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And Petyr arrives suddenly. Naturally, he doesn’t react to the sight of me naked, which seems to add to Brooke’s sense of wonder. “Your Majesty,” he says, “The King is on the phone for you.” He hands me my cellphone. The tone of his voice tells me this is not a father calling to speak with his son.
ChapterThirteen
Mountaintop Experience
Brooke
I have been to the top floors of a few skyscrapers. I even went on a hot air balloon ride once. Neither of those experiences can compare to standing at the summit of this mountain and looking out around it. There is something incredibly surreal about looking out over the land and seeing only clouds and other mountain peaks. Nothing can compare to the feeling of just how high up from the ground I am.
Except maybe when Aiden carried me here.
I whisper, “It’s beautiful.”
He steps close. He’s naked, of course. He tells me there are no clothes that Dragons can craft which won’t be destroyed by the transformation. Other shifters can create survivable clothes, I guess. I find that shocking not because they manage to keep from shifting back naked but the very idea there are people who can transform into wolves, bears, lions, and leopards shocks me.
All of this is unbelievable.
It’s impossible.
It’s utterly farfetched and laughable!
But when he explained it to me, standing naked in the forest, the results of his shift all around us, I knew immediately he spoke the truth. I knew suddenly that Amelie meant nothing to him at all and I knew that he meant nothing to her as well. Their marriage truly will be a reinforcement of a political alliance and there’s even a strong possibility she won’t live at Red Aryrie.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I enjoy the idea of the man I love being married to someone else but it most certainly doesn’t have the jaded, unhappy feel that it did when Courtney explained it in generic, non-dragon terms.
“It’s beautiful,” I say again about the view. It’s more than just beautiful. It almost feels hypnotizing. I mean, I could get lost in the sight. “Mesmerizing,” I say.
I feel him as he turns me toward him. “Not as beautiful nor as mesmerizing as you,” he says. He kisses me and the kiss is the most cleansing, perfect kiss imaginable. I realize we went a day and a half without any intimacy. The blowjob. That was it. I gave him the blowjob and then ran out in the middle of a breakdown. This kiss does more to remind me that our relationship still exists than all the thought, resolve, and decisions. This does more to reassure me than the hour of conversation with Courtney, who is very glad to have this out in the open now.
“We fly to Greece tomorrow,” he says.
“We?”
“There is a meeting, a royal meeting,” he says.
“The phone call with your father,” I reply, “is that what it is about?”
He nods. “Amelie’s father, Lord Brantly, is a hothead trying to make his name, to secure his place in dragon history. He wants to reveal our existence to humanity. This is a subject that comes up every half century or so. There are two schools of thought. One believes that humanity and dragons have grown to a point where we can live in harmony and out in the open.” I shrug, “but there are other considerations. If we reveal ourselves, then the wolf shifters and the others may feel offended. They would still remain secret.”
“Wolf shifters?” I ask, “Are you telling me there are… wait. There are humans who can turn into other things just like you can turn into dragons?”
He chuckles and says, “Careful about saying that in the meeting. Other shifters are humans who turn into wolves or bears or lions or tigers. We, however, are dragons who turn into humans.”
“Po-tay-to Po-tah-to,” I say, “and how many are there?”
“Well, there are…”
“Wait. Wait.” I shake my head and say, “We’ll talk about that later. For now, you said there were two schools of thought. One says we can live in harmony. What’s the other one?”
“The other school of thought suggests that dragons will guide humanity to the growth necessary.” I can tell he’s saying that in a very gentle rather than a very accurate way.
“What you mean is dragons can rule humans.” He shrugs and nods. “Let me guess,” I say, “Amelie’s father believes in ruling over us.”
He smiles faintly. He doesn’t expect me to understand that without further explanation. “Yes,” he says.
I nod. “And now the importance of your marriage makes a lot more sense. I take it your father belongs to the first school of thought.”
He shakes his head. “No. My father believes we reveal ourselves only to those who have the calling or those with whom it is necessary such as those who live at the estate, for example. However, if he were ever to agree to revealing ourselves, it would be agreement with the first school of thought.”
