Denying the Dragon Read online

  The fact that the slightly nervous elder felt strongly enough to speak up in the presence of his prince’s disapproval gave Taurian pause. This was going to be more difficult than he had expected.

  “It may take a little time for Rian clan to accept a human presence. I hear that you have continued to avoid them all this time.”

  “That is what our orders were,” Kyrian said quietly. “We had not thought to question them until Jayrian brought the human woman here. Some dragons are still afraid you will be upset by their presence.”

  “All the more reason for me to remain in human clothes then,” Taurian said. “That will send a clear message that I am not upset.”

  “If you feel that is best,” Kyrian said. Taurian suspected that he still disagreed, but he kept it well hidden if he did. “Anything you choose to wear is completely appropriate.”

  “Lead the way then,” Taurian repeated.

  Kyrian turned back to the entrance to the room, and as his eyes passed over Karla, Taurian saw a flicker of disapproval. He would have to watch Kyrian closely. And probably all the others too, if they felt as strongly about humans as Kyrian did. That was going to be a problem.

  Not the most urgent one though. If the problem was simply that the dragons feared his disapproval, he could fix it with a few choice remarks.

  Or he should have been able to, had he not been absent for three hundred years.

  Chapter 5

  Karla stared around at the dragons crowding around Taurian. If it weren’t for the fact that they very carefully didn’t touch her, she would have said they were pushing her out of the way in their eagerness. The effect was the same. She felt crowded out.

  Everyone wanted to be close to him, many even tried to touch him. A lot of them women. Karla felt like something was crawling over her skin. They didn’t even know him, but apparently because he was the prince, they wanted to be close to him.

  He wasn’t even discouraging them, or looking upset. In fact, he was smiling, and returning their nods and touches.

  She didn’t belong here. Not at all.

  “You have Karla to thank,” Taurian’s voice rose above the dragon chatter. “Without her, I would not be here. She saved my life, on more than one occasion.”

  All of the dragons’ attention shifted to Karla. She took a deep breath and tried to suppress the thought that she wished the sand would swallow her. “It was nothing, anyone would have done the same thing,” she insisted.

  Any woman who was affected by the Mesmer bond, she had no doubt. And probably most that weren’t, if Lisa and these dragon women’s reactions were anything to go by.

  “We formally thank you for your services to our prince,” an elderly woman with dark hair said. She crossed the sand to where Karla stood and held out her hand. “I am Mesrian, elder of Rian clan. Please accept my gratitude.”

  Karla wasn’t quite sure what the expected response was, so she inclined her head. “Of course.”

  That seemed to be enough. The attention turned back to Taurian and soon the dragons were offering him food and drink, and a stump for a seat. They sat at his feet, listening in awe as he told the story of how he had woken.

  It was actually kind of interesting to hear his perspective on it, how strange the words and her technology had been to him. Karla couldn’t help being drawn in. The dragons all listened intently, though they seemed less awed by the technology than he had been. Not surprising given they’d been awake to see the changes.

  After the story was complete, there was silence for a while, then a young dragon child asked, “How are you planning on defeating Ultrima?” Her shrill voice was loud in the silence, and for some reason, it set Karla’s teeth on edge.

  “Our first task is to wake my brothers and sisters,” Taurian insisted. “It will take all of us working together to defeat Ultrima.”

  Silence greeted him. “We have not been able to even get near their Mesmer chambers,” another dragon said. He looked kind of slimy as though he’d come out of a deep pond. “I don’t think that will have changed now you are awake.”

  “We will find a way,” Taurian said firmly, and his eyes met Karla’s across the room. He gave her a smile, a smile for her alone.

  Karla automatically smiled back before she could stop herself.

  None of the elders missed the glance. Mesrian frowned. The slimy dragon though, was the one who spoke up. “Even if you manage to wake all your brothers and sisters, and given how tightly they are guarded, I doubt you stand much chance, that will still not be enough to defeat Ultrima. We lost last time, remember? Nothing has changed since then.”

