Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
There were many answers to her question, but in reality, it came down to one. Marcus had been contemplating the war with the humans ever since he’d arrived on Zora. Each encounter with the dragons had made him consider every action the Kings had taken that long-ago time.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Fedra said.
He glanced at the fire’s dancing flames.
There was still enough wood burning that he didn’t need to get up yet.
“Earth was once inhabited solely by dragons. We only learned recently that, before then, the Star People once enslaved them. But one of them took it upon himself to free the dragons. He created a world solely for them and gave his life to do so. For the first time, dragons knew freedom. They lived like that for a long time until humans arrived.”
“They just showed up?” she asked, her brow furrowed.
“Hardly. You see, the other Star People were outraged by what their brother had done and searched for the planet. Villette found it, and she manipulated someone from another realm to send people there. Earth’s magic chose the Kings of each clan based on their strength and power.”
Fedra lifted her head. “If the Star Person created the world and died doing it, then his magic would be part of Earth.”
“Exactly. It is powerful. So much so that when the Dragon Kings discovered the mortals, they went to greet them. The magic allowed them to shift into human form in order to communicate. The Kings sheltered and cared for the humans. They lived in harmony for a time.”
“What changed?”
“Greed. The human population expanded rapidly and never slowed. They demanded more and more land, causing friction with the dragons. There were deaths on both sides.”
She turned her head slightly toward him. “The humans took down a dragon? Impressive.”
“What you doona know is that dragons come in all sizes. The smallest are the Pinks. They are no taller than my knee and are easier to kill than the others. That’s who the humans targeted, nearly wiping out an entire clan. The problem was that there was plenty of other game for the mortals to hunt.”
“As humans, we hunt small game like rabbits. How is that any different?”
Apparently, it didn’t matter what he told her. She would always take the other side. “That would be like a village of children offering you some of their land to live on, and in return, you hunt and kill them.”
“You think dragons and humans are the same?”
“Why do you believe they’re different?”
She turned her face away. “What happened after the Pinks were slain?”
“Some of the other clans wanted revenge. There were some minor scuffles, but the Dragon Kings worked hard to secure a truce between both sides.”
“I find it hard to believe that the Kings wouldn’t side with the dragons.”
He rolled onto his back and looked up through the branches.
“The Kings were protecting everyone. It didna matter in the end. None of it did. No’ how the Kings mingled with the humans and taught them how to hunt and farm.
No’ how the Kings considered them friends.
Or even that a King fell in love with a human and wanted to take her as his mate. ”
“I can’t imagine that worked out. He was a dragon.”
“Ulrik was King of Silvers and known among all to be kind and gentle. His uncle fostered hatred and tried to get Ulrik’s intended to kill him.
The King of Kings and Ulrik were as close as brothers, and when he learned what was happening, he gathered the rest of the Kings to prevent Ulrik from being betrayed.
They rallied for one of their own and went after Ulrik’s lover. ”
Fedra turned onto her back, locks of her dark hair falling across Marcus’s chest. “They did it without talking to him?”
“They did.”
“How did that work out?”
Marcus still remembered the helplessness he felt at the sight of Ulrik’s rage at being deceived.
“Ulrik was furious, but he didna direct it at the Kings. He turned it on the humans, thus beginning the war. There had been too much resentment between the two groups, and it only took a small spark to ignite everything. The Kings were divided. Half went with Ulrik to wage war while the others stayed with the King of Kings and protected everyone.”
“You said the dragons were sent away.”
“Ultimately, that’s what it came to. All but Ulrik and four of his largest Silvers returned to the King of Kings’ side.
The Kings subdued the four Silvers, and then they bound Ulrik’s magic and banished him from their homeland.
Yet that didna stop the humans. Dragons continued to die.
The Kings had to decide whether to save the dragons or save the humans. ”
Her head rolled on his arm toward him. “You want me to believe that they saved our kind?”
