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“What happens now?” he asked his mother, “I can’t believe they all just walked away like that when I killed their king. Shouldn’t they have ripped me apart?”
“They had no right to step in. As his heir, you’re the only one that had the right to challenge him for dominance.”
“I don’t understand it all. If it was a possibility that I could do that, why risk bringing me here in the first place.”
“He was incredibly arrogant. As far as he was concerned, he was all powerful, and you would submit to his will. As his heir, it shows he has progeny to support his legacy and a weapon in his arsenal against the queen.” Elora studied her son for a long moment. “It never would have occurred to him that you wouldn’t submit. That was never part of his world.”
“So, everyone else is just going to do my bidding now?” he asked, skeptical.
“Doubtful,” Kymri said. “You’ll still have to prove yourself to be a strong leader. Clearly, you’re strong enough to take the throne, but that doesn’t mean anything in terms of leadership.”
Jori snorted, “I want to be a king less than I wanted to submit to one.”
Elora’s expression was grim, “If you don’t, they will continue to be a threat to the queen.
Kymri thought of Clive and Merwin. “Some of those guys believe they have the right to dominate the female dragons. It’s been their mission all their lives. That’s not simply going to go away. There’s an entire tribe of male dragons indoctrinated with that belief. The king deliberately cultivated that.”
Jori scrubbed a hand over his face, “I don’t want anything to do with this. I just wanted to bring you home to Dad. Fuck them. Fuck all of them.”
“And my people? Fuck them too?” Kymri spat, pulling away from him.
Jori’s gaze shot to her face, “No, of course not.
“Jori, if they are left to scatter, they will attack the sanctuary.”
“Unless someone changes things from within, the threat will never go away.” Kymri’s hand slid to her belly.
His gaze fell to the movement of her hand, changing his expression.
They had a child.
A male child would have to be guided.
A female child would live under threat.
She thought about how all of this might change everything.
According to her own people, she would be expected to live on the island with her female child. If she bore a son, he would not be permitted to live among them.
Nor would Jori, in either case.
He didn’t want to be king.
She didn’t want to leave her people.
But she didn’t want to leave him either.
There was so much to consider.
She looked at Elora. Her hand rubbed at the discolored line across her throat where the band had been.
She must be one hell of a diplomat to have survived all this time here. Or she must be one hell of a survivor.
She was sure Elora hadn’t been treated as an honored guest and paid the respect an ambassador deserved. She had no illusions as to what she might have endured to be here.
Elora wasn’t broken.
Despite being guardian commander, Kymri doubted she’d be able to say the same, had she been the one to suffer through Elora’s ordeals. Her hand slid across her womb again, her gaze returning to Jori.
