I reminded myself of this fact repeatedly, ever since watching her fall off of her horse in the distance as she’d broken through the forest. It was absolutely the only reason I’d gone out of my way to ensure her comfort now.
I closed the doors.
As my body began to cool down and my eyes roamed over the icy tundra of my kingdom. The waterfalls were beginning to slow to a trickle as the rivers began to freeze. The town lay covered in a fresh heap of snow from the night, only visible by the torches interspersed throughout to help warm the water dragons who could no longer swim through the land. Normally the rivers remained just warm enough to remain free flowing with the ley lines magic, but in the harsh winter season, there wasn’t enough energy to bolster our affinity powersandkeep up with our environment. The worst of it would be behind us in twomonths time, returning to the perfect balance for both the water and ice dragon’s that occupied Andrathya.
What was I supposed to do with this human if she recovered? She wasn’t suited to our lands, clearly.
She was not what I expected from a human princess, though. No, she was strong-willed and fearless in the face of adversity, despite lacking any elemental powers or ability to shift into a beast like myself. They were foolish traits that would end in her death, as evidenced by our current predicament, and yet, there was something about her that resonated with the dragon within me, causing conflicting emotions to stir.
I had thought to keep her tucked away from the drackya, knowing her presence would cause a stir amongst the unmated ones. Desperate times were upon us, and no longer was my command keeping them under my rule. Over the recent years, more were defying me and heading into the human’s domain, plucking the ones they’d felt a draw to in hopes of finding their mate.
Out of the hundreds of abducted women I knew of, none had managed to form a mate bond. That wasn’t to say their souls weren’t destined, but this blasted curse remained strong in causing them to be repulsed by our appearance and fearful of the beasts we were.
Rolling my head from side to side, the bones in my neck cracked as I tried to release the stiff joints. I ached to plunge into my ice bath, but all of my needs were on hold until I knew if the princess would live or die.
Siyana.
Her name was beautiful, objectively matching her exterior. She would be a feast for the eyes of my people, but they weren’t the only ones to be cautious of. The full-blooded undine dragons nestled into the caves of this very mountain, and if they scentedan unmated human amongst their territory in nesting season while their eggs were being safeguarded, she would be dead.
The only option was to keep her confined to my castle, preferably this singular wing of it.
“I see we have a visitor, Your Highness.”
My nostrils flared as I took a deep breath. It was like the chosen representative of the full bloods knew I was thinking of my predicament with them.
“Yes, Alstrid. My human wife that I told you would be joining me.”
As my chosen liaison for them when I was absent, he was privy to more knowledge than any other of his kind, but he was beginning to push my boundaries as of late–like a nagging grandfather.
“She is still unmated. When will you rectify that? The mated pairs will be restless if she comes near, as we spoke about yesterday.”
“Alstrid,”I sighed mentally, “we are so far from wanting to touch each other willingly, unless our lives are on the line.”
That was perhaps a white lie on my part. Interest stirred within my human form upon seeing her in the council room when she stood and defied me in front of all the men. Again, it happened every time her feet plunked onto the ground as she slid off her horse, thinking she was accomplishing an act of defiance.
“You must win her over, then,”he muttered with incredulity.
If I was being honest with myself, there was something that tugged at my being on a deeper level when I regarded her. When the tears had streamed down her face as she called me a horrible person, the need to defend myself and make her understand why I was this way had surged to the surface. Never before had I feltthe need to do that, not since I’d killed off the side of me that had sought approval from others.
“Oh, must I?”I rebutted,“You forget your place, Alstrid. I allow our open communication as a means to serve me, not the other way around.”
My lips pinched as Sia’s words from earlier replayed in my head.“What a generous king you are. Your people are so lucky to have you.”
Rage boiled within my chest, blazing as strongly as the fire within my chambers. Little did she know, theywerelucky to have me, considering the alternative was the king before me.
“Forgive me, your highness. I merely speak as a concerned subject. I will do my best to spread word of her arrival to the full-blood undines.”
Despite his polite words, I sensed his deep aggravation before the line between us severed.
A huff fell from my lips. I was used to it. Actually, I was used to outright hatred from damn near birth, considering I’d inherited a cursed crown, and therefore all the blame from the undine for what my father had brought upon us.
I could have managed the hatred of my genetic association to my father, but to assume the weight of their blame when he’d taken his own life, in an attempt to escape the consequences of being the reason we’d all been cursed…My lip peeled back as a snarl rumbled through my chest, coming from the core of my dragon.
He was weak and pathetic. We were better off with his body burned to a crisp. He was as useless with a crown on his head as he was as ash floating through the world.
What a fucking inheritance.
I shook my head as I turned back to the doors and crossed into the room that had to be the same temperature as Salarya’s kingdom. How the ember dragons flourished within the volcanicclimate was beyond my comprehension, but I supposed they’d say the same of our frost-bitten world.
