Rhuron's Bride (Crystal Glass Dragons 1)

“So, you lived in the mountains just like those dragons?

“It’s home,” I smiled.

She nodded, and then kept following me.

Today was the day I was finally going to introduce her to my kingdom.

Her clothing was different from anyone else in the kingdom, so as we walked, people’s eyes were drawn to her. A strange mix of anticipation and possessiveness settled deep in my stomach. She was mine. I hadn’t gotten to breed her yet or even kiss her, but she was my woman. I would do anything for her, and I ‘d only known her for a few days.

I wanted to squeeze her hand in mine, to touch her in some way that would show she was mine, but I didn’t want to scare her away. I almost ran us through the last couple of halls.

“What’s wrong?” She sounded confused and worried.

“Nothing, just—” I thought it over and felt crazy. I’d never been this stuck on a girl before. “Here’s the conference room.” I opened the door and led her in. There were already a few people in there: two of my cousins and two of my three brothers. “This is Izzy,” I introduced her.

There was a general murmuring, and I continued introductions.

“There are my brothers, Lerin and Rhaef.” I motioned to them.

“Nice to meet you.” Rhaef was cheery and reached out to shake her hand. Izzy smiled awkwardly and shook his hand easily. She bent her knees slightly in what looked like a mini curtsy. Lerin grunted but didn’t say anything else. He still wasn’t keen on having a seer as a makeshift matchmaker.

“These two are Dralle and Simmeth, sons of my Uncle Grenn, and this is Tierner, son of my Uncle Fesker.”

She looked overwhelmed but kept up as I motioned to each of my relatives. A deep sense of pride was blooming in my chest, like I had won something just by knowing her. Everyone after Lerin was polite enough, and I was able to relax. These men would soon be part of her family; she’d get to live here and learn to know them.

When they too found their mates, there was a chance she’d befriend them.

“This meeting, what’s the purpose?” Tierner seemed annoyed, but I let it slide.

“There have been some changes in the plan, how we can approach this,” I explained, as I sat down.

“What do you mean?”

Izzy sat beside me, and I set my hand on the table between us. She reached for something on the table, brushing our fingers against each other, and I felt strength from her. For a moment I wondered if she was starting to feel something for me or whether she was just doing this to save other girls the stress. The thought hit like an arrow to the chest, but I let it go.

This wasn’t the time to question it.

“I went about this the wrong way, and I need a consensus with all of you on how we’re going to approach this,” I explained. “We all want our mates, but we’re going to have to take this slower.”

“Easy for you to say when you already have your mate.” Tierner was glaring. “The matchmaker told me where to find mine just an hour ago. Some tiny town not thirty minute’s flight from here.”

Of course, he was going to speak up.

He’d always been angry that he wasn’t the first born of all of us. Our fathers were fiercely competitive in finding a mate and having offspring. Tierner’s mother fell pregnant weeks before my own, but I was born prematurely. His father had instilled a great amount of resentment in him over how I’d somehow rushed out to foil their plans.

When my mother passed, a couple of years before I found my Izzy, they didn’t even attend the funeral services.

“If he hadn’t explained everything to me, there’s a chance I would have just fled or killed myself.”

Izzy caught me off guard, and I watched her speak.

That could have happened?

I wanted to pull her from the room and hold her; I needed to feel her warmth and reassure myself in some way. She could have fled, or died, and I would have lost her forever because of how I acted. It felt like death to hear.

I really was that damn terrible.

“Without warning, without introduction to this kingdom, there’s a chance you could hurt or scare your future mate to death. We’re not items, not servants. If you’re wanting a mate who willwantto mate with you, then you need to treat these women with respect.”