The Last Dragon King (Kings of Avalier #1)(60)

“She’s here!” Narine said excitedly as she poked her head into my room.

I stood and allowed her to fix my wedding gown. This event, our wedding, was not one I wanted to wear trousers for, though I did ask the palace seamstress to put pockets in the gown for me.

Where is a girl to keep her daggers and things if she has no pockets?

“You look… like a dream,” Narine said as she creased the lace hem of my white dress.

I smiled. “Did Annabeth give you that one hundred jade coins prize money?”

Narine grinned. “I get it tonight after the ceremony. Then I’ll pay you back for the—”

“Nonsense, you keep it! I’m going to be queen. I’ll have more than enough money at my disposal.”

Narine shook her head. “No way—”

“Keep it for your own wedding.” I winked and she blushed. I’d seen her flirting with Cal lately. “And is your sister’s wedding planning going okay?” I asked.

Narine waved me off. “Yes, thanks to you. Now go see your mother and sister!”

I was stalling. To be honest, I was nervous as Hades to tell my mother I had fallen in love with the king—that I was going to marry him but could never have children with him, that instead I would be allowing him to have children with his mistresses…

What if she refused to stand by my side at the wedding? What if she left town and never spoke to me again?

With a shuddering breath, I nodded to Narine. “Please fetch her and my sister and bring them to the living room.”

Narine slipped out of my bedroom and I followed her, pacing the living room and waiting. This was the last time I would be in this apartment. Tonight, I would sleep beside Drae and share a bed with him for the rest of my life.

Holy Hades, I’m going to be sick.

Was it normal to feel like you were going to vomit every few seconds on your own wedding day?

The front door opened and my mother and sister walked in with Narine in tow. They each held a small travel pack and looked at me with wide eyes as they entered. They were expected last night but there had been a sandstorm, and delays from others coming from all over the realm.

“Holy Hades, you look like a queen!” Adaline rushed over to me. “Does this make me a princess?”

She opened her arms to hug me and my mom yelled at her. “Don’t touch her dress, you’ll stain it.”

I pulled my sister in for a bone-crushing hug, not caring about the dress. “I don’t think you can be a princess but you will be a highborn lady.”

Adaline pulled back to peer at me with wide eyes. “Lady Adaline?”

I nodded and she grinned.

“This is so cool.”

My mother hadn’t moved. There were tears in her eyes, which I didn’t know how to interpret.

“Lady Adaline, would you like some chocolate cake?” Narine offered upon seeing the awkward moment between my mother and I. “I can show you the main palace kitchens and the library.”

Adaline glanced to my mother, who nodded, and then she left with Narine.

I looked up at my mom then, and a single tear spilled over her cheek.

“I… I’m not sure what they told you,” I fumbled. “And I’m sorry you have to find out I’m getting married like this. It’s just that—”

“You look beautiful.” She stepped closer to me, reaching out to grasp my hands. “King Valdren greeted me a few hours ago as our transport party arrived outside the city, and told me his intentions with you.”

He did?

“His intentions with me?” Now I wanted to know what he’d said.

“He told me that he knew about your lineage and that he would never hurt a hair on your head. That he loved you and wanted to take care of you. To have a family with you.” She was smiling and I realized then that her tears were happy tears.

A family… of course he wouldn’t tell my mother about our arrangement. He couldn’t have a healthy family with me, that was the problem.

“Mom, sit down,” I said, and her lips pulled into a frown.

She joined me on the couch and I sat next to her, careful not to mess up my dress. I loved Drae, but I was still saddened with our arrangement, and needed to unload my problems on someone else. I needed my mother’s wisdom.

“Drae needs an heir or all of the dragon-folk will die.”

My mother gasped, her hand going to her mouth. “Adaline.”

I nodded. “His people are linked to him through a special magic that gets stronger when you reproduce but dies out if you do not by a certain age. The line must continue to carry on, no matter what.”

My mom dipped her head. “I understand. Now the quick engagement and wedding makes sense. You do what you have to in order to save the people, Arwen.”

My heart pinched. “That’s the thing, Mom… Drae is a dragon from the Dark Night Dragon clan, I am a full-blooded dragon from the Eclipse clan.”

She stilled, as if sensing this was going somewhere she wouldn’t like.

“And we recently found out that my magic and his magic don’t—” My throat tightened and I suddenly couldn’t speak; tears filled my vision.

“Oh, honey, what is it?”

My mother was a midwife; she’d seen the worst of the worst when it came to child-bearing.