Page 6 of Brutal Dragon King (Nayara Dragon Kings #1)
Rapping my fingers on the table, I stroke a hand over my chin, deliberating Mother's concerns about keeping the child-bearer in my quarters.
Truthfully, I couldn't care less that the human is in my chambers, separated by nothing more than a locked door that I stared at for the better part of last night. After dealing with an insolent human who was caught stealing in the market—dealt with the correct way—my thirst for blood was quenched, and I thought that it was what had me seeing red when I met the human child-bearer.
I was wrong. I'm never wrong. But I hate that I stood by that door between the guest bedroom and my bedroom, and felt like something was missing.
A gaping hole left a void in my chest and had me clenching my fists and wrestling with my inner dragon, who refused to accept that the human is nothing more than a slave. I blame my inner dragon, who's seemingly accepted full responsibility for the pull it felt toward the human.
On the other hand, I refuse to take accountability for this unjustifiable feeling. Beauty is shallow, and there's no way I could ever be attracted to a measly human woman.
“ You do realize that this does not look good for you,” Mother points out.
Clearing my throat and straightening up, I lean forward and watch her over steepled fingers.
“It seems you do not know your eldest son at all,” I quip with a snide scoff. “Since when would I, Haid?n Nayara, King of The Spine of Nayara, care about what my people think of me? Anyone who questions my methods will be punished.”
Mother is taken aback, breathing in deeply as she processes my firm statement. She seems pleased, a trace of a smirk on her lips.
“Don't let her get too comfortable in the palace,” Mother sneers. “She's not meant to roam around freely, but you haven't put a stop to it.”
I pause for a moment, prompted to glance over my shoulder, when a wave of irritation washes over me.
Is she roaming around freely? Did Aerwyna not tell her to remain in the bedroom? Or were my threats not clear enough?
Turning back to Mother, I don't let her catch my irritation when I say, “That's the thing with prisoners, don't you think, Mother?” I smirk crudely. “If you give them enough rope, they'll end up hanging themselves.” Another point to add to the way I plan on letting the human think she can get away with her insolence. It will only add to the tally of how I plan on unleashing my wrath on her, even if I don't have a list just yet.
Mother's eyes twinkle, and she's satisfied with my response. I don't wish to keep dwelling on the subject of the child-bearer, even if my mother is here to discuss the mating ritual that will take place during the upcoming full moon.
It's only a few days to go before I'll have no choice but to grace the human with my presence again. I'm not opposed to the challenge presented by her disobedience, but I have to deal with the internal war that rages when she's near me.
I can't stand her, and I can't stand the idea that her beauty captivates me in ways that no human should.
It's preposterous, and I have to do everything in my power to remain unbothered. Rising to my feet, my fingertips remain braced on the desk when I tell my mother in a firm, authoritative tone,
“You will handle the ritual proceedings, Mother. I do not wish to be overly involved. I have more important things to take care of.”
“Hestios…” Mother acknowledges, and to my relief, the subject changes when I update her about our plans to conquer Khyronia.
“... He's aware of our plans, and he's preparing troops all around his city,” I reveal.
“I take it you and your brothers have your plans in place?” Mother speculates, and I continue sternly.
“Yes,” I concede with a firm nod. “King Hestios thinks he's formed a clever plan to keep his kingdom safe from us, but we're the Nayara brothers, after all,” I wink. “Nothing will stand in the way of us getting what we want.”
“Not even Raven?” Mother asks about the Khyronian king's mate. In his quest to be a more powerful kingdom than the Nayara Dynasty, Hestios mated with a witch. The only shortfall was that she wasn't able to conceive a child.
This extraordinary phenomenon only ever occurred between my parents, and through them, my brothers and I were born. The world couldn't handle too many powerfully bred dragon shifters and stopped with the three of us.
“We can handle a witch,” I assure my mother, standing pridefully tall. “It's Hestios that should be afraid. He will lose not only his kingdom but his head too if he tries standing in our way.” Taking a deep, firm breath, I turn toward the study window and gaze out at the morning sun overlooking The Spine.
“ Brothers…” I call mentally to my brothers, who've each taken a different responsibility when it comes to our plans. Jaid?n is in charge of rounding up our troops since his people undergo extensive combat training. Kaid?n, on the other hand, rules his kingdom in a more tech-savvy way, and he's in charge of outlining the route we'll use to attack Khyronia.
“... I hereby call forth your attendance to The Spine tonight. We have much to discuss.”
“Got it, King Haid?n.” They reply in unison, though they're on opposite sides of the Dynasty.
I turn to Mother, who'd been in on our brief conversation, and notice the trace of a frown on her face.
