Dragon Actually (Dragon Kin #1)(70)

“Put your clothes on!” he heard his mother hiss and he shook his head. The bastard lived to embarrass him. He did a good job of it, too.

His mother’s hand rested on his shoulder. “My son.”

He turned and looked down into her beautiful face. “Mother.” He kissed her on the cheek. “I’m glad to see you.”

A corner of her mouth quirked up. “Really? I have to admit that with all of my hatchlings, it’s hardest to tell with you.”

“Boy.” His father, who finally pulled on his leggings, leaned against the desk. Why the old bastard insisted on calling him that, Bercelak would never know. He wasn’t human and he was no “boy.” But still, his father called him, more than any of his brothers, “boy.” Most likely because he knew how much it irritated the living hell out of him.

“Father. You sent for me.”

“Aye. Word came from the queen today.”

His mother stiffened beside him. She always did that whenever a mention of the queen came up.

“About?”

“Princess Rhiannon.”

His heart stopped in his chest. “What about her?” Although he was afraid to ask. The acrimonious relationship between mother and daughter had almost taken on legendary proportions. And Rhiannon was barely a hundred and twenty-five winters. Gods, could the queen have finally done something to her?

“You are to have her.”

Bercelak frowned, which seemed amazing even to him since he frowned most of the time. But this made him frown more.

“What does that mean?” his mother asked before he had a chance. “He is to have her?”

“It means that the queen wants you to mate with her daughter.”

“Over my dead—”

“Shalin,” Ailean cut her off. “This isn’t your decision. It’s the boy’s.”

“Yes, but—”

“I know how you feel about Addiena, Shalin. But, again, this is Bercelak’s decision. Not yours. Not mine. Nor the queen’s.” Silver eyes focused on him. “If you don’t want her, tell me now and I’ll fight the queen on this. I haven’t seen her in centuries, but I’m sure I can still be quite”—his father grinned—“persuasive.”

Shalin snorted and turned away, but his father continued, “But I wanted to give the option to you. What is your decision?”

He had no decision to make. He’d made it long ago the day he saw the white dragoness. He was barely fifty winters and she was already fifty-two. An older dragon. He’d never been to court before and he’d accompanied his mother this time. He made his first misstep as soon as he entered the Queen’s Hall. He stomped on the snowy white tail of a princess. Her rage was instantaneous and without waiting for an apology, she sent the tip of that tail directly for his eye.

What few knew, but eventually learned, was that all of Ailean’s children were raised . . . well . . . differently than other hatchlings. Bercelak couldn’t remember a day when his father didn’t come jumping out of somewhere dark, grab his tail and toss him across the room. Not to be abusive—although it was—but because he wanted his offspring’s reflexes to be better than anyone else’s. And, to Bercelak’s annoyance, it worked. While other dragon warriors were caught off guard or had run from fear during battles, Bercelak never flinched, never feared, and he definitely never ran. Not ever. Instead, he destroyed any and all in his way until they finally gave him the title of Queen’s Battle Lord. The highest rank a low-born warrior dragon, such as himself, could hope to obtain.

So, on that day, when he saw that razor-sharp tail point coming for his face, he reacted as he would with any of his kin; he grabbed hold of that tail and swung, flinging the princess and heir to the queen’s throne across the Queen’s Hall and right past her mother.

As the queen’s guard took firm hold of him, he thought for sure he’d die that day. But the Queen . . . she had other plans. And, to be honest, didn’t seem to care how he’d treated her daughter.

But he did care. After that, he tried everything to get Rhiannon to forgive him. To get close to her. But when she saw him, she rolled her eyes and went the other way. If he tried to speak to her, she yawned in his face and left him standing there.

Eventually, he left her alone. But he never gave up wanting her. And that hadn’t changed. That would never change.

“I’ll take her.”

His mother gripped his arm. “Bercelak—”

“It’s all right, Mother. I know what I’m doing.” He looked at his father. “I’ll take her.”

Ailean grinned. One of those big, toothy grins that annoyed Bercelak to no end. “Somehow I thought that’s what you’d say. She’ll be waiting for you at your den.”

Bercelak and Shalin passed glances. He’d thought for sure he’d have to go get her himself. This was Princess Rhiannon after all. And she never let anyone forget it.

Bercelak tilted his head to the side. “She will?”

Rhiannon took to the air as soon as she walked out of Devenallt Mountain. She flew and flew, determined to make it back to her own den before nightfall. She had much planning to do since she knew her mother would probably plan a counterattack of some kind immediately. But her den was a stronghold. With the help of wizards loyal to her, she’d put up so many Magickal and physical defenses around her cave home, there was no way her mother would ever be able to break through.