Chapter Thirty
Ember
I fingered the necklace through my uniform top, feeling the sharp curve of the dragon shape surrounded by a circular band.
It was held in place by the head, the wings, both legs, and the tail, each one bound with the tiniest of welds to the outer circle.
At the very heart of the dragon, a single flame burned.
There was no oxygen to fuel that fire. It was a piece of the God-King himself, an ever-flame, as I thought of it, and it was the only way one could be assured of a meeting with the immortal being.
My father had worn it until the day he disappeared.
Blaze had awoken the next morning to find it in his room, waiting for him.
My fingers curled around the chain and symbol, clutching it tightly.
The day Blaze left to take the Test with his mate, I’d returned to my room to find the necklace waiting for me on my bed.
That was how I knew Blaze had failed. That he was never coming back and that I was now the heir to the Fire Throne. It had been a terrible day.
Getting up, I headed for the door to my quarters. I could no longer be confined. I needed space. Even if I couldn’t risk shifting and taking to the skies on Earth, I still longed to see them and the freedom they promised. Sitting under them would be better than nothing.
I opened the door and walked right into someone.
We collided with mutual oofs, both backing away in surprise and confusion. Mine was deep and gruff. Theirs was lighter and far more feminine.
“Ari,” I said, looking sharply at the other person.
She was clad in a skintight black dress that faded to burnished red at the bottom.
Two dangling earrings in the shape of flames glowed with an inner yellow-red light.
She had her makeup done in full, including a dark red lipstick that caught the eye.
“What are you doing here? More importantly, how are you here?”
She recovered and stood closer. “I came to see you,” she said. “And as for how, I mean, do come on, Ember. This is me we’re talking about. Do you really think Albright has anyone on his side who can catch me?”
I frowned. Ari was one of the fastest fire dragons I knew.
In fact, two years ago, she’d been crowned as the fastest in the entire fire princedom.
There was lots of truth to her boast. Few dragons could match her speed.
Pyre and I were two of them, but that wasn’t fair, considering we had royal blood.
We weren’t allowed to partake in the contests.
To my knowledge, Albright didn’t have anyone who could catch her.
What he did have, however, were numbers. The blockade was in place, and we wouldn’t be let through very easily. So, had Ari truly evaded his men? Or had Albright let her through on purpose to trap more of his foes on the Earth side of the rift?
You assume she’s on your side. Don’t overlook the other possibility that they’re now working together! You have to remain wary. Betrayal could come from anywhere.
I hated that. How was it that everyone suddenly became untrustworthy just because I was in line for a position of power?
It’s not like I wanted the damn throne, but I was the next in line, and while I might not be perfect at it, I knew damn well that I couldn’t let that tyrant Albright have it.
Power corrupted people, and he was already a traitorous piece of shit.
I could only imagine how much worse he’d become if he was anointed as the Prince of Fire.
No, I would have to go through with this and somehow sit on that throne myself. That couldn’t be a question any longer. The only uncertain thing was just who the hell would be left on my side when it was all said and done. Anyone? Or would I be alone?
Pyre came jogging up. “Uh, hi,” he said. “Ari is here, by the way, and she wants to speak with you.”
I looked at my cousin, then slowly turned my head to focus on Ari. Then back to Pyre.
“You don’t say,” I said slowly.
Pyre shrugged. “She’s fucking fast. What do you want from me?”
I grunted. “Thank you, Pyre. I appreciate your loyalty to me.”
He grinned. “You know me, Ember, an—”
“‘Anything for the throne,’ yes, yes, we know,” Ari said, waving a hand dismissively. “Thank you, Pyre. That will be all.”
I growled wordlessly. “Pyre is above you, Arid. Don’t forget your place.”
She stiffened at being talked to that way, including the use of her full name, but she didn’t protest. Not verbally anyway, though her eyes burned scales from my skin with their irritation.
Pyre glanced at me to ensure I was okay, then when he received my nod, he headed off.
“That man is annoying,” Ari said just before Pyre moved out of earshot, even for a dragon.
“He is my cousin, and unlike many, at least I can trust him.” I lowered my gaze to land on her just as I finished speaking, making the hidden intent behind it clear.
Was she trustworthy or not? I didn’t know.
