The Dragon's Distrust (7 page)

Another thrust pulled Tania out of her
reverie. She squirmed under Aristo who snarled his ecstasy. She
could feel his rapture and she knew he was close. His snarls turned
into growls and they were not growls of rhapsody. They were growls
of protection—ownership.

The water immediately stopped churning
and Tania held her breath. Patryck had arrived and he was standing
proud and erect in front of them.

Tania quickly darted into a standing
position, allowing Aristo to slip from her. She was embarrassed
Patryck had seen her like this. Yes, they were adults and they were
all lovers, but this was not modest or how a lady should be. Her
cheeks flushed and she tried to hide herself within the
bushes.

“Don’t be shy, Princess,” Patryck spoke
softly and evenly but there was a note of anger in his voice. His
bright blue eyes looked stormy under the shadowy canopy of the
forest. A storm was brewing under the cool surface of
Patryck.

Tania slunk further into the bramble.
She knew a confrontation was on the horizon. She had been the
center of abuse all her life and the feeling was her sixth sense.
She did not wish to get in the middle of a dragon fight. She always
listened to the warnings in her heart.

Aristo stood his ground and crossed his
arms over his chest, “Good to see you alive,” he said at Patryck
but Aristo was clearly thinking otherwise. Although Tania and
Aristo had a conversation regarding her betrayal, Aristo had not
spoken to Patryck about the situation and Tania was positive there
would be no more words—only flung fists, kicks, and maybe
fire.

Patryck held Aristo’s death glare,
“Good to be alive.”

Silence passed awkwardly for several
moments. Each dragon measured the other one. Each dragon was just
waiting for the excuse to pounce.

Aristo broke the stare. He moved toward
Tania and stood in front of her, keeping her further away from
Patryck. As much as he said he had no issue with Tania sleeping
with Patryck, he had an issue.

“What do you think you’re doing with my
mate?” asked Patryck.

Aristo chuckled maliciously, “Your
mate? Tania is mine. Always has been and always will.”

“You may have claimed her first, but
she loves me. She claimed me as her dragon partner. The child she
is carrying is mine.”

Aristo looked at Tania sharply then
whipped his head back toward Patryck, “What did you just
say?”

“The dragon in her belly is mine. She
claimed me when I gave her my seed. Her womb will not deny
me.”

Aristo growled low and deep, “Is this
true?” The question was directed at Tania but she could not answer
him. She had barely the time to consider being pregnant. There were
so many other things being thrown in her path that the very thought
of carrying a baby dragon was too much for her to handle. She had
been ignoring Patryck’s words, wishing they were untrue. She wanted
them to be a lie not because she didn’t wish for children—she
did—but she was torn as to who she wanted the father to
be.

Aristo walked toward her and held her
hand. He lifted her chin and searched her face, “Tell me, Tania, is
this true?”

Tania fell into his arms and wept,
“Please forgive me. Please…”

Aristo remained stunned. He had
recently been tortured but nothing hurt him more than to know his
lover, his claimed mate, his Dragon Mother, was with another man’s
child. He stepped back and turned to face the forest, unwilling to
show his hurt and betrayal.

“Please, Aristo,” Tania whimpered,
tears streaming down her face.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” he
asked, his gaze looking out into the dim forest.

“I…” she paused, “I didn’t wish to hurt
you further. I love you so much.”

“I know you love me. I would have found
out eventually. To find out like this…to have Patryck spy on our
intimate moment and then rub this monstrosity in my
face…”

Patryck chose the wrong time to join
the conversation. He was young and immature, “The Princess is mine,
Aristo. She has my child. She carries on my legacy. You should
accept that and know I will allow you to play second fiddle every
now and then.” Aristo wasn’t the only dragon hurting. Patryck’s ego
had been bruised because he thought Tania had shunned him, ignored
him, and didn’t wish to have his baby. He was angry and his hatred
spilled from him.

Upon hearing those words, Aristo lunged
at Patryck and held him down, “You like water so much, Water
Dragon? How would you like to drown in it?” Aristo kept Patryck’s
face under the water, slammed it into the mud and made sure Patryck
could not breathe.

“Stop!” Tania screamed. She tried to
pull Aristo off of Patryck but she was no match physically. He
tossed her aside and kept his hate and rage directed at the Water
Dragon, “Stop!” she yelled. She cried the word “stop” so many times
it began to sound strange in her mouth. Finally, she dug her heels
into the soft bank and with every fiber of her being she bellowed
out the word, “Enough!”

The earth shook and the heavens wept.
Animals ran for shelter while leaves fell from their homes. The sky
darkened into a sickly shade of pale green as Tania commanded her
dragons to obey. As soon as she spoke the word, Aristo and Patryck
immediately stilled. She was the Dragon Mother and she could
command her dragons.

“This ends now,” she whispered. The sky
lightened slowly and Tania unclenched her fists. She began to walk
forward but stumbled. The ground she had been standing upon now
reached her knees. She had sunk. She pulled herself up and held her
head high, “I love you both. I admit it. You are both my dragons
just as I am your lover. You have claimed me and I have claimed
you. We belong to each other. We are a part of each other. We feel
each other’s pain but we also feel joy,” she placed a gentle hand
on Aristo’s shoulder, “When you first discovered I was pregnant,
before the anger, I felt jubilation. You were excited. Was that a
lie?”

He shook his head.

“It is my duty to carry on your
legacy—the legacy of all dragons. This is my destiny. You and
Stephan have told me this. You should be happy that a dragon will
be born. After decades of decay, the dragons will rise once
more.”

Aristo stood up and embraced her
tightly, “I am happy. I just wish the child was ours.”

She nodded, “I know. And one day we
will have a dragon child. But please be happy for Patryck and I. My
heart is breaking every moment you two force me to choose. Know
that I cannot choose. I will never be able to choose.”

