Dragon Emperor 9, page 2
part #9 of Dragon Emperor Series
“What’s wrong?” I pressed as I came to a stop a few feet behind her.
“Nothing.” Mona stood with her arms crossed and her back to me.
“You’re not a good liar,” I informed her. “Can I get a real answer?”
“I just worry it didn’t work,” she muttered but still refused to face me.
“What didn’t work?” I asked with a frown. “The spell?”
“Yes!” the queen cried and threw up her hands. “What if I’m not pregnant? Or what if it’s not a girl? Then I’ve already sworn my loyalty, and I didn’t even get what Lumin needs. I have to give birth to a daughter soon, so I can teach her the ways of the city when she’s at the right age, instead of too early or too late.”
“The Oracle said--” I tried to comfort her.
“I know what she said,” Mona cut me off. “But it doesn’t make me feel any less anxious.”
“I can understand that,” I said as I wrapped an arm gently around her shoulders. “I also understand that Alyona is an amazing priestess. If she said the spell would work, it works. Don’t worry too much. It isn’t good for a pregnant body to be stressed.”
“How would you know?” the queen laughed sarcastically. “You said you don’t have children.”
“No, I don’t,” I confirmed. “But before I became, ah, the Lord of Hatra, I was a healer with medicine. So, I’ve been around many women who were giving birth or pregnant, and I’ve studied anything I didn’t know. And I know that stress is not good for a pregnant lady, and you don’t need to be stressing our daughter.”
“If there is a daughter,” she mumbled as she turned her back to me.
“Mona.” I spun her around and lifted her chin up to face me. “Alyona knows what she’s doing. I have complete confidence the spell worked, and you should, too. And honestly, if something went wrong somehow, I’ll come back and keep my word.”
“You would do that?” Mona whispered, and her jade eyes were wide with astonishment. “You would come all the way back here to mate with me again?”
“Well, first off, I’d mate with you any chance I got.” I smirked. “But secondly, yes. The deal was loyalty for a daughter. If I didn’t keep up my end of the bargain, why would anyone want to be loyal to such a shitty king?”
“That was my fear,” the queen admitted as she pursed her lips. “I’d boast of loyalty to you and Alyona, and then I wouldn’t have a daughter to take over the city. And then I’d have to decide between keeping my end of the deal or going back on what I said.”
“Then stop worrying,” I coaxed her. “I’m a dragon of my word. Besides, I’ll have to come see my daughter and give you more children, of course. Even though I’m leaving tomorrow, you are mine now, and I take good care of my women.”
“Yes, I’m yours. I’m sorry for being anxious, my lord dragon.” Mona chuckled and laid her head on my chest. Her body relaxed some as I held her, and I ran my hand through her chestnut hair.
After a few minutes, she lifted her head and put a hand on my cheek.
“You’re a good man, Lord Evan,” she murmured. Then she stood up on her toes and kissed me on the other cheek before she sashayed back into the palace doors without another look.
I stared at her curvy form as she walked away and then returned my gaze to the starry sky. I wondered what it would be like to have a child who was half-dragon, half-centaur. She will be an interesting being, that was for sure.
I knew better than to ask Mona to join us for the campaign. Her pregnancy would be rough on the road, and she had the city to rule, but I couldn’t help but be proud of knowing my future daughter would be here as a symbol to the people that I’d taken the queen as my mate.
Plus, my daughter will obviously be a badass, just like her dad.
I smiled at the thought before I shook my head and focused on the task at hand. We had a few days of travel ahead of us, and I needed to get some rest. We weren’t walking into Colaruma completely blind, but we were definitely limited. It would be difficult to get into an underground city unnoticed. There had to be a certain number of entrances, and the Green Glass Sect likely guarded each of them. I wondered if Alyona knew a spell that could disguise our entrance.
The princess seemed to know I was thinking about her as she glided out the palace doors and stood next to me in the courtyard.
