Page 163

“I wish to inform you now that I intend you no harm, I have gotten pixies to seal my magic away. As for my name, it is Valerie Faerydae.”

“Faerydae, as intheGreat Faerydae offspring?” asked Kelherian, the pink one. He seemed quieter than the others.

“I know it may be hard to believe, but yes. I am a descendant of the white Dragon, Faerydae the Destroyer, the one who mated with Farrah the human after he became infatuated with her beauty.”

Rather than eating the offering sacrifice he’d been given, he’d chosen to bed her. Eventually, Faerydae the Destroyer fell in love with the pretty human and spent all her human years with her until she finally died of old age.

He never mated with another, and it was rumoured he also never bedded another after her. Instead, he raised their daughter and spent his time teaching the first Witch how to wield her magic. They had learned together.

The tale was one of Valerie’s favourites.

“She knows of Farrah,” Eridile whispered to the others. “Not even many Dragons know her name.”

The other three began to nod.

“It is decided. We believe you are who you say you are,” Aneirin told her.

Why must I always be met with scepticism?It was irritating and rather offensive.

Before she could even open her mouth to ask her request, the blue female stepped forward to sniff at the air.

“Whose scent is that on you?” She came a little closer. “It seems familiar.”

To everyone’s surprise, Rurik slapped his tail forward through the air to land in front of her.

“Your sense of smell is fading.” He shook his head, like he couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. “The fact you cannot sense who it belongs to is beyond disappointing.”

“Well, who does it belong to, Witch?” Eridile came forward as well. “I am also curious.”

“It does not matter,” she told them, squaring her shoulders back with her chin lifted. “I would much rather speak of why I am here.”

“But it matters to us,” Aneirin answered, raising his brow. “This is considered an offense.”

Valerie’s eyes hardened in their direction. “No.”

“No?” Rurik said as he turned his head to her. “They will punish you for defying them.”

She turned her cold stare towards him instead. “I do not care what they do to me, as long as they fulfil my request.”

Valerie didn’t want to get Geryon in trouble. She didn’t wish for him to be punished because of her, and she very much hoped Rurik would keep to himself what he knew. She softened her gaze, beseeching him silently.

He gave her a mischievous grin. “Well, it seems you are all able to take care of yourselves. I can see I am no longer needed.”

“Rurik,” Nayana snapped sharply. “You will tell us who has been bedding this Witch.”

Rurik chuckled. “Why, Mother, I have absolutely no idea.” His grin grew as his eyes drifted over each of them. “I thought you lot would be able to tell me whose scent it belongs to, since you have,apparently,met all.”

Nayana’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. Regardless, she nodded. They all did, and Valerie figured it was because they couldn’t force him to tell them.

Nayana is Rurik’s mother?She quickly compared the two before he left the room to stand outside the doors, closing them behind him.

She was dark like him, but his scales were purple, whereas hers were blue. They didn’t have similar spikes jutting out from their heads, but she did notice they had similar facial structures. Her eyes were silver like his; it was their most comparable feature.

Actually, Nayana closely resembled Geryon in colouring and spikes. She’d nearly had a heart attack when she first entered the room, thinking it was him.

“Why have you come here covered in the scent of a Dragon, but Rurik is the one who brought you here? Where is the one who has been bedding you?” There was a small growl from Kelherian. “What have you done with him?”

“With the dragoncraft given to me by him” – none of them gasped or batted an eye at her words, so she figured they must already know about this – “I was able to put him to sleep for a short while so he could not come after me before I found Rurik. I have done nothing to harm him.” She looked towards her folded hands. “I have come here because I used dark magic. I have never harmed a Dragon, but I took from pixies and fairies. I did it to save my sister, but I fear it means I am no longer pure hearted.” She turned her gaze up to them once more. “I come here with the request that I be purified by dragonfire. He will not do so, and Rurik has told me he will not either. I hope you will give me that blessing so I may be with my Dragon parent in the next life.”