“The ritual—” she begins, just as I expected, but I interject with a raised hand to stop her.
“Like I said before, you will handle the ritual proceedings. It is not a grand affair that demands my attention,” I say firmly before stepping out from behind my desk. “Now, if you'll excuse me, Mother, I have a game this morning.”
After bidding my mother goodbye, I head down and meet my guards in the hallway. They bow their heads when I appear, and I dismiss the others, except Ryu, my close friend, and head of the guard.
Patting him on the back, I'm grateful for the respite of today's air hockey game in the rink. I need the distraction so that my mind doesn't dwell on what will inevitably occur between the human and me.
I also need to blow off some steam, and there's nothing like a game of air hockey to soothe both my human and my dragon.
The playful pat on Ryu's back informs him that I've just dropped my standing as his king and taken on the role of his friend. He lifts his visor and grins at me, eyes sparkling with jest.
“You're in a good mood,” he comments as we walk out onto the veranda.
“Am I?” I quip with a chuckle. “I was hoping the game would put me at ease.”
“Well, after yesterday…” his voice tapers off, and I frown at him.
“What about yesterday?” I ask with a quizzically lifted brow.
He clears his throat into a fist. “The thief…”
“Oh… right…” My throat feels dry, so I cough to clear it. “It was a trivial thing,” I dismissed with a shrug. “These lowly thugs don't deserve to breathe the air we do.”
“Of course. Fucking humans.”
“Yeah… Fucking humans…”
The lighthearted conversation between us leads into the garden, and out of the corner of my eye, I spot an unfamiliar figure walking through the flowering gardens. Where an areca palm tree's leaves weep and cast shade over a group of blooming buds, ripe from last night’s rainfall, I watch as that figure disappears behind the trunk.
“Fucking humans…” I repeat in a murmur, irritation coiling in the pit of my belly as I watch the human prance around as if she’s so comfortable in the palace gardens.
Something primal grows inside me, materializing into a low growl. “What is her name?” I ask Ryu.
“Who?” he hoots like an owl, and I throw him an irritated glare.
“The human,” I say. “My human.” The correction is made impulsively, as if compelled by my inner dragon, who picks up the reins of my tongue for a split second to show its sudden bout of possessiveness over the child-breeder. The feeling washes over me in a raging wave that grips my being, forcing me to turn back to watch her as she leans down and plucks a white rose from the garden.
“Althea Waters,” Ryu replies, the name echoing in my mind as if my skull just emptied and I had become brainless.
The repetition of her name in my mind finally rolls off my tongue when I murmur, “Althea Waters…” recognizing that it’s the first time since my reign as the king of The Spine that I’ve even taken interest in a human’s name.
I could never care for humans before, not viewing their lives as worthy of my time, let alone speak their names out loud, into my reality to take up space in my time construct. Now that I’ve spoken the child-bearer’s name, I feel compelled to go to her, my strings being pulled by a force that feels stronger than my status.
“Go on without me,” I say to Ryu, peering curiously at Althea as she lifts the rosebud to her nose, her eyelids fluttering closed as she inhales.
“But Hai—” He's about to address me informally, but I wield my position as the king when I lift a hand and turn a neutral expression on him.
“It’s an order, Ryu,” I grate authoritatively, to which the head of the royal guard instantly bows and accepts the order when he turns mechanically and marches off toward the hockey rink. When he’s out of sight, I lift my attention back to Althea, disappearing behind the pine tree again.
What comes over me feels deranged, a mixture of possessiveness and irritation spurring my steps as I march into the garden on the opposite side of the tree. When Althea appears, I snatch the rose from her hand, startling her when a squeamish shriek escapes her full lips.
“What are you doing here?!” I roar with primal possessiveness.
Her brows furrow into a firm frown as she lifts her eyes to mine. “I am picking flowers.”
A condescending laugh escapes me, a full belly rumble that turns me even more manic as I throw my head back.
“Picking flowers?” I scoff at the absurdity of the statement, drawing my eyes back to hers as I glare down into her face. I’m about to add to the retort, but when I open my mouth to speak, I’m hit with a wave of tenderness that comes as a result of the way her hazel eyes sparkle as she glares at me.
Her beauty is out of this world, ethereal, as if she isn’t just a human villager born in The Emberlands. In the depths of her soft, glowing eyes, I enter a portal that leads me to her soul which speaks of her delicate nature, of her gracefulness that cannot be seen in her outer appearance.
I've never been fearful of anything before. Not even our quest to conquer Khyronia is a scary scheme, and I'm certain that it's something we'll achieve as easy as breathing.
But somehow, I'm afraid of the pull my dragon feels toward the human. Not because I can't handle this and remain cold toward her, but because this feeling should be considered illegal.