“Is the queen alright?” Alyona asked with concern in her violet eyes.
“Yeah, she is now,” I confirmed. “She was a little worried about the spell and if it worked.”
“That’s understandable,” the princess said. “She seemed very surprised during our conversation about it. I’m sure she’ll be less concerned in a few weeks when she can tell she’s with your child.”
“Yeah.” I nodded in agreement and wrapped my arm around my bride-to-be. “You’re the best fiancée ever in history, you know that, right?”
“I’m sure that isn’t true,” Alyona giggled as a blush colored her porcelain cheeks. “Now, let’s get to bed since we have to leave in the morning.”
“Yeah, let me check in with Nike and see if he needs my help getting anything ready to go,” I said. “I’ll be in our room shortly.”
Alyona smiled, and I followed her back into the castle, but she turned toward the hallway while I made my way back to the dining hall.
Nike sat at the table with River and Laika as they discussed the city we were headed to.
“It’s completely underground?” River asked with a raised eyebrow. “How is that possible?”
“King Rodion set it up to keep eyes on the portals,” Nike mused as he rubbed his chin. “It sounds like he basically recreated the city there.”
“That would make sense,” Laika agreed, and her gray eyes narrowed in thought. “I doubt anyone would have wanted to go underground if it wasn’t a fully functioning city.”
“If that’s the case, it’s probably full of magic, too,” River said. “Places built with magic usually hold some of it.”
“Yeah, that could be another reason why the Green Glass Sect wanted it,” I chimed in as I sat with them. “If it has residual magic, they can turn it into whatever they want, right?”
“Unfortunately.” Nike nodded. “Magic doesn’t choose sides. It just depends on who is wielding it.”
“Lucky for us, we have quite a bit of magic, too.” I smirked. “Do we need to get anything else ready to go before tomorrow?”
“No, it’s all ready,” Nike said. “The women will have to pack their trunks in the morning, but once we load those up, we’ll be ready to go.”
“Awesome.” I grinned. “Then I’m going to hit the hay.”
“The hay?” Laika echoed, and her furry ears twitched at another of my Earthly phrases.
“Never mind,” I chuckled. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
I stood up from the table and strode out of the room toward the hallway, but as I walked away, I heard River’s gravelly voice.
“Does he always say those odd things?” he murmured.
“Yes,” Laika snickered.
I laughed to myself as I continued back to my room and opened the door, and I found Alyona laid on the bed with her white and black hair fanned out around her head. The moonlight streamed in through the window and seemed to illuminate her ivory skin. Her eyes were closed, and she let out a soft snore as I closed the door behind me, so I stripped off my clothes and laid down next to her. She rolled over and curled into my side without waking, and then I dozed off.
I dreamed in bits and pieces of magical battles in an underground world that looked like a Mario video game. After I’d beaten several levels of lower level mages, I finally reached Olivier, but his face morphed from the young scholar to an old, frail man, to the ancient necromancer. I couldn’t keep track of him, and he disappeared into one of the green cylinder portals before I could get my hands on him.
I woke up in a sweat, and I searched the bed frantically for Alyona.
“Are you alright?” the princess asked from across the room. She was standing at the dresser and packing up her trunk.
“Uh, yeah.” I exhaled and ran a hand through my hair. “Just a weird dream.”
“Don’t discount your dreams,” Alyona advised. “With the magic you have, you could learn a lot from them.”
I nodded, and even though I doubted Colaruma would look like Mario’s gaming world, I considered what the dream could mean.
Before I could think too hard, though, there was a sharp knock at the door.
“Oh, that must be Lord Nikolas,” the princess said as she walked over to open it. “He said he’d be by to get my trunk.”
She opened the door, and Nike stood in the doorway. Alyona walked back to her trunk and clicked it shut as the noble grabbed the luggage and carried it out the door.
As soon as he’d left, I swung my legs out of the bed and pulled on my tunic and trousers. Then I leaned down to pick up my boots, and Alyona came over to stand in front of me.
