Chapter 5 Koarthandris
KOARTHANDRIS
It was easier travelling between the three fae realms than travelling to the human realm, but two such jaunts in quick succession meant I was winded as I arrived back in Seial. Nothing that would slow me down too much, though.
Having switched to my dragon form, I brought myself back to Seial in the skies outside of the capital of El’Anderyn. Other dragons patrolled the night sky and my presence was detected.
What is your business here, brother? The voice spoke into my mind. It was how we dragons communicated when in dragon form. I swung my large head around to see the shadow behind me. He was larger than me, but his spirit aura not as strong. I could take him if I needed to.
Business for Saldrea. Sent from Veilblood Academy.
Hopefully, that would get me access to the city. I prayed word of my betrayal of the false princess hadn’t travelled this far yet.
Proceed, the other dragon said, indifferent.
It seemed I was safe for now. Though I’d not be able to use my connection to Saldrea after this. That didn’t bother me. I hated being associated with that hellion.
I zeroed in on Izzy’s spirit aura. There were many strong auras below, this being the capital city of the elves, the strongest race in all three realms. Still, Izzy’s was burned into my memory.
I locked onto her aura almost instantly and glided down toward a sprawling estate outside of the city to the east.
If this was where Izzy’s paternal grandmother lived, the woman must be very well off indeed. Especially for a nymph.
I circled the grounds, searching for a place to land. As I did, angling through the night sky, the glowing towers of the city flashed in the distance, a place of light and power, and above it all… was the palace.
The sight of that place put a sour taste in my mouth as I descended toward a large, clear swathe of lawn.
Returning to the capital was never easy for me. This was where I’d failed the royal family, where I’d disgraced myself. One critical moment of distraction and the master I’d served — the late queen’s brother, Talmarion — and his entire family had perished.
One mistake that had ripped the world apart, for it had left no more royals in all of Seial.
My shame had become a weight upon my soul, one I’d have to live with for the rest of my life.
Or so I’d thought. But now I had a chance to make up for my failure.
As I landed, shifted, and strode toward the mansion, I swore I would never fail the royal family again: never fail Izzy.
I’d never leave her side. I’d protect her with my life and die happy knowing I’d saved her.
It was the least I could do after failing her great uncle and his family.
One of the doors at the back of the mansion opened and a silken voice drifted out to me.
“You must be the dragon we’re waiting for. Come in.” It wasn’t Izzy’s voice, but it was familiar. I’d heard that voice before, knew it well.
And it stopped me dead in my tracks.
Olinara.
Everything had happened so fast — discovering who Izzy was, then making our plans, and springing into action — that I hadn’t made the connection as to who Izzy’s paternal grandmother would be.
Izzy’s father had been Sa Eofine Keomar, a Nymph.
He’d been a friend of the royal family, close to them…
because of his mother. Sa Eofine Olinara had been one of the Inamorati: Queen Leastrine’s harem.
Seven men and women of the utmost beauty and grace, vigor and intelligence.
Seven who’d been like family to the royals, even if they hadn’t been elves.
Seven who were envied by elves, because they hadn’t just shared the queen’s bed, they’d been her most trusted advisors and confidantes.
And Olinara had been the closest of them all, the head of the harem, the Inamora.
No wonder Olinara had an estate like this.
From what I recalled of the woman, she’d played the political game better than most, using her assets — both physical and mental, but mostly physical — to pry secrets from the lips of the queen’s adversaries. Her capability for seduction was legendary.
And here she was.
I couldn’t see her face, only her silhouetted form, the light from within outlining her figure in the doorway.
She possessed an hour-glass figure, much like Izzy’s, but even more pronounced and curvaceous.
As a nymph, she’d maintained this image of lush beauty and youthfulness for hundreds of years.
I sighed as I drew near.
“Olinara,” I said with respect.
She gave a soft purring laugh. “Koarthandris. It’s been a long time.” The invitation in her voice was clear. I took pride in the fact that I’d never indulged in her advances. That wouldn’t change now.
As I reached her, she played with the collar of her robe, a silken thing, mostly transparent — like the woman wearing it — slowly pulling it across one breast. She made the gesture seem absentminded, but I was fairly sure it wasn’t.
“I’m not interested,” I stated, voice flat. “Please take me to Izzy.”
“She’s arguing with her shifter. She’ll be a moment.” Olinara bit her plump lip and pouted. She was over two-hundred-years-old but didn’t look a day over nineteen. Her gaze raked over me. I was naked, a side effect of shifting into my dragon form and back. “I wouldn’t need long.”
No, she wouldn’t.
But I wasn’t interested.
“Take. Me. To. Izzy. Please.” My tone brokered no argument.
She pouted more, then sighed and gathered her robe around her, before flouncing back inside. This was the enigma which was Olinara: she could be a distinguished woman, or she could be a petulant tease — as she was now — acting one tenth her age.
This was going to be a long visit.
As I followed her, my keen senses picked up raised voices. Well before I saw Izzy, I heard her.
“…and when we get back to Veilblood Academy — which will be in two days, if not sooner — you will tell Myel that you’d planned to have someone break his bond with me and that you’ve never cared for him as much as he thinks you do!” Izzy’s voice was adamant.
