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He leaned back and sighed. “You have been of age for some time now. We must always think of the future because we need more dragons if we are going to survive. There are so few of us left…”
“But you do not have a mate,” I said. He was a good deal older than me, both in age and life experience. He threw his head back and laughed. His hand came to rest on my thigh. I stiffened.
“That is because I have to be very selective with my mate. Whoever bears my child is going to carry the heir, the dragon lord who will succeed me. I need a woman who displays all the characteristics I need, and that is not always easily found. Sometimes, in fact, it requires patience,” he said, his gaze lingered on me. I felt the weight of it burning me intensely. I didn’t know what to say or think. All I wanted was to go home, but his hand was leaden on my thigh, and I couldn’t move. He sidled towards me, the scent of him was in the air, his breath was warm with alcohol.
“And I think I’ve waited long enough. I will have to arrange some things with Marcus of course, but I would like to take youas my mate. It will be a ceremony to provide the people with lots of joy, and there will be much rejoicing. I have already picked out a place to get married, a place to enjoy the time after marriage as well. There is a mountain nearby where we can be alone. The view is almost as beautiful as you,” he said, his hand stroking my arm, his gaze heavy on my body. I followed his eyes down the slope of my chest to where my breasts rose, and the valley of my cleavage deepened. Over the past few years my body had grown and swelled, becoming more feminine, becoming my final form. I was used to changing appearance, but somehow this felt different. His fingers ran up my arm and then he pinched the strap of my camisole top in his fingers. I felt breath catch in my lungs. Would he dare to peel it away? I wasn’t ready for this, but he was the leader of our thunder. Was I allowed to refuse him? Suddenly, it felt as though there were so many things that I hadn’t been prepared for. Life was a confusing mess of chaos, and I didn’t know how I was supposed to navigate its treacherous paths.
His voice grew lower, and somehow more threatening. It was like a growl. His breath became hotter and hotter. It was like his fingers, slithering over me.
“There we could make our solemn vows in front of nature. It would not be the same as the vows of old, where our ancestors made promises to each other under the twin suns of Drakon, but we must cope with what we have,” he continued. “But as beautiful as you are in this form, I know you are even more beautiful in your true form. Would you show me your true face?” he asked.
My tongue darted out and licked my lips nervously. I nodded slightly. I had not expected this to happen. Up until this point, I wasn’t sure that he had even noticed me. But it was clear that he had had one eye on me all this time, watching me grow and develop until the right moment where I had bloomed like aspring flower, bursting with vivid life. I suppose I should have been flattered that he had waited for me, but this was not how I imagined my first romance to be.
I did as he asked though. I closed my eyes and embraced the dragon, feeling the skin shift into scales. My hair disappeared and it spread down my shoulders, but I stopped it there. It seemed to be enough for him. Ilvar murmured under his breath and looked at me with admiring eyes. He reached up and stroked my cheek with the back of his palm. Then he turned it and his fingers slipped down, stopping at the edge of my scales, before they turned into flesh again.
“You are so beautiful. I imagine you would give me many strong, powerful children. You could hold the future of the children of Drakon, Kadie, and what a future it would be by your side.”
I inhaled deeply and returned to my human form. “Are… are you sure that you want me? There are many other women in the thunder. I’m sure any of them would be better than me.”
His lips formed a smile. He ran his hand along my hair and looked at me as though I was a child who did not understand things. “There are none like you Kadie. You are pure, you are innocent, and it is from your heart that the seed of the future must grow. We have reached a crossroads in our time here on earth. Things need to change, otherwise I fear our people will disappear into the ether of time. We have waited too long, and it is up to me, to us, to change things.”
I furrowed my brow. “What do you mean?” I asked.
He leaned back, looking regal. “I mean that it is time to fulfil the promise of our ancestors. They came here generations ago with the intention of returning to Drakon one day, but over the years they lost sight of what was truly important. We have been condemned to this rock, but I am going to change the course of things. I am going to forge a new path for us to walk,and if I cannot bring it about then I will ensure that my children do. We should no longer be content with dwelling on this planet. We need to return home.”
“But how are we supposed to get home? We’re stranded here,” I asked, still befuddled. Again, he chuckled as though he was explaining a simple concept to a child.
“Yes, we have been, but there are resources on this planet that can help us. Dragons need fire, after all, and there is a fire raging at the heart of this planet we can use.”
“The core?” I asked. He tilted his head, regarding me with an impressed gaze.
“Yes, the core. We can use the tools this world provides to help us reach home, even if it means draining all the heat and leaving this place an icy wasteland.”
“But what about the humans?” I asked. It did not escape me that if we took the heat from this planet then the humans would have nothing left.
“What about them?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. I looked into his dark eyes and saw nothing but an abyss of death and horror. My heart froze and my blood turned to ice in my veins. I had not been afraid of anyone as I was afraid of him at that moment. How could anyone be capable of such horror? The humans didn’t deserve to have their home abused like this, and Ilvar spoke about it so casually, as though it didn’t really matter at all. Didn’t he care about the people of this planet?
“Ilvar… they’ll die.”
“Yes, they’ll die, but what of it? Everything dies, and this is a matter of our survival. It’s us or them Kadie, and in that choice, well, there is no choice. This is the only way forward and I have chosen you to stand by my side. You will have a front row seat in the most glorious era of our empire, where we reclaim our rightful place in the universe and take back our home. You shall be the mother to a new and better generation of dragons,a group of children who will never bow down again and accept failure like our ancestors. From your flesh, my children will rise, the sires of strength, the descendants of nobility, and like the gods we will bring this world to its knees, take it in our hands, and we will wring all the use we can get out of it until it is just a husk,” his voice turned to a hoarse whisper. He curled his hand together and formed a tight fist, and all I could think about was the world cracking like an egg.
I felt sick and I had no idea what to say.
“I… I need time to think about this,” I muttered.
“Of course. Take all the time you need. It’s not as if I am going anywhere. I’m sure that you will make the right decision though. I would not ask just anyone to be my mate. You will come to see the wisdom of this decision, and I shall treat you with all the respect due a queen, just as you will treat me as a King.”
There was extra emphasis on the word as he spoke it. He looked down at me, as though he was a giant and I was just an ant. There was such power and authority in his words, it was as though he had already foreseen the future, and I was standing by his side. He expected me just to agree with him, but I could not imagine being his wife. I could not imagine loving a man who was capable of such a cruel thought. He saw nothing beautiful about this world, nothing worth saving, and if he had his way, he would destroy it all.
Was it true? Was he really capable of doing such a thing, or had he gone mad?
I excused myself from his presence, bowing my head as I did so, holding myself together until I was out of his sight. Only then did I race away like a rabbit that had been given a head start from a fox. I gulped in air and ran home, slamming the door behind me. My eyes were wide with panic, and I was trembling.
Father looked at me with an inquiring gaze. “What’s wrong Kadie?”
“I don’t know. I… I was just with Ilvar. He wanted to speak to me.”
“Oh?” Father arched his eyebrow and looked pleased. “What did he want.”
