Page 58 of Dragon Heir

“We need to go,” I say, increasing my speed. “True wants us to get as far as possible on foot so the incoming dragons overhead don’t see us flying the other way. We’ll stay under the tree cover. He’s going to catch up to us.”

“What about Pax?”

I swallow before letting the lie roll off my tongue. “He’ll be ahead too, a little further on, scouting to make sure we’re in the clear.”

“Perfect,” she says with a solemn nod.

Guilt gnaws at me like a hatchling sharpening its teeth, but if I tell her the truth, she’ll turn straight back around. I haven’t known Vynessa for long, but I already know how loyal she is. And protecting her is more important than anything else right now, even honesty.

“We need to pick up our pace.”

We break into a jog, hopping over fallen trees and batting low-hanging boughs away. Frigid air wants to crowd in on us, but I push it back, warming the bouncing molecules around us without thinking. The air is so thick with the scent of pine I can hardly taste any other scents on the wind.

Every moment is another stretch of time I’ll be missed at court. I hope for all our sakes that they think Vynessa is in a lesson with me in a more remote area of the palace—and that True finds us soon. It’s possible the queen’s soldiers caught him. If they did, protecting the princess falls entirely on my shoulder.

In truth, I’m not up to the task alone—no one is. One dragon is no match for the queen’s army.

We keep running, and I set the pace to a little faster clip every few minutes. It’s nothing for me, but Vynessa’s breaths grow labored after an hour or so, even when I send more oxygen her way to revive her. Finally, she slows to a stop, grabbing her knees and huffing out white clouds of condensation. “I need a break.”

“We don’t have the time to spare.” My legs bounce with the need to keep moving.

She looks up at me, her expression so troubled that I know there will be no going forward from here without giving her the details.

“Why would the queen hide me from the Sun King for my entire life, just to give me over to him?”

I lean against a pine, knowing I will need support for the conversation ahead. “I can only guess. The queen left me and your guards very much in the dark on this one.”

“Really?” she asks, giving me a withering look. “That’s all I’m going to get?”

I clear my throat. “Perhaps she guessed that we have shifted our loyalty to you already, even though she has not passed. That’s not unusual. People are excited for change, for something new, someone strong to command their loyalty and respect. Our queen is dying. She’s weak,” I finish flatly.

“But if I go to the Sun King, then I won’t be your queen anyway.”

“I believe she brought you here as a bargaining chip, never intending for you to be our queen. She will name Shynia her successor and give her purest blooded daughter to the Sun King to establish a peace between the Sun Court and the Frost Court.”

Vynessa scoffs, clearly believing that’s an empty promise.

I close my eyes. “You have to understand, Vynessa, the queen lost all but two of her children. The Sun King killed them. Even if you were able to mate with all eight remaining dragon courts, that cycle would begin again. If you lay all your eggs for the Sun King, he’ll protect them, and they’ll all live. They’ll be free to thrive as dragons, as it was in the old days. They’ll grow up with their clans, not be hidden away and disguised as humans or fae or wolves.”

“But isn’t the point of mating with nine dragons so that each dragon race continues, and the royal bloodline gives an heir to each court?”

“Yes,” I say with a grimace. “But that isn’t always possible. Wars between clans, diseases, the dangers posed by Wild Hunters and others who wish for our extinction have made it increasingly difficult over the centuries.”

“Hence the moon dragons becoming extinct.”

I nod. “Yes. Even our queen’s nine eggs were most likely fertilized by only five or six different dragon clans. The Sun King prevented travel to the other kingdoms, and it was dangerous to sneak dragons to our court for a mating ceremony. We couldn’t trust several clans not to make an assassination attempt. The queen has been hidden away here for a century.”

“And that same evil king will control me and all my children. We’ll be his slaves.”

“Yes.” I grip the leather hilt of the scimitar that always hangs from my belt. It’s true, but in the queen’s mind, it’s a choice between enslavement or extinction. I understand her decision. It’s as cold hearted and practical as she’s had to become. The Sun Kingdom will be the strongest of any, as the King desires. But at least the others will live on with a promise that he will protect the weaker clans.

Even her decision to send me to the DLSA’s training facility makes a sick sort of sense now. I’m not a bodyguard like True and Paxton. She could have let the school’s very competent professors teach Vynessa and sent another soldier to protect her instead of a tutor. But the Queen must know the reputation I’ve earned at the palace for the speed and ease with which I seduce women. She wanted me to provide a distraction, and I’ve done exactly that.

The queen didn’t want Vynessa properly trained. She wanted the princess safeguarded until the Her Majesty could broker an advantageous deal with the Sun King. The pureblood princess as a mate in exchange for the protection of the other clans.

Vynessa turns and stands before me. “Those dragons we saw coming in. That’s the Sun King’s army?”

“Yes. That will be his soldiers and court and Arun, his oldest son. From what I understand, the entire dragon court will soon make a pilgrimage here to watch your first mating ceremony.”