Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Ornix grips my chin and directs my eyes so that I meet his, those great golden orbs that hold so much power and in the past have held so much annoyance, judgment, frustration. But none of that is in his eyes now. What’s in his eyes now is softer, kinder. It’s love. I see it, even if he hasn’t said it.
“You have not ruined my empire or whatever. You’re part of it. The most important part. I don’t care about the seal if it means you are hurt. Do you understand, Melissa? There is nothing more important to me than you. Nothing. I will never be too busy for you. I will never have anything better to do than you. I will never, ever want anything other than you.”
I start crying. I never thought anybody would ever say those words to me. After all the men I chased through college, men and boys who couldn’t even return a fucking text message half the time, and who treated me like I was irrelevant, to find a literal dragon king who values me more highly than any of his riches or powerful artifacts. I am more of a pain to him than to anybody, and he still wants me, even though every time he tries to take me anywhere nice, I literally turn into a demon.
“Shhhh,” he comforts me, not knowing where my tears truly come from, but also not shying away from them. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Have some bread. You will feel better.”
He’s right. I will feel better if I have some bread.
I have some bread.
I feel better.
Science.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t just be happy with the whole ‘be a brood mate,’” I say. “I know that’s what you wanted. A simple life with a simple mate. You wanted to have a bunch of babies. And I’m probably not even pregnant. All I do is grow wings and break bones.”
“You may not be easy, but we have literally forever to breed. My seed has stopped the aging process for you. You will remain fertile long enough to bear me hundreds, if not thousands of babies.”
“Well, that’s horrific.”
“Is it?”
“A little, yeah.”
“Hm,” he shrugs. “Well, our perspectives never did align in a tidy fashion, did they. Don’t worry, even if you never had a baby, we have Equinox to fall back on as heir.”
“I assume you’re joking.”
“No. The boy is annoying in his own way, but he is blood, and that is all that really matters in these things. It will satisfy history, and any prophecies and such.”
He sounds tired, almost as if he doesn’t really care anymore. I wonder how much weight it puts on his shoulders, being a great dragon king of destiny in a world where everything matters.
“Did you want to become king?”
“It comes with the territory, quite literally,” he snorts, lying down next to me, snuggling me into the crook of his arm so I can rest and eat bread and talk all at the same time.
“But did you want it?”
“I really never thought about wanting it, or not wanting it. I knew it was my duty, and I intended to do my duty. Always.”
“Including taking a human mate and breeding with her?”
“Yes,” he says. “But I did have a choice in that, and I do not regret it, so do not try to paint this in a light in which you are an obligation. You are not. You are a choice. A lively, terrible, badly behaved choice. Now, please, rest. You will need your strength for the next time you try to do something you physically cannot.”
CHAPTER 12
Melissa
“What’s wrong with your wings?”
“What’s wrong with your legs?”
“Why do you have chicken feathers?”
“Where’s your scales?”
“Why are you so soft?”
“What’s your name?”
I am at the flight range where the dragonkin learn to fly. I am surrounded by young dragons who are all incredibly curious about me. I am not that much taller than most of them. Dragonkin are massive creatures, and even when they are young, they are massively tall.
We are all wearing harnesses around our chests, and there are long chains attached from the harness to tie points in the ground. We can walk around a bit, but we can’t go upward.
“Do we have to be chained like dogs?” I complain. I know I’m supposed to be fitting in, but how can I? They are all dragons, and I am a human with some kind of bird wings.
“Not like dogs,” the instructor says, his voice cold as the Arctic wind. “Like whelps at risk of snapping their necks in an unplanned flight. You might be the king’s mate, but here I am the ruler. Do you understand?”
“The king’s mate?”
“How old are you?”
“Humans age differently. They die at a hundred.”
“My little sister is a hundred and one,” one of the others says. “That’s so sad.”