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1
Simeth
“What will they do with him?” I asked my father as I watched my cousin get shoved into a giant metal box. His wings, which were once the largest and most beautiful, looked battered and gray. All of the color seemed to be draining from him.
Rhuron, my oldest cousin, was twenty feet away, bleeding and messy as he tried to recover from bearing the load of the vast form now being driven away in containment. I moved forward to help Rhuron, but my father put out an arm to stop me. I wasn’t sure why he thought he had the right to control me; I wasn’t a kid anymore.
“Tierner will have his day in court, but for now we have to mourn.”
“Mourn what?” I frowned. “He’s still alive.”
“Yes, but because of his behavior, we’ve lost the chance for him to pass on our bloodline.”
It sank in, and I glanced over to my father in thought. He was hardly in his mid-forties; he still had a lot of life in him, but he was tired. He had never achieved the throne. Instead, he had been assigned the heavy burden of overseeing the courts.
If I couldn’t beat Rhuron to having a child first, there was a chance I’d have to deal with governing the legal system. I wasn’t sure what I wanted in the kingdom, but I knew it wasn’t that.
Never that.
The duty of being in any line close to the royal family was heavy.
Especially for the eldest son.
The most likely to beget a son first.
“The seer will be expecting you,” my father said as though he could read my thoughts. “Go wait for her where she met with you all last time.”
I could tell my father had a high regard for her. He’d never expect me, or any royal, to be made to wait unless it was for someone closer to ruling. The fact that he wanted me to wait for her meant she outranked me. Instead of arguing, I kept a calm face and did as I was told.
He outranked me as well, what choice did I have?
The meeting room was empty as I waited. My fingers thrummed on the long wood table as my mind mulled over the possibilities of having a future bride.
That was why I was there, after all.
I could marry whatever woman was thrown at me and appease my father’s aspirations of me becoming the next king. I was just a year younger than Rhuron, the oldest prince, which meant I still had a fighting chance.
It didn’t matter what the woman was like, I just needed a bride.
Still, I couldn’t fight off the image of a beautiful shifter woman. A dragon like me, strong and brash, tall with ample curves to squeeze and enjoy. I smiled at the thought, considering what pleasure I could get from a woman like that.
In most of my life I had to be cool and indifferent. Emotion was weakness, and if I ever got the chance to rule, I’d have a better chance at people following if they saw me as a calm constant. If I went about this logically, then there was a chance I could get ahead.
Rhuron was hot-headed and wore his emotions on his sleeve. He’d snatched away his woman instead of talking to her.
Izzy, his soon-to-be bride, had recalled how she’d wanted to die when he did that.
I couldn’t risk losing a bride.
A mate.
I’d do what I had to: learn to woo and attract her so that she’d come willingly. Of course, relationships weren’t paint by number—but they could be engineered.
I just had to be smart about it.
Two taps sounded on the door, and I realized I’d been slouched over. Correcting my posture, I was able to put myself back in order before the seer made her way in. Standing, following the niceties my father had instilled in me, I bowed my head to her.
“Thank you for coming to see me.”
