“Find someone in the villages who can stand in for him,” I said, poring over how I could fix this. There was a way—I just had to find it. “When you do, shift him to the role of the princess’s personal advisor.”

“You would have a stable hand turned butler advise the future queen on her role and duty?”

I took it back—Urien did give his thoughts on my decisions, he just did so passively, parroting my orders back to me as questions of confirmation.

I chuckled. “Not advise her so much, no. More…rein her in as much as possible. He has a way about him. He’ll keep her out of trouble if anyone will. Mostly because he’ll be too scared to tag along, and it’ll give her pause.”

“Yes, sire.”

I stripped my clothes and handed them over. Urien stripped as well and tucked our clothes into a small satchel he’d carry around his neck in animal form. As an owl, he would follow me from the air. Usually we’d have someone trail us on horseback with clothes, but it was getting too dark. I didn’t want to risk a horse’s broken leg.

Moment of truth.

I held my breath and let my dragon surge up, his anxiety matching mine. It was vain, this worry. The color of our scales didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. It wasn’t life or death. Even so…I wanted my golden scales, which would so match the gold dusting on Finley’s red ones. I wanted to look like I belonged with her. Like she belonged with me.

Our head rose into the foliage above us, our body filling the clearing and shoving branches out of the way. My dragon squeezed his eyes shut.

I’m afraid to look, he admitted.

Aren’t you always telling me that you own the balls and I own the brain? Where’s your courage now?

I don’t want people talking about that beautiful little dragon next to that great, dulled beast. At least if we were gold…

We’re needed. We’ve taken too long already. Look.

He peeled open one eye, and then the other, before stretching his lips across his teeth in the dragon equivalent of a grimace. He looked down, letting me see our body. My heart sank, and he took a deep breath.

It’s not as bad as it was, he thought, eyeing the gold peeking out of the darkened scales. It was like someone had taken a flame to large sections of his body. At least we’ll partially match her gold dust.

No wings adorned his back, though he could feel their nubs sticking out from the rest of his hide. Whatever plagued his color also plagued his wings. We still weren’t a complete dragon. Poor Finley. What a mate she’d been strapped to.

If we can’t wow people with our appearance, we’ll have to do it with our ferocity, I thought.

I’d hoped for both.

He took off through the trees, the brittle branches harmlessly sliding along our sides. I’d need to spend time in this wood, working on my Syflora magic and trying to sing some life into it. Finley probably knew more about my power than I did, what with all her reading and research. She could help me harness its gifts. When we had time.

The reserve, which was a pompous name for the mines, resided on the far end of the kingdom, not terribly far from Finley’s village. We made it there in no time, slowing as we approached, and a great growl rumbled from deep within my dragon’s chest as he smelled the other alpha dragon. Micah, the one who had challenged me for my mate.

My dragon had wanted to kill him, as was his right, but I pulled him back. That man had helped save this kingdom, and he could be a great asset. I’d sacrificed glory for practicality.

I hadn’t stopped monitoring his whereabouts, however. He wouldn’t get a second chance. Another lapse in judgment with my mate, and I’d finish the job.

Thankfully, he’d kept out of my way. He hadn’t volunteered to watch the demons or patrol the grounds. He’d stepped back, letting everyone know who ranked as alpha in this kingdom.

My dragon pushed through the last of the trees before the clearing, finding the other alpha standing off to the side with some people from his village, all nude. In another cluster, closer to the opening of the mine, stood Xavier, Lucille, and Jade, their bearings uncomfortable, their clothes loose-fitting, like the ones I’d brought.

My dragon shifted as Urien landed on a tree branch near me, his owl head swiveling. When I was in human form, Urien fluttered down beside me before setting down the bag and shifting as well. He handed over my clothes.

“What’s all this?” I walked forward, stopping equidistant from the two parties. “I heard there was a disturbance.”

“Sire.” My people bowed. The foreign dragons turned toward me, not even offering a nod. That sort of thing would’ve driven my father crazy, but I’d long since stopped caring if people paid homage to my station.

Tags: K.F. Breene Deliciously Dark Fairytales Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net