“So, what was the dream?” she asked.
“We were fighting in Colaruma,” I said, and I described the dream as I yanked on my boots. “It was weird, though. It looked like this video game I used to play when I was a kid.”
“Video game?” Alyona furrowed her brow.
“Oh, uh, like a movie, but you have a device that moves the characters around,” I explained with a shrug. “It’s one of those things you probably have to see to really understand.”
“Movie?” she said. “And did we win the video movie game battle?”
“Well, sort of,” I snickered. “It was like we beat everyone except Olivier, the sage. He got away at the end.”
“How did he do it?” she pushed.
“He jumped into one of the portal tubes from the game,” I chuckled. “I doubt the portals your father mentioned look like those.”
“But it was a portal,” the princess mused as she began to pace. “Maybe that’s the part you’re supposed to pay attention to.”
“That’s how he got away from me at the Dandelion Gates,” I told her. “But how do we stop him from creating his own portal?”
“Leave that to me,” Alyona said as she turned back to face me. “Like you said, I’m more than a tool. I can figure it out.”
I smiled at how her face was set in determination and stood up to wrap my arms around her.
“I’m sure you will,” I told her as I pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
We walked out into the hallway and down to the sitting area by the front doors where the rest of our party waited with Mona and River.
“We had some food prepared for you,” the centauress said as she gestured to three baskets filled with food and wrapped in cloth. “I figured you’d want to leave early.”
“Thank you,” I murmured as I walked closer to the queen. “You’ve been a gracious host. Well, eventually.”
“We don’t get many guests,” she chuckled. “And certainly, we don’t often open our city to dragons, but you’ve left a new impression on our citizens. For that, I thank you, and I offer the loyalty of Lumin to you and to the crown of Rahma.”
“We humbly accept your loyalty,” Alyona replied with a curtsy. “King Rodion will be so pleased.”
“Please tell your father he is welcome to visit Lumin anytime,” Mona said, and she bowed graciously to Alyona and me.
“We’ll be back to visit also,” I said with a wink.
“We look forward to it, Lord Evan,” River responded, and he flashed me a half-smile.
I grinned back at him. It looked like I’d finally won the centaur commander over for good.
Nike pushed open the palace doors, and we walked out to the courtyard where our wagons waited. It felt a little odd to have our horses pull them now that we’d spent so much time with the centaurs, but I could tell they’d been well taken care of as their coats gleamed in the sunlight.
Ravi and the dryads waved to the centaurs who had gathered outside the castle to see us off before they climbed up into their wagon. Then Nike and Aaliyah clambered up into their wagon as I lifted Alyona into our cart in the front. Finally, Laika climbed up next to her, and I turned to Mona and River.
“We’ll see you soon,” I said with a bow.
“I look forward to it,” Mona said, and I smiled when she subconsciously touched her belly.
Then I climbed up into the wagon between two of my lovers. Alyona laid her head on my shoulder, and Laika took the reins and snapped them. The horses set off on the road that led out of Lumin, and as we rode through the city, other centaurs stepped out of their homes to wave at us. The princess waved back with a perfect royalty wave until we were finally out of the gate and on the road again.
We rode for hours before I told Laika to stop near a small clearing in the grass surrounded by a handful of trees. The leaves were small and yellowing, and a few drifted into a tiny pond underneath.
“Is everything alright?” Laika asked as she pulled back the reins.
The leader of the Blue Tree Guild scanned the area around us to search for any threats. She was a wolf Demi-Human, and her furry gray ears twitched on her head while she listened for any signs of a disturbance. She wore her brown and blue leathers with a blue-lined gorget at her throat to communicate with her guild warriors, and her gray tail twitched back and forth as her gaze returned to me.
“It’s all good, Laika.” I smiled. “Just need to stop and make camp here.”
I hopped off the wagon and approached Nike’s wagon.
“You want to go on a good old-fashioned hunt?” I inquired with a grin.