I sighed, recalling she was mate-bonded to the small shifter.
That was a complication I hadn’t foreseen.
If Saldrea found out, she’d kill Myel in an instant, or worse, capture and torture him to death for fun, knowing it would hurt Izzy.
And she would find out. Now that Saldrea was even more furious with Izzy, she’d be doing everything in her power to dig into Izzy’s life.
It wouldn’t surprise me if she’d put out a sizable reward for any information on her nemesis.
After that all it would take is one slip-up by Myel or Izzy and someone would know, someone who wished to receive that reward and please the tempestuous princess.
“You’re being unreasonable,” Safir said, voice more level, calm. Olinara and I were still a ways off and I barely heard him. What I did hear was the clap of flesh-on-flesh and a soft grunt.
“You must like being slapped,” Izzy fumed. “Maybe… someday… in some distant future where you’ve earned the right to speak freely to me and advise me, I’ll let you tell me I’m being unreasonable. But right now, unreasonable or not, you do not get to say anything of the sort! Do. You. Understand?”
The only reasonable response would be a quick yes.
“Your Majesty, I—”
I hadn’t known Izzy long, but even I knew talking back was a bad idea.
“DO! YOU! UNDERSTAND!” The power in her voice radiated out to me and poured over me and through me. Wow… Izzy would far surpass Saldrea in potency and ability once she was fully trained. Her raw power now was… indescribable.
Olinara and I had come in sight of the two, and I watched as the dominance in Izzy’s voice pushed Safir to his knees.
He bowed from there.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Olinara and I stopped at the arched entrance to the vast living room in which Izzy and Safir fought or had fought. It was done now. Izzy was livid, flushed crimson with fury, arms straight with fists balled at her sides as she stared down at the shifter. Skies above! She was magnificent!
There was something about a powerful woman who could put people in their place without physical violence or bullying.
And Izzy was exactly that. I didn’t doubt that Safir had brought this tirade on himself.
From everything I’d seen and heard about Izzy she wasn’t a cruel person.
She could have beaten the shifter to a pulp.
Even without knowing her elven abilities, she’d still have elven strength, yet the only mark on the man was a red spot where she’d slapped him. Saldrea would have done so much worse.
My hand rose to touch the still weeping wound on my cheek where Saldrea had carved her mark into me and made it so it would never quite heal. That was brutality. Izzy’s wrath was a righteous rage.
And that’s when it hit me…
Izzy was perfect for me.
The thought struck me like an elven sucker punch.
I didn’t want it to be true, but it was.
For the longest time, I’d had no interest in women because my ideal woman simply wasn’t possible.
I desired someone who was kind and gracious and witty, soft when she wished to be, but also hard and determined, strong in her convictions.
That alone was hard enough to find, but my additional requirement was a woman who was physically sturdy enough to take my rather aggressive passion in bed.
Something only a dragon or an elf could do.
And no dragon or elf I knew had the requisite softness and graciousness and kindness.
But Izzy, raised in the human world, had all of that and was an elf, sturdy of form.
She was perfect.
Just like Mynrial.
Fuck.
All my desire and arousal drained away instantly, shredded by that comparison.
Mynrial had been the reason I’d failed the royals. My desire for her had been the distraction which had caused her and her family to perish.
I could never let that happen again.
As much as Izzy might be perfect for me, I could never let my desire distract me.
I had to focus on protecting her above all else.
Because as much as Izzy might be perfect for me, she was also perfect for this nation.
She had the power to rule yet possessed none of the prejudices which had torn the fae realm a part.
She was what a queen should be, what the royal line had been and could be again…
only better. A half-blood on the throne would mean a fundamental shift for Seial, but it would be a change which this broken realm desperately needed.
I quelled my feelings for her, focusing on being the man she needed me to be: a protector and guardian, nothing more.
Izzy’s wrath waned, and she realized she had an audience. She looked over at us and shook her head with a heavy sigh. What a pair Olinara and I must make, an over-lusty, nearly-naked nymph — who happened to be Izzy’s grandmother — and a completely naked dragon.
One glance at Olinara and Izzy rolled her eyes. When her gaze turned to me, it raked down my body. Her pupils dilated, her body giving a near-imperceptible shiver, as the bloom of arousal filled her scent of apples and cinnamon. She was aroused… by me?
I hadn’t thought I was her type, not if she liked Myel and Vyns and Rook.
But I couldn’t deny what my senses told me.
My cock twitched with hope, but I stilled it instantly, since that was a hope I couldn’t allow myself to have.
“Still naked?” she chided, hiding her stimulation. “Put some clothes on!”
“At once, Your Highness,” I said with a short bow.
“Upstairs, third room on the left, should be something that fits you,” Olinara said with a wave of her hand, dismissing me. “And take your time… I need to have a long chat with my long lost granddaughter.”
“Could you look a bit more like a grandmother?” Izzy said with scorn. “As opposed to a playboy bunny or porn star, young enough to be my little sister?”
“No, I cannot,” Olinara said as I fled upstairs. “Get used to it.”
I had to smile at that. The woman had an iron will… like Izzy.
I had a feeling the two of them were going to get along just fine… or tear each other’s throats out.
One of the two.