  “Yes,” Taurian said firmly. “We did lose the last time we fought them.”

  “You lost when all of you fought them?” Why had he never mentioned that before? She’d thought that the battle would be easy once his brothers and sisters were awake.

  Taurian nodded. He didn’t seem overly concerned. “That wasn’t a direct battle as the one I fought against Ultrima was. It was clan against clan, so many, many dragons involved. My brothers and sisters and I were wounded in the first skirmish. We never had a chance to plan or fight the next battle. I’m sure that given enough time, we would have prevailed.”

  He turned to his clan and added. “Either way, something has changed. We are not alone any longer. Karla has helped me to escape from Ultrima several times. With her help, I’m sure we can come up with a plan to defeat Ultrima once and for all.”

  Karla blinked, and as all the other dragons turned to stare at her, she wished she had somewhere to hide. Why did Taurian think she could help him defeat Ultrima when he and his brothers and sisters had apparently failed? She was just an ordinary person. She’d done what she did in desperation, not because she had some ability to defeat dragons.

  Unless he was hoping to have access to human weapons. But she’d already told him she didn’t.

  The other dragons must have thought the same thing. They didn’t appear impressed.

  “Help from the humans?” the slimy elder demanded. “Do you really think your brothers and sisters will be impressed by that plan? You cannot protect dragon honour by accepting help from others. Especially not from humans. Dragons take care of their own business. They always have, and they always will.”

  At least they weren’t relying on her to have abilities beyond what she had. But she couldn’t help being reminded of Taurian’s words back on the cliff. She glanced up at him, at the thoughtful expression on his face. He was already drifting away from her. The only reason he had clung to her until now was because he was alone. Now he had his clan back. The dragons could do this without her help. It was time for her to get out of here.

  Somehow, she couldn’t convince herself to get up and walk out of the lair. The curiosity over what they would do, how this ended, was too great. Even without considering her complicated feelings for Taurian.

  “What do you suggest then?” Taurian asked. “It sounds like you have a plan.”

  “Yes, exactly what do you recommend, Ostrian?” Mesrian demanded. “If you have a plan, why haven’t you shared it before now?”

  “Because it needed a prince.”

  “Keep going,” Taurian said sharply.

  “We need a life dragon,” Ostrian, the slimy man said, his voice calm. “Ultrima would not stand a chance against us if we had the life power.”

  Karla had no idea what he was talking about, but his words had a powerful effect on the other dragons. Their eyes widened, and there were gasps of excitement.

  Taurian though, frowned. “Are any life dragons still alive?”

  The man shook his head. “Our last life dragon, the daughter of the one that created the protections on your Mesmer chambers, died fifty years ago. She was useless anyway, refusing to do anything more than block the Trima dragon’s attacks as we fled our lair.” Ostrian spoke with such force that beads of spittle flew out of his mouth. He took a deep breath, and continued more calmly. “If we had a life dragon who would
actually help us, we could defeat Ultrima once and for all.”

  “That’s not right,” Kyrian said immediately. “Life dragons protect, they don’t fight.”

  “I know that,” Ostrian snapped. “They made that very clear when they refused to aid us for many years. If it weren’t for their sensibilities, this war would have ended centuries ago, and we would not have lost so many dragons.”

  “That’s not true,” Jayrian said hotly. “The life dragons helped us. If it weren’t for them, the Mesmer chambers would have been entered years ago. And we would have all died when our lair was discovered.”

  “There would have been no need to protect our Mesmer chambers if the life dragons had helped us defeat Ultrima in the first place,” Ostrian argued.

  Jayrian and Ostrian glared at each other, and they weren’t the only ones. It was clear that feelings ran high on this matter. Karla could understand why. Much as she was against fighting herself, it seemed a little strange for a dragon not to help the other dragons defend themselves against Ultrima.

  She didn’t get what a life dragon was though. Until that moment, it hadn’t really occurred to her that dragons had specific powers. She had seen Taurian’s fire, and Ultrima’s lightning, but she hadn’t thought to question if those were the only powers they had.