“Absolutely,” the noble agreed and flashed a smile back.
“What’s going on?” Aaliyah asked as she jumped down from her wagon.
The lion Demi-Human walked with the lithe movements of a hunter, which was exactly what she was. She’d joined us after we saved her city of Tikal from a handful of issues and reunited their factions. She stood with her hip cocked to the side and her dark blonde hair in a thick braid down her side, and her orange eyes searched mine for a response.
“Just a little hunting with my brother,” I replied. “If you ladies don’t mind, you can start setting up camp for the night, and Nike and I will go catch us some dinner.”
“Hunting without me?” the lioness pouted and crossed her arms over her bronze chest.
“I’ll make it up to you,” I said with a wink.
“Well, then, I suppose I can skip this hunt,” the beautiful lion-woman purred. “As long as you make it up to me… vigorously.”
“What’s getting made up?” Polina skipped over to join us with her sisters in tow.
The dryads were members of the Blue Tree Guild, the group of warriors that I’d met within minutes of my arrival in Inati. And all three of the sisters were beautiful, jade-skinned nature creatures who had also joined my harem.
“Yeah, we like to get made up to,” Trina chimed in and batted her green lashes at me.
“Like the time you made up to us for two days,” Marina giggled.
My cock twitched in my trousers as I remembered my first time with all three sisters, but I shook my head to clear it of the glorious memory and gave the dryads a cocky grin.
“Then I’ll be making it up to you three as well,” I agreed. “But for now, Nike and I have to get us some food, or we’ll never get to Colaruma in time.”
“Fine, fine.” Polina stuck out her lip and linked arms with her sisters.
“Let’s get the tents ready,” Aaliyah suggested as she gave me one more pleading look.
I knew she loved to hunt, but I’d barely hung out with Nike lately, so it would be cool to have some guy time.
“We’ll be back soon,” I said before I turned to Nike. “I can sense some kind of watering hole just north of us. I’d bet there are some animals near that.”
“Yes, there should be antelope in this area,” the noble agreed. “We are just inside the Golden Plains now.”
“Perfect.” I grinned, and we headed north.
“So, what’s it like in Leyte?” I asked as we made our way to the water. I’d known Nike for a while now, but I knew little of the place he hailed from and called home.
“Well, since you’ve met Azra and Raisa, you can guess we have some very beautiful buildings,” he chuckled as he referred to the architects who had helped rebuild Hatra, and his silver eyes still scanned the area ahead.
“Yeah, sure.” I laughed. “But what’s the city like? Is everyone human like you guys? Are there a lot of people?”
“Leyte has a wide variety of people,” Nike replied and then frowned. “It’s an extremely large city, so I can’t give you a very good answer.”
“It’s just conversation, Nike,” I chuckled. “I don’t need the nobleman response. I’m just trying to learn more about you. You’re my friend and brother.”
“Ah,” he exhaled. “My apologies.”
“What about your fiancée?” I asked as I switched subjects. “You said your family sets that up, so how does that work?”
“Noble family lines are determined by the Bloodline Council,” Nike replied firmly. “They decide which families should intertwine to create the best results for Leyte in both rulers and descendants.”
“So, you have no say in it?” I knew my face showed my distaste.
“Not if I want to remain in my position.” Nike shrugged. “It’s been that way for generations.”
“But what if you can’t stand her?” I pointed out.
“Well, uh … ” The noble trailed off as he rubbed his chin. “I’m really not sure. Oh, look!”
Our conversation was interrupted as Nike pointed about a hundred yards ahead to the watering hole I’d sensed. A handful of antelope drank the water and stood around as we peered through the tall grass that surrounded the oasis.
I conjured a bow and arrow using my fire magic, thanks to Ravi’s father who had taught me how to use it. Then I scanned the pack for the one that would provide the most meat.
Suddenly, though, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I turned to Nike, and his brow was furrowed as he gave me a nod.
