Page 16 of The Dragon King’s Pet

“What?! Why?”

“A dragon lurks in your soul,” Casimer said. “And very possibly elsewhere in your body. You are of age now. You are sexually mature. You are in as much danger as you ever will be.”

“But why?” Mika was utterly confused.

“Your father, and his father before him, knew what they were. As I mentioned before, I thought that the mixing of the lines had come to an end with your father. Your mother’s arrival complicated matters. When they decided that you should be raised without knowledge of your true nature, you were released into the world without any caution. That I could not allow. I ordered you brought here, because you are not a normal human woman and you cannot be allowed to live your life as one, no matter what delusions your mother may have. Those of the dragon blood are not safe in the human world.”

“I…” Mika remained stunned. “But… I… it’s not my fault that any of this happened. You can’t tell me I’ll never have sex.”

“I can do a great many things,” Casimer replied, his eyes narrowing. “Do not worry, your body will not go entirely unused. You will be mated, Mika. Just not in the human world, and not by a human male.”

“Unused…” Her jaw dropped. “Do you know how… messed up you’re being right now? You can’t talk to me like this. I have rights.”

“You don’t have rights,” Casimer interrupted her abruptly. “This is not a human realm. We do not have the concept of rights as we have observed in your world, a petty nonsense which allows the lower classes to make believe that they are anything other than slaves.”

“They’re not slaves…”

“By my observations, they work for a pittance and live where they can,” Casimer replied. “Less than slaves, really. But I did not take you to argue politics. I took you to save your life.”

“My life wasn’t in danger. And what do you care if it was? It sounds like you hate humans.”

Her attitude was returning. She couldn’t help it, even though the cold look he gave her made her bottom tingle all over again.

“I do not hate humans. If I hated humans, I would have destroyed your realm when I had the opportunity. Our armies did but a fraction of the damage they could potentially have done. I forbade retaliation even when we were betrayed by your leaders. I could have taken two worlds, but I decided instead that both should remain separate and self-contained. In the years since that decree, it has been broken only by members of your family.”

Mika sat silent, shocked at what she had heard. It was all so sudden and so very strange. She could not believe that there was so much as a drop of dragon blood in her, but she could also not deny that what King Casimer said made some odd kind of sense. Her father’s features, and to some extent, hers, were exceptionally uncommon. But every person she had seen since her arrival, the ladies and the gentlemen alike, including King Casimer—they all shared a certain similarity in appearance, a certain height to the brow and cheekbones, the straightness of the nose, the sharp little ending of the tip that had become so popular for so many of Mika’s friends to emulate with makeup.

In a very strange way, these people were familiar. And Casimer’s words held a ring of truth to them, she could just sort of sense it. She was exhausted. She was coming down from the effects of a strong hallucinogen. She was in a world so far removed from what she knew as reality that it was almost impossible to understand it. And yet what this fearsome king said made a dangerous, confusing, exciting sort of sense.

“I’m really part dragon?”

“You are,” he affirmed.

“But… my parents never told me anything… I mean… they never talked about dragons at all. Whenever shows about them would come on television, they’d change the channel… I can’t believe they would keep this from me.” She was talking more to herself now than to the king. Her mind was whirling. Could it be true? Her father had always been slightly out of place. People had put it down to his being ‘foreign,’ but perhaps he was even more foreign than she imagined. “Why wouldn’t they tell me?” She lifted her eyes to Casimer, as if he might know.

“I believe your mother thought you human enough to raise human,” he said. “She underestimated the effects of your father’s blood. She was too prideful to admit that she was wrong, or perhaps her legendary powers of observation failed her when it came to her own daughter.”

“So you’ve met her,” Mika said. “The way you talk about her, it’s like you know her.”

“I know her by reputation only,” Casimer replied. “I am given information on all that occurs in my realm, especially on those who might cause some measure of trouble. I did nothing to interfere in your father’s affairs, believing that your family would remain here. But of course, that was not the case. In the dead of the night, your mother opened one of the forbidden portals. Instead of insisting she stay here in this realm, your father accompanied you and her to your world. The rest is history.”

“So they left without your permission,” Mika said. “And you didn’t like that.”

“No,” Casimer said. “I did not… like that. They defied my rule of law. I should not have been surprised. Your father was always a renegade and your mother…”

“My father is not a renegade. You must be thinking of somebody else,” Mika said. “He’s never done anything wrong a day in his life. He’s the straightest person I know. He observes laws just for the fun of it.”

“Then he has changed since he committed larceny against the crown.”

Mika lapsed into silence. She couldn’t believe that her father was a criminal in the eyes of this king. Her father was not the sort of man who committed crimes. He was a good, honorable man.

“Well, my parents are going to miss me,” she said. “And they’re going to look for me. I’m their only child, as you know. And if it’s true what you say about them, then you should know they won’t rest until they find me. And you should also know that they will look here.”

The dragon king smirked at her, as if she had said something silly and cute. “I have already contacted Vilka and made him aware of your presence in my household. He has thanked me for offering you shelter.”

“What!? He has not!”

“He had to,” Casimer said. “You see, as I have been trying to explain, your life is not entirely your own, Mika. You hold great significance to many people, and the dragon blood which runs in your veins is precious. Your parents believed that your identity could be kept a secret for the duration of your life. They were wrong. We have identified several key parties who are actively looking for you, Mika. They have been waiting for an opportunity to take you since you were fourteen. The year you had your appendix removed.”