  She would have liked to ask more about it, but she was pretty sure now wasn’t a good time. The dragons were already stirred up enough.

  Taurian held up a hand. “Silence.” He stared around the cavern, meeting each dragon’s eyes. Slowly, they quietened. Then he centred in on Ostrian. “Life dragons refuse to participate in conflict for a very good reason—their power is so great as to render any other influence negligible. The side they chose would always win. That would give them far too much power and responsibility.”

  Karla stared at him. She wasn’t sure which to be more shocked about, the fact that there were dragons whose power intimidated Taurian and Ultrima, or that there was a kind of dragon who refused to choose sides because it would give them too much power. Both were hard to believe. Impressive, but hard to believe.

  “A perfectly commendable decision in times of peace,” Ostrian said. “But when our people are at war, when they are dying, it is criminal for them to refuse to help. If we had a royal life dragon, then the dilemma would be answered.”

  For a moment, Karla didn’t understand what Ostrian meant. A royal life dragon? Was that a special kind of life dragon? Then it hit her. By royal, he meant a prince or princess, like Taurian. But Taurian was a fire dragon. Was one of his brothers or sisters a life dragon? Somehow, the sinking feeling in the bottom of her stomach told her that wasn’t what they meant. If one of his brothers and sisters had been a life dragon, then they would already know how a royal life dragon would react. And if life dragons were as powerful as they were claiming, then they would already have won the war.

  No, they had to want a new dragon, and unless dragons were vastly different to humans, there was only one way to get a new dragon—an existing royal dragon would have to father one. And they currently only had one available royal dragon for the job.

  She tried to tell herself she didn’t care if Taurian mated with a dragon and had royal life dragon babies, but the fact that her stomach was tying itself in knots and she had clenched her hands without conscious effort meant she couldn’t quite convince herself. Nor could she just walk away. Something kept her tied here, much as she knew it was going to hurt.

  Bloody hell, emotions just sucked.

  “Even if they were royal, they would still be a life dragon,” Jayrian pointed out.

  “That wouldn’t matter,” Ostrian said, his expression smug. “If they were a life dragon, their first loyalty would be to their clan, not to the rules of their power.”

  One responsibility overruled another. Essentially a get out of jail free card. The idea was clever. Karla could see that. A part of her was even impressed. The impartial part. The other part of her wanted to scream that it was a crazy idea.

  “Being a prince or princess does not mean doing what you like,” Taurian said firmly. “A clan ruler must weigh up every aspect of a decision, including the rules of their power, before making a decision. Being a royal would not mean a life dragon would automatically fight for us.”

  “Ultrima broke the rules of our people,” Ostrian said flatly. “Removing him as a deadly threat to our clan should be the most important consideration, unless our laws are optional.”

  Dragons had laws? Karla sure was learning a lot more about Taurian than she’d known up until now. Although one thing she wasn’t sure of. “What law did Ultrima break?”

  When a whole room full of dragon eyes turned in her direction, she wished she’d remained silent. Until that moment, she suspected they’d forgotten her presence.

  “Dragon law is none of your business,” Ostrian snapped.

  “Quiet,” Taurian thundered. “Rudeness may not be against any dragon laws, but it is still unacceptable in my presence. Apologise immediately.”

  Ostrian’s eyes widened. “Sir, I fail to see the problem. She isn’t a dragon.”

  A heavy feeling settled in her stomach at his words. She’d known that dragons didn’t trust humans, but for him to think he could say what he liked to her, just because she wasn’t a dragon indicated a whole new level of disrespect.

  “I don’t care.” Taurian’s voice was a tone lower, but somehow no less threatening. “Karla is a guest in my home, and I will not accept rudeness toward her. Do you have no respect for the fact that she saved my life?”

  Saved his life? Did he really think that? She hadn’t. Not really. She opened her mouth to protest that he had done as much as she had, but the antagonism between Taurian and the elder was so intense her words died before she could utter them.

