Page 5

Chapter

Five

Selle

I t was amazing. The whole thing, from the moment I’d gone into heat and Gildur had taken me into his arms to the moment I fell asleep with my arms around our egg, Gildur spooning me protectively, was absolutely amazing.

So many of the things Tovey had told us made sense to me now. The complete lack of logic that made me feel as though Gildur had always been the most central part of my life, even though I’d only just met him days ago. Going suddenly into heat because I’d met my fated mate. Conceiving almost instantly with that first union of our bodies. Everything having to do with the process of birthing an egg. They had just been stories Tovey told before, but now that I’d experienced it all, everything fit exactly into place.

For the first time in my life, I felt as if I fit exactly into place. I belonged somewhere, in my dragon’s arms. I had family that extended beyond just my brothers. I still loved my brothers wholeheartedly and I always would, but I had Gildur now and our egg. A whisper at the back of my head said that I had Gildur’s dragon brothers as well, and probably a lot more family because of it.

I loved that feeling. I loved the warmth and safety of knowing I was loved and a part of something. Tovey had been heroic to return to us after meeting and mating with his dragon. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do the same. I didn’t want to do anything but stay with Gildur, cozy in our bed with our egg…which felt like it was sleeping now.

Curious. Did eggs sleep? Were they ever awake? Did they have thoughts and feelings? I would have to do so much research on the subject.

My mind had started to make lists of the topics I needed to research as I lay, only halfway awake, in my dragon’s bed, but I was jolted into full wakefulness by a sudden knock on the bedchamber door. It startled me, and the egg, because I wasn’t aware that anyone else was in the house.

“What is it?” Gildur demanded, grumpy in his drowsiness.

I thought it was adorable, until a male voice answered, “If you please, Your Highness. You must come at once. Ogres are attacking Lady Saoirse’s serfs!”

I felt a pulse of alarm and…guilt from Gildur through our bond. He was immediately fully awake and sat.

“Who is that?” I asked, waking up quickly as well. I sat, pulling our egg close to my stomach.

“It’s my steward, Lambert,” he said, scooting to the side of the bed and getting out .

Gildur grabbed a robe that looked as though it were made of gold threads from a hook beside the bed and put it on. The fabric pooled and shimmered around his body as if it were made of liquid. Once he’d secured his robe with a sash, he headed for the door.

I sat straighter, gathering the pillows and blankets around me to preserve my modesty as much as possible and finding my glasses amongst the bedcovers. When I nodded to Gildur as he grabbed the doorhandle, he pulled the door open.

“Your Highness,” the middle-aged beta on the other side of the door said, bowing low.

The man startled when he straightened and saw me cocooned in the coverlet and pillows of Gildur’s bed. His eyes went even wider when he saw the top of the egg, which poked out above the covers.

"I'm terribly, terribly sorry, Your Highness," Lambert the steward stammered. “I didn’t know.”

“What is this about the ogres attacking Lady Saoirse’s serfs?” Gildur asked, his irritation at our quiet time being interrupted spilling over into his mood as he addressed his servant.

Lambert took a moment to glance between the two of us before deciding, I assumed, that the most important thing he could do in that moment was discharge his duty. “They attacked at dawn, when half the serfs were still asleep. They may still be attacking.”

“And who sent this word along?” Gildur asked.

“Galahad the Centaur, Your Highness,” Lambert said, bowing slightly. He took another peek at me.

I could still feel annoyance from Gildur, but strangely, it was directed mostly at himself and not Lambert.

“As you can see,” Gildur said, stepping aside slightly and acknowledging me, “I have just found my fated mate. We have been blessed with an egg already. I know that the people of Lady Saoirse’s estate have been relying on dragonkind for help, but I’m not certain I can simply rush off to assist them at this moment.”

“What?” I asked, sitting straighter.

The covers slipped down around me, revealing even more of my egg. Lambert stared at it with a strange look in his eyes, like he wanted the egg. That caused me to hunker down and hug my baby tightly.

“We cannot go rushing off to fight ogres when you’ve just birthed an egg,” Gildur said, rubbing his forehead like he had a headache. “As much as I might want to,” he added quietly.

“What should I tell Galahad?” Lambert asked warily.