Mustering all my mental strength to the fore, I finally gain the courage to reel myself out of this daze and come back to my senses. But then I see her outer appearance, dressed in a bland kaftan that distinguishes the slaves from the dragon shifters in The Spine. It doesn’t help that her body is voluptuous enough to be considered delectable.
There’s a deep, innate need that tingles my fingers with a desire to feel her supple curves beneath my palms. I mentally chastise myself for the craving, since I’m able to exercise self-control in every other aspect of my life.
Except this one. My mind is at war with my body’s impulses, and I curl my hands into fists, growling ferally at the human and noticing that she doesn’t flinch.
Unlike me, she doesn’t seem to have a single fear. How can she not fear me when I am her king?
I should have thrown her into the slaves’ quarters with the rest of the child-bearers. What was I thinking, giving her special treatment as if she'd be my queen?
No one will ever have the privilege of being called my queen. She's nothing more than a breeding vessel to bring forth my heir through the portal between her legs. Legs I wish to spread and devour—
“You are not meant to be roaming the gardens freely, slave,” I spit the last word out venomously, taking a deliberate step forward.
Althea backs away, and it prompts me to step forward and corner her against the tree. But even then, when her back hits the tree trunk, she doesn’t flinch as if fear isn’t an emotion she recognizes.
“Did you not hear me? You were meant to remain in the guest bedroom, awaiting my orders.”
Althea lifts her chin with a defiant air of might that no human should have while they’re cornered by their king. “I will not stay in that room. I’m already here, and I agree to this whole charade. What more do you want from me?”
The escalation of her tone is vexing, and I feel the blood rush out of my hands and race through my arms with how tightly my fists are curled. I uncurl one to slam it against the tree beside her head, but even the force of the tree shaking doesn’t cause her to flinch.
It’s frustrating, but at the same time, it’s also what sparks more desire in me.
How is that possible? Why is her disobedience so thrilling when I have never had to force it out of others?
“Obey me, Althea! I am your king!” I roar, drawing my face closer until I’m a mere an inch away. Our faces are so close, that I feel our breaths mingling in the air between us, and can almost taste the sweetness of her mouth against the stern muskiness of my own.
“No,” she says, challenging me with a twinkle in her eyes.
Her one-word reply is all it takes to turn irritation into fury. Without a second thought or warning, my nostrils flare as I step back and shift on impulse, my dragon spreading out and webbed wings sprouting from my shoulder blades. I give one powerful flap of my wings in front of her face, and it sends her hair blowing out behind her. This time, she flinches, the human clearly afraid of the magnificent beast I stand in now.
I lift my dragon head and roar toward the sky, then grab Althea with dexterous claws, clamping her waist to pick her up off her feet. She feels featherlight between my claws, even when she wiggles and claws with her dainty fingers at my arms.
“Let go of me! Put me down!” Her yelping and screaming only spurs me on to fly higher, over the clouds, until the kingdom below is barely visible.
Sliding my claws under her arms and holding her out in front of me like an insolent child, I unleash my power with a mighty roar over her head that's followed by a breath of hot, fiery air that blows out over the top of her head. I watch the way her eyes flicker up, and the way her bottom lip quivers. Between my talons, her body trembles from fear.
That's all I needed to instill fear into her—shift into dragon form and show her the magnitude of my powers. As if this isn't enough, I throw her over my shoulder as if she's weightless, and fly at full speed toward the hockey rink.
Ignoring the prying eyes of the kingdom's dragon shifters gathered I'm the rink, I glide down to the front row of the bleachers, plant Althea on her feet, and shift back to human form. Her breath comes in hot pants, her chest heaving unsteadily as I grab her shoulders between my human hands and push her onto the seat.
Satisfied with how wide her eyes have become, and how pale her face is, I lean down and stare into her eyes with firm conviction. Her breath hitches, and she doesn't even move.
“Do. Not. Move,” I command firmly, noticing her gulping. “That is an order from your king, do you understand?”
She nods timidly, the little color left on her face draining along with the last semblance of my patience. With a grunt, I spin and unclip the buckle on my waist, holding my sword, then fling the holster off toward the side. One of the guards catches it swiftly, each one of my men effortlessly on standby and at my beck and call whenever I need them.
It's only Althea Waters who dares to disobey me, but I will have none of that anymore.
Shifting into dragon form and flying her to the highest peaks of the kingdom seemed to do the trick. The only trouble is that I can feel her presence behind me, and it's unnerving.
I can't stand Althea, but I also need her under my nose, the possessiveness I feel consuming my being.
I shouldn't be feeling this way.