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One peculiarity of my culture, however, is that gifts have meaning unrelated to their monetary value. The gift I choose is simply a stone from the Tibetan mountains, the land of Valentia’s youth.
I fly to the caves in dragon form. I feel a pull to take the long way, so to speak, and simply enjoy my time in the air. God knows it comes rarely these days.
I resist that impulse, and it’s not all that hard to resist because I am desperate to answer this question.
I land in front of the entrance to the cave system and shift into human form. Even though the days of conflict between dragons are long gone, it’s better to enter another dragon’s lair in human form so you don’t appear to be a threat. At his advanced age, it’s unlikely Valentia could hurt me, but I would feel great shame if I caused him harm.
I enter the cave and prepare to light my flashlight, but there’s a rush of warm wind and twin rows of torches light on each wall, bathing the cavern in a soft, yellow glow. Dragons do not actually breathe fire, but that skill must have been recently lost because ancient dragons like Valentia can still generate a considerable amount of heat, even if the air doesn’t actually ignite.
“There’s no need for the flashlight, your Highness,” a deep, gravelly voice speaks. “I saw you in the air from miles away. My eyesight isn’tthatbad, you know.”
I see a great shadow come down the massive corridor ahead, and a moment later, a great blue-and-gold dragon enters the room. His beard—a peculiarity of Eastern dragons that Western dragons don’t share—reaches the eight feet from his chin to the floor, and his eyes gleam with wisdom that no mortal man could ever hope to achieve.
“Welcome, Prince,” he says. “Why have you come here?”
I tell him about my concerns over Brooke. He listens intently, and though his face betrays no expression a human could recognize, I can tell that he’s greatly intrigued. When I finish, he says, “Well. That is strange news indeed.”
“It’s not simply the calling then?” I ask.
“Oh, hardly,” he says. “A simple calling would have been resolved after the first encounter. That’s not to say you wouldn’t continue to feel attraction to the woman, but it wouldn’t be so intense as you describe. No, you are fated. And perhaps even more than that.”
“What is more than fated?” I ask.
“Well,” he says, “You might be the Chosen One.”
“The Chosen One?” I repeat.
“Yes,” he says, “I apologize for the banality of the term. I didn’t come up with it.”
His eyes dance, and I say, “What does it mean for me to be the Chosen One?”
“That,” he says, “I don’t know. Not off the top of my head, at least. I could look it up, but you can probably look it up faster. It’s been so long since I’ve been human I’m not sure I remember how to shift.”
I nod, trying to control the way my mind reels at this news. “Thank you, Valentia,” I reply. “Oh. I almost forgot.”
I hand him the gift, and his eyes widen. “A moonstone! What an incredible find! I see the honor of the Vipera family remains more than intact. Thank you,” he says.
“It’s only what your august person deserves,” I reply.
He laughs, a great, bellowing noise, and says, “Oh, be gone with you, child! I am too old for your silver tongue!”
He turns and heads back into the darkness of the deep caves. “The Chosen One and his true mate,” he says to himself. “In my lifetime!”
I leave the cave and this time I spend a great deal of time on the wing collecting my thoughts before I return to the palace.
ChapterFive
Heat
Brooke
After eleven weeks here, you might imagine I would get used to the splendor and opulence. I’m not even close to used to it. I will say, though, that I no longer feel guilty about living in such a way. I put in twelve-hour days and work like crazy for the Vipera family. By my estimation, in just shy of three months, I’ve saved them nearly twenty million dollars because of a clause in a contract that restricted their ability to liquidate equity. I can tell you, if one party’s money is locked up in a transaction but the other party has liquidity, there’s always a reason.
Had I not warned them before they signed the contract, a sell-off on the Frankfurt Exchange would have made their shares worthless before they could sell them. Instead, the other party’s shares were locked up for two years, and the board member who came up with the plan was removed entirely. Because of me, the company has a bright future, and nobody lost money except, maybe, the dishonest board member.
I guess the point I’m making is that I’m generously paid, but I’ve already saved them more than my entire four-year contract. I’m not saying that I deserve to live in a mansion where everyone treats me like aristocracy, but I’m not here as some sort of charity case. The work is hard, the hours are long, and the nice surroundings make all of that easier.
And something else makes it easier as well.