Gildur sighed, throwing his arms out and letting them flop to his sides. “I don’t know,” he said. “I…I should…I cannot…my omega and my egg need me.”

“Tell them that we are coming,” I said, holding my egg close and shuffling to the edge of the bed. “Tell them we will help.”

“Selle,” Gildur scolded me with a frown. He turned to Lambert and said, “Tell Galahad to?—”

“Tell him to let the serfs know we are coming,” I said so firmly that both Gildur and Lambert glanced to me with surprise.

I scrambled off of the bed, clutching the egg to me with one hand and a pillow over my genitals with the other. That left no hands to straighten my glasses, which I’m certain made me look ridiculous.

“Those people need us,” I argued with Gildur. “We cannot let them fend for themselves against a clump of ogres. ”

Gildur sighed in exasperation, but it was the deep, strange guilt that I felt most strongly from him. He turned to Lambert and said, “Fine. Tell Galahad to let the people know we’re coming.”

Lambert bowed and backed out of the room, saying, “Yes, Your Highness.” He spared a small, approving smile for me as he went.

“And just how do you propose we fly off to fight a clump of ogres when you’ve just birthed an egg and haven’t fully recovered yet?” Gildur asked me, coming over to help me untangle from the edge of the covers that were still wrapped around my leg.

He had a point. Despite sleeping better than I’d slept in years, my entire midsection ached from wild, passionate dragon sex and from birthing an egg.

“I’ll be fine,” I said, though I wasn’t convinced I would be, as I stepped free of the bedcovers and looked for my clothes from the night before. “My pains are small. Those of the serfs will be great if we don’t intervene to do something.”

“Darling, you’re clearly not ready to get out of bed,” Gildur huffed, though I felt nothing but affection and concern for him. I was quickly coming to learn, now that the two of us were bonded, that the expressions Gildur made and the words he spoke were not true reflections of how he actually felt.

“I’m as right as rain. All I need are clothes and we can go help the serfs,” I said, remembering that my clothes were back at the castle.

Gildur shook his head and crossed the room to a large wardrobe with gold designs inlaid into the warm brown wood. “I’m certain I have something that will do for you. ”

“You have clothing to fit an omega of my stature?” I eyed him suspiciously, hugging our egg tighter.

Gildur opened the wardrobe door and arched an eyebrow at me, then took out a plain pair of trousers and a shirt that were clearly much too big for me. “Put these on and I’ll take care of the rest.”

I set our egg gingerly on the foot of the bed so that I could reach for the trousers and shirt he offered. I groaned and winced a little as I did, which only increased the exasperated, caring feelings from Gildur.

“Fine,” Gildur said at last stepping closer to me as I danced around, trying to put my trousers on while standing. “I suppose I could use a bit of healing magic. But I must warn you, I’m not half as good at it as Emmerich.”

I wasn’t certain what he was talking about until Gildur caught me in his arms from behind. I jerked straight at the warm, wonderful feeling of being enveloped in my alpha’s embrace. Then he slid his hands over my bare stomach and drew in a breath.

“Oh!” I gasped as a tingly, itchy feeling filled my insides. “Ohhh!” I dragged the syllable out as the pains I’d been feeling slowly eased, then vanished altogether.

“Healing magic,” Gildur purred against my ear, then kissed the side of my neck near where he’d left his mark.

“It’s rather wonderful,” I said, stretching as he loosened his embrace and moving to feel all the things he’d done to make me better. “Oh.” I stopped and blinked at how blurry the world suddenly was. “I’m not sure it worked,” I said, twisting to blink and squint at him.

I could see enough to tell that Gildur was grinning with self-satisfaction. “It’s worked exactly the way it should, darling,” he said, then plucked my glasses from my face.

My gut squeezed and twirled as I saw Gildur, the bedroom, and everything around me as clearly as I ever had, and without glasses.

“Amazing!” I said, touching my face to see if it felt different. “You’ve fixed my vision!”

“Perhaps,” Gildur said, stepping back and moving back to the wardrobe. “Correcting vision isn’t as simple as all that. You may find you need your glasses again in a few days, when the magic wears off.”

I was amazed that he could correct my vision for even a short period of time, though it was disconcerting to be able to see without my ever-present glasses sitting on my nose.

