montague relied upon that, using the prince’s weakness to his advantage.
Finn’s father and brother held him by the arms, as if afraid he would once more attack if released. His right arm ached from the pillar, and he tried to pull it free. Kyran did not let go.
Queen Galina stood back from the fray. She appeared regal in her stiff pose. If her chest didn’t lift with breath, she could have passed as a statue. Her obvious disappointment of him was demoralizing and energy sapping.
The intricate silver embroidery edged her gown in a Quirlixian pattern. The emblem of the dragon had been sewn onto the bodice. A gold band wrapped her head. She only wore the crown for ceremonies. Though not necessarily out of place, the formal attire demonstrated just how serious his mother thought the current meeting was.
Finn glanced at his father. King Severin wore his matching long tunic with the same silver-embroidered edges and a larger dragon patch on the center of his chest. The council members were not so finely dressed, but they had noticeably come expecting an important meeting. Now they all stood in disparate pods in various locations around the room, isolating themselves from each other, protecting their beliefs and titles from tarnish and blame for what had happened.
An excitable few had jumped forward in support of Montague. While others remained near their seats, watching the scene unfold before them with bated breath and an avid curiosity as to the outcome. It was undeniable that there were some who watched hopeful for the demise of the reigning royals.
“Don’t coddle me,” Montague scolded his associates, shaking them off when they would help him stand.
On realizing that he’d embarrassed the prince in front of the king and queen, the elder quickly changed his tactics—acting as if he were the victim and not the cool mastermind of Finn’s demise.
“It will take more than a boy to cause me harm,” Montague announced, even though the blood dripping down the prince’s arm indicated differently. “King Severin, I demand there be consequences for this attack. If council elders are not to speak plainly for fear of our lives, then everything the Draig believe in will crumble around us. I worry this is the influence of Earth ways. This is what I warned everyone about. Bringing humans through the portal has already begun to change us in more ways than we can cope with.”
Lord Montague’s statement drew a lot of support from the council.
“Finn?” the queen demanded. “What is the meaning of this display?”
“He insulted my wife,” Finn said simply. His frustration worsened. He had no other defense. Technically, what Montague had said about Ivar was true, so that he couldn’t call him a liar.
At that, Galina’s expression changed from irritation to anger. She took a deep breath. When she spoke, her words were calm—too calm. “Lord Montague, is it true?”
“I only spoke the truth,” Montague answered with confidence, giving Finn a superior look as if to say he knew he’d already won this battle. “You saw it for yourself. Princess Sadie allowed herself to be married under a rag. It is a disgrace and further proof that Earth humans are ill-suited to the needs of the dragon. And the prince kept her locked away, avoiding our numerous attempts to contact the human. What other conclusion can be draw
n, but that he coached her as to how to answer our questions?”
“That’s not true,” Finn defended.
“And we are to take your word on this?” Montague snorted with humorless laughter.
“Are you quite finished?” the queen demanded. She didn’t wait for an answer. “For it is my turn to speak.”
Some of the council members moved back to their chairs. The queen stepped regally into the middle of the room. She waited until everyone had settled in silence.
“When we first looked at opening the portal, I was not quiet about the humans. Like many of you, I grew up hearing the tales from the old days—horror stories around campfires whispered amongst the men and their sons. It took me a very long time to accept that our dragon sons, my sons, would not be marrying dragon-shifters but humans. But as we have come to see, the gods have not given us much choice, and in this, I think the path to our future is clear. We must mend ourselves with our past, so that we may have a future.”
Montague looked as if he was bursting to counter her words, but he held back. King Severin merely nodded. Only rarely did the king disagree with his wife. Everyone knew who the ruling force in the royal relationship was. Perhaps that was why female dragons were so scarce. As a singular, a female dragon was strong and fierce, but as a mass, they would be a force to behold.
“Yes, humans are weak and strange,” the queen continued.
Montague nodded emphatically. Finn frowned, now fighting his own temptation to interrupt. Kyran gave a small shake of his head, telling Finn to wait.
“As a female dragon, when we brought the first bride through, I worried these humans would lack the strength needed to be one of us. Their skin is soft and delicate. They can’t shift to protect themselves. My daughter even walked into a guard shield, nearly taking off her nose when she blistered her face.”
Kyran grimaced at the mention of Eve’s accident. A few of the council members chuckled behind raised hands. The queen eyed her sons and took a deep breath. Finn furrowed his brow in anticipation of what conclusion she might draw.
“But I underestimated them. Their bodies may be weak, and yes, they will need protecting, but their spirits are resilient.” Galina moved her gaze around the room, making sure each man was looking at her. “Princess Sadie stayed in her new home as she prepared herself for her new world. Such changes deserve the proper reflection, and I appreciate Sadie not taking it lightly. As to my son’s wedding tent…” The queen arched a brow at Finn. “When I asked the princess about it, she told me that she didn’t care where she was married, for she did not care about money and pretty things. She told me she preferred people to jewels, and what was good for the poorest was good for those with wealth. We have all met those gem-studded Nenarraten when they visited.” The queen gave a dismissive laugh as she referenced the alien craft that had once landed on Draig land. The pompous females spent all day polishing the stones on their dresses and refusing to so much as feed themselves. “I don’t know about you, but Princess Sadie is the kind of woman I want in my family.”
Montague’s breathing became audible as he was unable to hide back his irritation. The queen’s words were swaying his audience, and he didn’t like it.
“We respect the council,” the king put forth, “but we cannot in good conscious keep our dragon people from their mates. My sons finding their mates on Earth is solid proof that it can be, and will be, done. I have given the request to close the portal a lot of thought and have decided it is to remain open until a more viable option is presented.”
