Elora’s face flushed with shame, “I hope you understand, I had to bind your dragon magic to keep you hidden from him. It was the only way.”
“Ma, it’s okay. Really.” He studied her a moment, “So, am I going to turn into a dragon every time you shout whatever it was you said?”
She smiled, “No, that was just the unbinding spell. It’s all up to you now.”
“I see,” he said with a sigh.
“We have a lot of catching up to do,” Elora said.
“We do.” he squeezed her hand, “Dad will be beside himself when he sees you.”
His mother’s face dropped, her lip trembled, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“Because I left him; he must be so angry with me.”
“No, Ma. He loves you. He needs you.”
“Maybe,” she hedged, turning her attention to Kymri. “I see you made it home.”
He turned, letting his eyes roam over his mate as they moved toward the doors, “I sure did.”
24
Kymri stood next to Jori, holding his hand in hers. His thumb stroked her fingers. He seemed unable to not be touching her at any given moment.
They were in Elora’s room.
“What happens now?” he asked his mother, “I can’t believe they all just walked away like that when I killed their king. Shouldn’t they have ripped me apart?”
“They had no right to step in. As his heir, you’re the only one that had the right to challenge him for dominance.”
“I don’t understand it all. If it was a possibility that I could do that, why risk bringing me here in the first place.”
“He was incredibly arrogant. As far as he was concerned, he was all powerful, and you would submit to his will. As his heir, it shows he has progeny to support his legacy and a weapon in his arsenal against the queen.” Elora studied her son for a long moment. “It never would have occurred to him that you wouldn’t submit. That was never part of his world.”
“So, everyone else is just going to do my bidding now?” he asked, skeptical.
“Doubtful,” Kymri said. “You’ll still have to prove yourself to be a strong leader. Clearly, you’re strong enough to take the throne, but that doesn’t mean anything in terms of leadership.”
Jori snorted, “I want to be a king less than I wanted to submit to one.”
Elora’s expression was grim, “If you don’t, they will continue to be a threat to the queen.
Kymri thought of Clive and Merwin. “Some of those guys believe they have the right to dominate the female dragons. It’s been their mission all their lives. That’s not simply going to go away. There’s an entire tribe of male dragons indoctrinated with that belief. The king deliberately cultivated that.”
Jori scrubbed a hand over his face, “I don’t want anything to do with this. I just wanted to bring you home to Dad. Fuck them. Fuck all of them.”
“And my people? Fuck them too?” Kymri spat, pulling away from him.
Jori’s gaze shot to her face, “No, of course not.
“Jori, if they are left to scatter, they will attack the sanctuary.”
“Unless someone changes things from within, the threat will never go away.” Kymri’s hand slid to her belly.
His gaze fell to the movement of her hand, changing his expression.
They had a child.
A male child would have to be guided.
A female child would live under threat.
She thought about how all of this might change everything.
According to her own people, she would be expected to live on the island with her female child. If she bore a son, he would not be permitted to live among them.
Nor would Jori, in either case.
He didn’t want to be king.
She didn’t want to leave her people.
But she didn’t want to leave him either.
There was so much to consider.
She looked at Elora. Her hand rubbed at the discolored line across her throat where the band had been.
She must be one hell of a diplomat to have survived all this time here. Or she must be one hell of a survivor.
She was sure Elora hadn’t been treated as an honored guest and paid the respect an ambassador deserved. She had no illusions as to what she might have endured to be here.
Elora wasn’t broken.
Despite being guardian commander, Kymri doubted she’d be able to say the same, had she been the one to suffer through Elora’s ordeals. Her hand slid across her womb again, her gaze returning to Jori.
She supposed it depended on what held you together.
What the fuck was he supposed to do now?
He had no fucking idea how to be a dragon king. He didn’t know any of these guys.
He could walk away, go back to his life traveling the world.
Alone.
Alone, because he sure as hell knew Kymri wouldn’t leave her people unprotected.
She also said they couldn’t be together on her island anyway.
In what scenario would they ever have had a shot?
He glanced at his mother. She’d been forced into leaving in order to protect him. If he hadn’t been under threat, would she have gone back and let him be raised by his father?
Maybe.
Things change.
Lives change.
No one ever goes back.
“What will you do now?”
Elora’s expression turned grim, brow creased, then cleared. “That depends on you.”
“And you?” he asked Kymri.
“I have to say my answer also depends on you.”
The expectation on their faces was crushing. His muscles began to itch, forcing him to move. He needed to get out of this place. This suffocating mountain. He felt the need to expand. He hated confined places. He needed to see the sky, the stars.
“I need some air,” he said, leaving them in the room.
Stalking the halls, he tried to remember the rough direction they’d come from, until he ran into someone. The next person he saw happened to be the guy who had brought meals to him during his imprisonment.
“I want to go outside, where’s the way out?”
He gave a short bow, “This way, sire.”
Jori sighed.
The man stole a curious glance as they walked.
“What is it?”
“Master Stenlen may be a good ally for you, sire. He has always been loyal to the throne.”
Jori snorted, “And his goons?”
“Goons, sire.”
They turned a corner and faced a set of steel doors. The man pressed his thumb to the keypad, which scanned the digit.
This wasn’t the way they’d come in.
They stepped into the elevator. There were a surprising amount of buttons for floors to access.
“What’s your name?”
“Eamerson, sire.”
“Jori Mountainside.” He held out his hand.
He hesitated but shook it.
The doors opened. They stepped into an ultra-modern room, all hard angles and gleaming surfaces. It was vast, feeling more so with the floor to ceiling windows lining the entirety of the far side.
It reminded him of the assembly room he’d been taken to, to stand trial before the queen. Its size was comparable, and it too had been surrounded by massive arched windows.