I put on the clothing Gildur had fetched for me as he dressed in fresh clothing, then held my arms out. “I look like a child dressing in his papa’s clothes,” I said, laughing slightly.

“No, you don’t,” Gildur said.

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but with a quick wave of his hand, the clothes shrank to fit me perfectly.

“Oh! That’s handy,” I said, glancing down at myself, then smiling up at him.

Gildur pretended aloofness, but I could feel how pleased and lighthearted he felt. “Having a dragon around is handy, or so I’m told.”

I returned his look of fake conceit with a teasing grin. “Then perhaps you can conjure up some sort of sling or pack so that I can carry our egg as we make our way to the estate where this ogre attack is happening?” I suggested.

Gildur’s sly look vanished. “You do not have to do this, my darling. This is my mission and mine alone.”

I raised my eyebrows at that. Clearly, there was more going on than I knew about as of yet.

“You can stay here, building your nest for our most excellent egg while I deal with the ogres and Saoirse,” Gildur went on.

I shivered at the idea of being without my dragon mate so soon after he’d claimed and bred me. “No,” I insisted. “Your mission is my mission. If there’s anything I can do to help those people, I want to do it. And the egg is coming with us.”

I remembered what Tovey said about having a nursemaid look after his eggs while he and Rufus returned to our world to fight against our father’s evil plan to hurt the farmers of his kingdom, but the idea of doing the same with my egg was abhorrent.

Gildur frowned at me. “You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you,” he said.

“I am not,” I said, holding my chin up and hugging our egg close. “It wouldn’t be right,” I added, relenting a little. “Please let me help. I cannot help the people of my own kingdom, so perhaps I can help these serfs.”

“Alright, meddlesome mate of mine,” Gildur said, stepping forward to kiss me.

His kiss was sweet and deep, and it almost convinced me to forget the whole ogre situation so that we could go back to bed. Being bred by my fated mate wasn’t nearly enough. I wanted to spend hours making love to him and exploring all the things I’d only ever been able to dream about before.

I could feel that Gildur wanted that, too, but he stepped back instead. He rested his hands over my hand and the egg as I cradled it close, and when he stepped even farther back, a tight, leather sling had formed itself out of the fibers of my clothing, securing the egg against me, close to my heart.

“We’ll need to fly to Saoirse’s estate,” Gildur said, backing up farther. “Come.”

He held out a hand and led me to the balcony we’d landed on the night before. It was wide for a balcony, but as soon as Gildur began his transformation, shifting into a small version of his golden-scaled dragon form so that I could climb onto his back, I could see why.

As soon as he launched into the air, his body grew and elongated into the full-sized dragon I’d ridden the night before. There was no feeling quite as exciting as riding a dragon as it climbed up towards morning-tinted clouds. It was a good thing that I felt as though my egg was safe and that I didn’t need my glasses.

I cried out with the fun of the whole thing, whooping like Leo when he’d stolen one of the faster horses from our father’s stable years ago and gone careening off over the countryside before the guards could catch him. Gildur indulged my sense of excitement by turning circles in the sky, speeding up, then slowing down and dropping, only to soar up again when I was certain we would crash. He was wicked to play with me and our egg that way when we had a mission to see to, but I loved him for it anyhow.

He sobered up after the first part of the ride, as we traveled through the valley, then up over a set of tall hills and on to a fertile, grassy plain beyond. There were fewer trees in that part of the kingdom, so I could see all the way across the vast farmland to a grand mansion set near a winding stream. It was surrounded by verdant, green gardens that I could see dotted with colorful flowers, even from a distance.

The estate wasn’t what caught my attention, though. The property itself was surrounded by a wall, and on the other side of the wall were three small villages. One of them was in the process of being smashed by huge, rock-like shapes, the clump of ogres .

“Hurry,” I told Gildur, squeezing his body tightly with my legs.

Gildur growled and zoomed toward the attacking ogres. As we drew closer, I could see dozens of ordinary men and women fighting back with whatever they had. It didn’t look like they were winning, though.

Gildur roared as soon as we were close enough for the ogres to hear us. I was worried for a moment that they’d be too stupid to notice a dragon in the sky above them, but I needn’t have worried.

