Sugar & Dragon Act I: Temptation (Sugar & Dragon #1)

IV Hera

Hera’s heartbeat accelerated. Her surroundings seemed to blur, and she felt like she would soon melt with pleasure. Despite the cool eyes of the man next to her, the look of concentration in them made her body temperature increase, and though she was only wearing a loose dress, she was growing uncomfortable. His voice… A pleasant tingle spread across her body. His voice was like a wave, gently washing her skin in a stimulating caress.

She felt like she could do anything to keep the man talking.

“Tell me the truth,” Dago encouraged. “Why are you here?”

“I think it’s a test,” she said. She couldn’t—she didn’t want to tear her gaze away from his face. “Master Homer says that one of us must become the Archmagus. I don’t want it, but I would have to do it if you nightmared. I don’t want you to nightmare. I want to devote myself to healing and research.”

The man frowned slightly. His gaze fell to her lips and stayed there. Then he blinked, as if he was waking from a dream. He met her eyes again. “You don’t want to be the Archmagus?”

He edged away, but she felt he was still giving her all his attention. When she nodded, he asked, “Then what kind of test are you talking about? If you refuse, then I’m the only candidate, aren’t I?”

“Master is hesitating. I think he might have put a spell on me to see how you would behave.”

“How I would behave?” Dago repeated.

His gaze wandered to her lips again, and then lower, to her neck and cleavage. He swallowed, then straightened himself. He rubbed his temple with his fingers as if he was having a migraine.

“It makes no sense,” he said, and at first Hera wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or himself. “How is your curse related to my behavior?”

“I don’t know how to reverse the spell,” Hera confessed reluctantly. “I’ve searched almost the entire Royal Library, but I haven’t found anything useful about metal transmutation.”

“Of course not. Every alchemist dreams of inventing the Philosopher’s Stone, but no one has ever managed to…” He glanced at her fingers. “Maybe because they didn’t try with sugar,” he murmured.

“I think that if this is indeed a test, Master might have deliberately chosen a spell that I wouldn’t be able to handle.”

“Ah.” His brow smoothed as he recognized her reasoning, but soon his face darkened again. “But how did he know you would seek my help?”

Hera felt a treacherous warmth on her cheeks. She didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want to tell the truth either.

Dago narrowed his eyes, noticing her hesitation. “You can tell me the truth,” he said. His tone changed just a bit, but it was enough to make her skin tingle. “Why did Sokratis think you would ask me for help?”

“Because I don’t know anyone as good at cracking spells as you.”

Dago fell silent, clearly surprised, as if it hadn’t occurred to him that Hera might have a favorable opinion of him in any area. He surveyed her face as if looking for signs of a lie. Apparently, he didn’t find them, because a smile crept across his lips. “I appreciate your honesty, Galenos.”

Her cheeks burned even more. Fortunately, Dago must have taken this as a sign of her inner struggle with pride, so instead of delving into the topic of her embarrassment, he returned to the nub of the matter.

“Alright, let’s assume that Sokratis is responsible for your curse. Do you have any guesses about the nature of this test? You mentioned my behavior, but what exactly did you mean?”

“The Archmagus should help all who ask him for help. I think that in addition to testing your problem-solving abilities, Master wants to see if you can put aside your pride and help someone you hate.”

For a moment it seemed that Dago wanted to say something, but instead he blinked, and his pupils rounded. His gaze shifted to the surface of the pool—against the black tiles, it looked like the hiding place of an oceanic nightmare. He was silent for so long that she thought he had forgotten about her, but eventually, he turned his head toward her again.

“I think we should marry.”

His dispassionate tone contrasted so starkly with the content of his words that despite working at top speed, Hera’s mind couldn’t see any sense in his behavior. Before she could feel horror at his sudden nightmaring, however, Midais spoke again.

“People would love to see you as Archmagus, but you don’t want it. I want to, but most people wouldn’t like it. If the general dislike toward me continues, you’ll have to take over my post, which means you need to help me silence the doubts others have about me. If people think that you see me as trustworthy, they’ll start to trust me too. Do you understand?”

Hera stared at him, bewildered. The arguments he presented were as logical as she could have hoped, but they didn’t reassure her as much as they should have.

“Can’t we just pretend to be friends?” she asked weakly.

“That might have been enough if my parents hadn’t attempted a coup. In this case, only a marriage to someone of your reputation could help our cause.”

Hera swallowed. She didn’t want it to be their cause, but for it not to be their cause, she would have to accept the office she didn’t want. Instead of research and healing, she would have to deal with law and politics…

A nightmare.

“Is there no one else who would like to marry you?”

“There might be a few candidates,” Dago replied without an ounce of hesitation. “But their reputation could worsen our situation.”

“What about Deianira Ikaros? Despite a nightmarish ancestor, her family is respected and wealthy. Besides, you seem to like each other?”

The last sentence sounded like a question, because Dago’s face took on a strange expression, and Hera suddenly felt abashed asking about his private matters.

“Nira is my unpretending friend,” Dago said. “But her reputation hasn’t helped me so far, has it? Everyone considers our acquaintance a normal thing because of her nightmarish ancestor.”

As Hera fell silent, frantically searching for counterarguments, Dago amplified the chaos in her head. “By marrying me, you will gain funds for research, hospital renovation, and supplies.”

Her eyes widened. Was he trying to bribe her?

“I’m not trying to bribe you,” he said. “If you marry me, I will want our business to prosper.”

Oh. Right. That was understandable.

“And what with…” Hera trailed off, looking for a diplomatic term for Dago’s condition. “What with your needs ? I doubt people will respect you if they find out that you regularly commit adultery.”

This time it was he who fell silent, watching her in shock. When his pupils narrowed, Hera tensed, bracing herself for a wave of unbridled pleasure. But instead of a pleasant tingle, a cold shiver ran across her skin.

“Are you saying,” Dago said slowly, pressing on each word, “that you’re planning to cheat on me after the wedding?”