Page 38 of The Dragon Prince's Rejected Mate
“It has gone the way of fire?” I ask.
Don’t ask me to explain how a dragon’s face can be expressive but when I say those words I see amusement or perhaps simply a knowing smile, or whatever the dragon equivalent of a smile is. “It has,” he says.
“You do not know what is lost to dragon kind, but you suspect, don’t you?”
Again there is the amusement. “I do, but I will not tell you what I suspect.”
“I will tell you what you suspect, Ancient One,” I say, “and what I am certain is true.” Added to his smile now is a measure of excitement and anticipation. Do you have any idea what it’s like to know that I have a dragon hanging on my every word? I might faint, for fuck’s sake.
“Tell me, Brooke Dana Patterson,” Valentia says.
“You saygone the way of fireto mean something has disappeared and is lost just as dragon fire is lost. But dragon fire is not lost. The Chosen One possesses fire. Aden has it.”
His eyes close for a moment and it’s hard to for me to understand his expression. Is it relief? Is it a sigh of happiness? Is it regret? I can’t tell, and that’s maddening. “Then you have confirmed what I have suspected for many of your lifetimes, Brooke Dana Patterson.”
“But Aiden doesn’t know. How can he access it?”
This time the amusement in his smile is unmistakable. “Brooke Dana Patterson,” he says, “how he accesses the fire depends entirely on you.”
* * *
Aiden
There are no pursuers as I make my way east. I have expect there to be, but Brantley chooses not to risk a fight yet. He needs my father to be the aggressor. If he sends dragons after me, then he will be the inciter, and that will eliminate any chance at the political advantage he hopes to gain.
I feel a rush of anger at the foolishness of it all. A coup? Really? Like this was the fifteenth century and nations were the playthings of nobles? It’s as idiotic as…
Well, as marrying for political power. I decide when I ascend to the throne, I will be reforming many of the archaic conventions that dragons have endured for the past millennia. It simply is unacceptable that creatures as enlightened and wise as dragons should labor under the foolishness of a way of life that has no place in the world anymore.
First, I need to make sure a throne remains for me to ascend to. I want nothing more than to fly to the Red Aerie and see Brooke, but instead, I fly to my father’s palace. I fly quickly and keep my senses alert for pursuers, just in case Brantley has a change of heart and decides he wants to finish me once and for all.
I briefly consider stopping at the Aerie just long enough to prepare them in case of assault or infiltration, but in the end, I decide to continue on. There are two reasons Brantley is almost certainly not going to attack my home. The first is that even if taken by surprise, my home would be incredibly difficult if not impossible to penetrate. Even though no one suspects war, as I say earlier, the peace between dragons is tenuous, and we’ve prepared for the possibility of an assault on a royal.
The second reason is the Ancient One. Valentia is a scholar, not a warrior, but any fight with a dragon, even a weak dragon, is dangerous, and while Valentia is not a warrior, he carries seven centuries of knowledge with him. Were he and I to fight, I am not confident I would overcome him. Were he and any other dragon to fight, it would likely take more than one attacker to bring him down, regardless of his advanced age.
It’s not his prowess in battle that would cause Brantley pause, however, but his status among dragons. Similar to some human cultures where the elderly are revered, Valentia’s age and wisdom afford him a place of honor in our culture. Were Brantley to act in a way that causes or even threatens him harm, Brantley would immediately become the most hated dragon on Earth.
So Brooke is safe for now. The best thing I can do to ensure her continued safety is make my father aware of the threat Lord Brantley presents and stop him before things go too far.
I reach his palace just over an hour later. Dragons can fly very quickly when needed, and I am traveling close to twice the speed of sound as I leave England and make my way back to Italy.
I land on his helipad and shift to human form immediately. The attendant who hastily rushes to meet me takes one look at my face and says, “I’ll fetch the king.”
“Thank you,” I reply.
He rushes off, and by the time I reach my father’s throne room, my father is on his throne. The attendant stands waiting with a robe, which he wraps over my shoulders. Nakedness is not considered taboo among dragons the way it is among other shifters, but I am in the presence of the king.
“Is the Red Aerie safe?” my father asks immediately. “Is Brooke safe?”
“It is safe, father,” I reply. “She is safe. However, neither my mate nor the world will be safe for long.”
His eyes widen, and I explain to him what happens when I visit Lord Brantley. When I finish, my father is silent for a moment. Then he commands, “Leave us.”
The attendants immediately leave the room. Servants in my father’s house are screened for loyalty and trained to ignore anything they hear in my father’s presence, so the fact that my father asks for complete privacy is a sign of how seriously he takes my words.
Once the room is empty, my father speaks freely. “Aiden, are you out of your mind?”
I blink in surprise. It’s not at all the response I expect. “Your Majesty?”