Aristo pursed his lips, “I know but you
are asking a great deal of me. I do not share…”

Tania rested her head on his chest,
“Don’t leave me, Aristo.”

“I will never leave you.”

“Princess,” spoke Patryck, wiping the
muck from his face, “Aren’t you worried I’ll leave you?”

She shook her head and said simply,
“No.”

Patryck scoffed, “I might.”

She smiled, “No, you
wouldn’t.”

He sighed, “You’re right. I would never
leave you. But why do you keep pandering to Aristo? Each time you
run to him instead of me is like slapping me in the face. I do like
it rough, mind you, but not emotionally rough,” the rest of the
sentence became garbled as Patryck mumbled the words.

Tania pulled herself from
Aristo and with her eyes asked permission to embrace Patryck.
Aristo nodded and she reached for the Water Dragon. She tried to
clasp her hands around his waist but he was too thick. Instead, she
merely held him, “We have a…” she searched for the right word. The
words “different” and “interesting” came to mind but she said,
“a
special
relationship. Our relationship started off rocky—you forced
yourself on me. And then you helped me find Aristo, helped me
rescue tortured prisoners. You did so much for me that I could not
see you as a monster.”

“You saw me as a monster?” He looked
hurt but his tone clearly stated he was not. If anything, he was
proud of himself.

She frowned, “Not as such. But you were
very aggressive,” she continued with her earlier train of thought,
“You and I are bonded now. I,” she faced what she had been ignoring
for so long, “I am carrying your child.” When she finally spoke the
words out loud, she suddenly realized she was overjoyed hearing the
news. A warmth bubbled in her belly as excitement raced through her
veins. She was pregnant!

She laughed out loud and threw her arms
around Patryck’s neck. She peppered his face with kisses. He
squeezed her and lifted her into the air.

“I’m with child!”

“You’re with my child!” he
laughed.

Aristo spoke softly, “You will have a
family…a large, loving family…” He pulled both Patryck and Tania
into his burly arms, “Seeing you happy—finally happy—makes my
selfishness seem petty. You deserve good things.”

She truly smiled and cried her first
ever tears of joy. What she had now was pure love—more than just
sexual—she had partners, soul mates, real family. She felt blessed,
as if she was being rewarded for her lifetime of
suffering.

The good news put them all into a
better mood and the enmity between the dragons instantly died. New
life was beginning and it was welcome. There was no room for
animosity.

“I feel better now,” Tania said, “I
feel as if there is nothing more to worry about.”

“I think from here on out, life will be
good,” replied Patryck. The three continued to embrace long into
the afternoon.

Chapter 8

A large, glowing crystal burned
brightly in the dark cave. It lit up the surrounding shadows but
cast a sickly, ethereal light into the dim corners. The crystal
pulsed as if it was a beating heart. For centuries, the crystal had
not shone, had not beamed, it had been silent and still as the
dead. But life was coming back into the realm, magic was being
reborn and where magic and life thrived, so must all things dark.
It was the balance of the universe—it was not fair, nor gentle, it
was life.

Isbet unclasped each black button on
her red dress. Seducing Brynt had proved far easier than she could
ever imagine. He was ripe for the picking. Her plan was in motion
and at this point, it would not fail.

She had sacrificed much getting to this
point but as she gazed upon the glowing crystal, she knew her
actions had been worth it. She had given up her child, her
daughter, in order to revive the crystal. Once she had Tania’s
blood, the crystal would shatter and come to life. It was the heart
of the dragon, it was the heart of the very first dragon named
Camin. Isbet desperately wished to resurrect the ultimate dragon so
he could destroy this world and everything in it.

The dragons she had left
behind—Stephan, Morgan…so many others were weak. They could not
stand against even the puniest of humans, King Polas. Her kind was
hunted to the brink of extinction and still the dragons had done
nothing. They did not wish war even though open war was upon
them.

She did. She wished more than just war
on the realm. She wished for utter destruction.

The legend of Camin had been just
that—a legend—until she had furthered her research nearly half a
century ago. It was said that the frozen heart of Camin had been
hidden away by the Avalar. The Avalar created all beings and they
were proud of their accomplishments. But when they created the
first dragon, they had imbued unto him such power that he could not
be contained.

Camin had nearly decimated the realm of
the First Age. He laid the land in ruin and the Avalar were
appalled by his actions. They set a trap for him and then ripped
his heart from his chest. But Camin did not perish. His heart
continued to thump. The Avalar, confused as to what they should do,
hid his heart away, far from prying eyes and made sure the legend
of Camin was hidden away as well.

Legends and myth tend to never die.
They live on through the spoken and written word. Always there are
scribes and always there are rumors.

Isbet smiled while she caressed the
glowing blue aura. She would see this legend reborn. She would see
her plans come to fruition. Her cold heart would bitterly betray
her daughter. She would slay her daughter.

Isbet pulled a long, slender knife from
its sheath. The handle was ornately decorated in sapphires and
diamonds. The metal was near liquid. It was known as a Witka, named
for the necromancer who forged the metal into a magical water from
two drops of Camin’s blood. It would be this blade that she would
plunge into Tania’s heart. It would be this blade that would
resurrect Camin and create the realm anew.

A loud door slammed behind her in the
dank, echoing cave. Isbet quickly turned on her heel, “What are you
doing here?” She placed her hands on her hips and suspiciously
watched the man enter her chamber as if he owned it.

Narcil pushed back his dark hair as a
few sparks erupted from the friction, “You told me to find you once
I had more information…”

“Indeed. What have you to tell me?” She
kept both eyes upon him. He was a traitor to his race and once a
traitor, always a traitor. She knew not to trust anyone who could
so easily be swayed.