  This wasn’t her fight, even if it was about her. There was more going on here than how the clan treated a human. This was about whether the clan members accepted Taurian’s leadership or not. Karla held her breath as Ostrian stared at Taurian, and Taurian stared back, his eyes blazing.

  Neither of them were going to back down, were they? The risk of being the cause of a disagreement between Taurian and his clan alarmed her.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said quickly. “I’m not bothered.”

  “I am,” Taurian said firmly, not looking at her. His eyes didn’t leave the elder dragon. “I’m waiting, Ostrian.”

  The man swallowed, then shifted his gaze away. He mumbled an apology.

  Karla let out a shaky breath.

  Taurian watched him for a few more moments, before turning to Karla and answering the question she’d almost forgotten she’d asked. “Before I entered the Mesmer, Ultrima courted my sister, Sarian. He was obsessed with her, and some of us thought she might succumb to his temptations. But she was not interested in mating for love, and rejected his mating invitation. He refused to accept her answer, and continued to beg her to reconsider. He made quite a fool of himself. That in itself would not be an issue, but when she refused him again, quite politely I might add, he flew into a rage and tried to force her to mate with him.”

  Karla’s eyes widened. “He tried to mate with her by force? In front of all of you?” Somehow, she couldn’t imagine the polite and refined Ultrima doing that. Then again, he hadn’t been so polite when he’d been fighting Taurian in dragon form.

  Taurian shook his head, and his hands clenched into fists. “No, he cornered her in her rooms, in private. He was too much of a coward to make his intentions so obvious. But my brother walked in on him before he could complete the mating. When Warrian, my eldest brother, tried to remove him from the area, he attacked him.”

  If she’d had any doubts as to Ultrima deserving the clan’s enmity, Taurian’s story had silenced them. Ultrima’s actions would have been against the laws of humans too. Trying to force someone to mate, either as a one off or the more permanent dragon marriage version, was unacceptable. Attacking one’s clan members just adde
d insult to injury. She was about to simply nod agreement, when the implications of what he had just said sunk in. “What? Ultrima isn’t part of your clan, is he?”

  “He was,” Taurian explained. “But after Sarian refused him and we helped Warrian fight him off, he left to form his own clan, taking many of his lightning dragon friends with him. Thus, the Trima clan was born.”

  Karla tried to make sense of it all. “So the Trima clan are all lightning dragons?” she clarified. “That’s why you didn’t think Jayrian was part of their clan, right?”

  Taurian nodded patiently, ignoring Ostrian’s mumbled comment about this being a waste of time. “There are six types of dragon powers,” he explained. “Fire, lightning, water, metal, wind and sound. Most of the time they breed true to their type. If a fire dragon breeds with a fire dragon, their children are fire dragons, and so on. So with almost an entire clan of lightning dragons, it would be unexpected to find a fire dragon. Not unheard of, but unlikely.”

  Karla hesitated. She should just stop now. The other clan members were already annoyed at her interruption. But her curiosity was strong, and she might not get another. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life wondering, could she? She took a deep breath and asked, “And life dragons are different?”

  She needed to ask that one, right? To determine if Taurian’s potential sacrifice of creating one was worth it.

  Taurian nodded. “They are. Even a life dragon mating with a life dragon only rarely produces a life dragon child. This is why their numbers dwindled until they were all gone. We aren’t sure where they came from, or why they don’t breed true, but they are invaluable to our clan.”

  That she had seen. But she didn’t really get why. “What can they do that’s so valuable?”

  “Dragon magic is actually quite limited, in general,” Taurian explained patiently. “Each dragon only can only do magic that relates to their power. I can create fire, and manipulate it in many ways, but that’s the extent of my power. Water dragons manipulate water, sound dragons manipulate sound, and so on. Life dragons though, can manipulate life itself. They can make a plant or animal grow or die. And they can affect minds, creating the images and fear you felt as you drove closer to the lair.”