“The magic chooses Kings for their strength and power, aye, but also for the good within them. If the Kings had rid Earth of humans, that would’ve changed them completely. Each of them would’ve been stripped of that title.”
“How is sending the dragons away any different? That was their world.”
Marcus watched a flock of small birds fly overhead. “The dragons got to live. They lost their home, but they were alive.”
“What happened to the Kings? Did they go with the dragons?”
“They are the protectors of Earth. They had no choice but to remain. To ease tensions, they returned to their homeland, put a barrier around it to keep others out, and remained there until stories of dragons turned into folklore.”
She tugged the cloak tighter around her. “And Ulrik?”
“He found redemption and eventually returned to the Kings.”
“How is it you know all of this?”
He shook himself and tugged at the end of her hair. “It’s time for my question now. Then you can ask that.”
“All right. What do you want to know?”
“What kind of future do you want?”
She issued a soft laugh. “I’ve not had much of a life. I can’t imagine my future will be any different.”
“What if it could be?”
“I found peace once, and it was destroyed. Getting revenge kept me going. Now, tell me. How is it you know all of that about the dragons?”
There was no way he could tell her the truth with how she had responded to him.
She would always side against the dragons.
Her hatred ran too deep. He had never understood how someone could have feelings for an enemy, but he did now.
Would she matter if he had never heard her say his name? If she had never called for him?
Lying together like lovers had made him forget reality for a moment. With one question, she’d cleared away the fog so he could see clearly once more. Her beauty was captivating, her mind fascinating.
Her body tempting.
But they would forever stand on opposite sides. He wouldn’t betray his brothers, and she couldn’t let go of her vengeance. No matter how attracted he was to her, no matter how strong the bond between them, at the heart of it, they were adversaries.
“As protectors of the dragons, it’s imperative to know their past,” he finally answered.
She released a long breath. “Why does that not sound like the whole truth?”
“It may no’ be all of it, but it’s the basis.”
“It feels as if a wall has come down between us. And here I thought we were getting along so well.”
Marcus released his hold on her hair. “The line between us has been clear from the start. You willna yield, and I can no’.”
“Why does one of us have to yield? Can’t we find a compromise?”
“In this, there isna one.”
She rolled away from him, pulling the cloak with her.
He smiled ruefully up at the sky. They had gained ground the first time they exchanged questions, so he had been willing to take a chance this time, but it had backfired on him.
She would continue to try to make it to the dragons.
He didn’t want to force her to remain by his side, but there might not be another way.
Especially since she had yet to agree to help him with Eurielle.
Was it time to give up? The Kings had been fighting nonstop for so long. How much longer could they go on before someone defeated them? Marcus might have lost hope, but his brethren hadn’t. As long as they breathed and fought, he would do the same. He owed it to all of them and their mates.
The ruthless, formidable King he had been on Earth before the war was long dead and buried. It was time to dig him up. The dragons had suffered enough. He might not find peace, but he would do everything in his power to ensure that they had it. Even if it meant his life.
He no longer had a clan. The dream of reuniting with the dragons and returning to the way life had once been was shattered.
There was nothing the Kings could do to remove the dragons’ hatred and resentment.
To them, the greatest betrayal was their belief that the Kings had chosen the humans over them.
Nothing would change their minds, and it was pointless trying.
Living on Earth had grown tedious. His work no longer brought him joy, and he had no interest in helping with the distillery.
He had stepped forward before Con had asked all non-mated Kings to come to Zora.
Marcus had never been afraid of a fight.
It didn’t matter what enemy stepped up, he had always been there to take them down.
He sat up and pulled his knees toward his chest so he could rest his arms on them.
The crisp winter morning and the approaching clouds meant snow was likely.
Marcus looked over at Fedra. He missed the feel of having her against him.
He might never know if the bond between them was real or contrived somehow, but maybe they would find each other in another life—for there was no chance for them in this one.