Ari said. “Ember, you are next in line for the throne. The proper line of succession rests with you. I have been nothing but loyal to you. In fact, I’m willing to be more than just loyal.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
She drew herself up to her full height, still over half a foot shorter than me, though barely so with her heels, which helped emphasize her legs. The move drew the black dress tight against her form, the firm muscle of her body on full display.
“I want to formally suggest we try mating,” she said. “No more jokes, no more chit-chat about it. I want to be your Eternal Mate, Ember, and I think it’s past time we gave it a try.”
I coughed to cover my surprise at the formality of her offer. It wasn’t that the content surprised me. She’d talked about it more than once in the last two months since my father and mother had left and Blaze had died. But never so formally.
“My mate,” I said at last, knowing I had to be the next one to speak. Reaching up, I rubbed the necklace that sat under my uniform, once more feeling its outline.
“Yes. You and me, together. We can make it work,” she said. “We would be excellent partners. I say that now is the time for us to try truly. Especially now that your human is gone.”
“She is not my human,” I said, but there was no fire in my words. By that point, everyone knew there had been … something between Dela and me. They also knew I’d sent her away because that was what I was supposed to do. What a good ruler would do.
And I was determined to be a good ruler, even if it meant personal sacrifice.
How is getting rid of a human a personal sacrifice? You’ve never shown interest in them before. Just how special is Dela? Does she truly mean that much to you?
I didn’t answer my own question. Not because I couldn’t. But because I feared what the answer would be.
“It doesn’t matter,” Ari said. “The princedom is on the verge of collapse, Ember. We’ve already got one faction splitting away from us.
We have to settle this and bring them back into the fold before they’re lost forever.
Not to mention before any other potential breaks happen. That can’t be allowed.”
“Don’t you think I know that!” I said, fire burning hotter in me as I tried to shove Dela and her luscious body into the vault at the back of my mind, where I could trap it away forever. Never to be allowed out. I had to keep her a distant memory if I ever hoped to unite my realm.
No matter how much my heart ached.
“Stop it,” Ari snapped. “You can’t do this any longer, Ember.”
“Do what?”
“Be wishy-washy. If you want to rule, if you want to be the Prince of Fire, you have to make decisions. Be strong, and do what’s best for everyone.”
“I am doing that,” I countered.
“Are you? Because here I am, offering myself to you as a mate, and you still haven’t even addressed it. You’re dancing around the offer, the situation, and I’m telling you that you need to stop. You have to make a decision.”
“Who my mate is, is not a decision to be made,” I snarled back. “An Eternal Mate is based on love and desire. A longing and need to be with someone. Caring. Mutual attraction.”
Ari suddenly purred and came toward me, resting her hands on the front of my shoulders. “I can assure you there will be mutual attraction,” she murmured into my ear, leaning in close enough to feel the warmth of her breath on my neck as she spoke. “I know you find me attractive.”
“Everyone finds you attractive, Ari,” I said. “But it’s the coldness behind your eyes that keeps everyone away. You’re just doing it for the power of being the Fire Prince’s Eternal Mate. They will know it, and so will I. The God-King would never approve such a pairing.”
I wasn’t about to run full steam for Mount Drakonus and the Test with Ari.
If Blaze hadn’t been able to pass the Test with a mate who everyone thought was perfect for him, then surely the God-King would fail us as well.
We were a pairing of convenience, not love. That wasn’t a mate. It was a partner.
“It will work,” she said stubbornly. “I will swear myself to you. To do whatever you need, to be whoever you need.”
I frowned.
“Whatever you need,” she whispered, her voice filled with promises of sexual … anythings.
I stood there, unmoving, while I considered.
Ari didn’t want to be my mate. She wanted to be the Eternal Mate of the Fire Prince.
True, there was no real emotion involved for her.
Or myself. Yet if we both swore that we would work together to further the princedom, to help our people, and be partners for the next hundred years, did love need to factor into it?
In a way, I could see it as love for my people. That I would sacrifice my own personal desires to take a mate that would quell the rebellion and ensure no further death or destruction among the fire dragons. That was what a ruler should do, so could the God-King really deny us?
“Now you begin to see,” she said, still pressed against me. “This would be for the benefit of all fire dragons. It’s what a ruler should do.”
I hesitated, and at that moment, she surged upward, her lips pursed for a kiss. I turned my head to the side—
And found myself staring straight at Dela.
Her mouth dropped open in a gasp, and she fled from the room.