One of the larger ogres turned and bellowed in fear, pointing up to Gildur in the sky. As soon as he made his noise, the others turned to look as well. Gildur roared again and breathed fire at them as he swooped down toward them. I shouted as well, though I didn’t think a slight omega yelling would scare them at all.

Perhaps I was wrong. Or more likely, ogres were just terrified of dragons. As soon as they saw Gildur, they began to flee. The serfs were encouraged by our arrival, although I couldn’t tell if they were just as afraid as the ogres were. They fought back, poking and hitting the ogres with their pitchforks and clubs as Gildur continued to swoop and dive at them.

It wasn’t much of a battle, in all honesty. Ogres were apparently cowards as well as bullies. They ran as Gildur scattered them, and they didn’t stop, even when Gildur chased after a different one. Within minutes, the attack was over and the terrified ogres were all running away, bellowing.

“Ogres,” Gildur snorted, twin, small plumes of fire shooting from his nose. “They’re unforgivably stupid.”

I laughed as Gildur wheeled back to the edge of the serf village, where people were picking up the pieces and putting out a few fires. I was eager to speak to the men and women, and even some children, who had come out to defend their homes so valiantly.

Gildur landed softly at the edge of the village, but instead of transforming into his human form, he rolled his shoulders a little to help me get down.

“That was spectacular!” one of the village women said, her eyes round as she smiled at me.

“Thank Goddess you arrived when you did, Lord Dragon” a tall, broad-shouldered alpha said, striding forward. “I don’t think we could have held out much longer.”

“We did what we could,” I said, still breathless as I stroked my egg against my chest. “Was anyone hurt? Do you need healing?”

“We’re all well and accounted for,” the alpha said, glancing to the woman, who rushed to his side and hugged him. “They were only attacking the buildings.”

“Ogres like nothing more than destruction,” another man, a beta by the look of him, joined the couple.

“Why would they want to destroy your village?” I asked, glancing around at the serfs who left what they were doing to come speak with me. “Who would want to attack a group of defenseless villagers?”

Several of the people huffed and shook their heads.

“Lady Saoirse says she’ll offer us protection, but she’s done nothing,” the alpha said.

“She’s done nothing but demand every coin and every crop we have in order to protect us,” the woman said, then spit in the dirt. “If you ask me, she created the problem so that she could solve it.”

“But why would anyone do that?” I asked.

“Why indeed?” Gildur said .

I turned to where I expected him to be, but the spot was empty. Instead, he strode around the corner, dressed in simple peasant’s clothing, as if he’d only just arrived from the estate itself.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes, wondering if I needed my glasses again already. I hadn’t noticed my beloved leaving or resuming his human form. Judging from the way the serfs looked at him, they hadn’t noticed him, or rather the dragon, leave. It occurred to me with a start that the alpha had called me “Lord Dragon” as if they thought I was the one who had transformed into a human when Gildur landed. They did seem to recognize Gildur as he arrived on the scene, though.

“Gildur,” the alpha said, stepping away from me to shake my beloved’s hand. “Thank Goddess you’ve come at last.”

“I came as soon as I heard, Freddy,” Gildur replied, shaking the alpha’s hand.

“Gildur is one of the head gardeners of Lady Saoirse’s estate,” the woman said as she moved to stand by my side. “He’s the only person within the walls who has ever looked out for us.”

My brow shot up for several reasons. Did the serfs not know Gildur was the dragon who had saved them? And was Gildur really Lady Saoirse’s gardener? There were definitely a mountain of things going on that I needed to find out about and quickly.

I found out about one of those things almost right away. One of the doors in the estate’s wall opened, and a tall, incredibly beautiful woman with long, wavy, black hair and a gown that was far too tight, even though her figure was perfect, rushed out, flanked by six guards. They reminded me so much of my father’s guards that I winced .

“Is it over?” Lady Saoirse asked, her look one of concern, but also reeking of insincerity. “Have those horrible ogres gone away? Gildur, tell me those ogres have gone away and left us alone.”

The woman herself was shocking enough, but when she rushed up to my dragon, my fated mate, grabbed his arm to hug it, and leaned into him, looking like she would kiss him, I nearly squeaked in indignation.