This caused some grumbling. Finn took a deep breath, feeling as if he’d won at least one small victory that day.
“However, your concerns are being taken into consideration. There will be tighter regulations on travel,” the king assured them. “From now on, we only visit Earth on the one night of darkness each year. This night will be sacred. Those who are lucky enough to find mates will bring them back to where we, the hopeful families, will have marriage tents waiting. Only those who finish a very rigorous training program will be permitted to go to Earth.”
“Men must understand that these human brides will need time to adjust to life here,” the queen added. “For this reason, there will be no marital relations on the first evening of marriage. After the night in the tent, the women must express their willingness to stay. We are not barbarians. If a bride wishes to leave, we must honor her wishes and trust the gods will guide those who are meant to be here to remain. That is the risk every groom will know going into the portal. It is up to the groom to spend the night convincing his mate to stay.”
This caused a strange mixture of laughter and grumbles.
“These human women are to be safeguarded at all costs,” the king said.
“I will tell you as I told my sons, as I will tell all our sons when they are to step through that portal and enter into marriage. These women are to be protected. We will repeat it like a mantra until it becomes as much a part of our truth as the dragon itself.”
Finn knew what his mother would say next, just as he knew she would not like saying it.
“We must encourage our men to go back to the old ways.” It went against all Galina understood to be true as a strong woman, but she wasn’t a human woman. Dragons mated for life. If a wife died because she was not equipped to live in a shifter’s world, then that dragon would spend possibly hundreds of years alone and in mourning for her.
“Men rule the outside sphere. Women rule the inside sphere,” Kyran said, nodding by way of support of his parents.
Finn had to bite his lip. Under his breath, he whispered, “Have you informed Eve of this?”
Kyran chuckled and shook his head in denial, as he answered softly, “By all the dragons’ fire, no. And I’m not going to either. My wife will always be her own woman. But let those words calm the elders’ fears until humans can prove otherwise.”
“Only allowing travel from on the one night of darkness a year?” Montague asked, his voice not as boisterous as before. Though he appeared calm on the outside, his hard gaze revealed otherwise. “Do you admit that Prince Ivar is dead and we’re not going back for him?”
“The prince is not dead,” Finn stated. “He is his own man, and he made his choice. Anything that transpired between the Var prince and I is a matter between us. When the portals open in a year, I will find him, and I will welcome him back.”
“I would say it is a matter that affects us all,” Montague argued. “This threatens the very fabric of peace between dragon and cat. The fact you cannot see that makes me seriously doubt—”
“We speak with the Var king and queen today,” the queen interrupted. Her eyes flashed with golden fire, and the rougher sound of her dragon filled her voice. “Until then, I want to hear no more rumors about any of the princes. If you do not like how we run the kingdom, overthrow us.” With that Queen Galina marched from the council hall, declaring, “This meeting is over.”
12
“How was the meeting with your brother?” Sadie contemplated the packages laid out on the small table near the kitchen. When the villagers had discovered her interest in trying new foods, they’d been only too happy to supply her with samples from their kitchens and gardens. Some of the dishes she could guess at, but others were a complete mystery. Did she eat them hot or cold, store them in the refrigerator or on the counter? She picked up a fuzzy yellow ball and bit her lip.
What exactly did Quirlixian mold look like?
“The meeting is nothing for you to be worried about,” Finn answered.
Something in his voice made her look up from the small gifts. Sadie eyed Finn, getting the distinct impression he was lying to her. She wasn’t sure how—maybe it was the tone of his voice, or way his eyes moved away and back, or perhaps the slight furrow of his brow. The sensation was hard to explain, but she knew something was amiss.
“Nothing happened at the meeting?” She asked, watching him closely. In many ways, he was a stranger, but he felt familiar t
o her.
Sadie felt her chest tighten as if he was pulling a thread from inside her toward him. Her mind focused on that sensation, following it, grasping at where it led like a forgotten word on the tip of her tongue. There was something there, just beyond her thinking.
“I said there is nothing for you to be concerned about,” Finn assured her. “What do you have there?”
“Food samples.” Sadie was annoyed with the sudden change of subject. It came as she was trying to figure out how she felt about him. The seedlings of her feelings were trying to grow inside of her.
Finn moved toward the table, confused. “Why do you have tiny portions of food?”
“Eve and I were in the village. I mentioned my job was to go around trying different kinds of foods. Some of the locals believed this was a funny occupation to have, but they all began giving me samples of food to try.” Sadie smiled. “I thought it was kind of them.”
“I am pleased to hear they were kind.” Finn nodded in approval. “They accept you as a princess.”
“Not all of them.” Sadie turned back to the packages. She lifted the fuzzy ball and fingered it. Would it be a sweet explosion in her mouth or a bitter bomb of awful? “One called me a… gwobr? I don’t know what that is, but it didn’t sound like a compliment. Especially when he spat at my feet and followed it with a series of obscene gestures.”
Sadie lifted the fuzzy ball to her lips. The sound of Finn’s approach made her turn toward him. Her mouth was open and tongue extended to taste the food, so the hard slap to the side of her lips and hand came as a surprise. The fuzzy ball flew from her fingers. Her teeth cut the inside of her mouth.
“Ow, what the fuck?” Sadie placed her hand over her lips to protect herself while cradling the wound.
Finn grabbed the hand over her mouth and pulled her toward the bathroom. “Come! Now!”
Sadie protested, dragging her feet. She had not seen this kind of aggression in him toward her, and it took her by complete surprise. “Finn, what the hell are you doing?”
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