Cursed (5 page)
Markus leaned over. “Are you alright?”
One of the monks clicked her tongue in protest of the sound.
Before
Adrienne
could so much as shake her head, Havard entered the room, a dozen guards in gilded armor behind him. Now.
Unable to speak, Adrienne stood and walked forward with her best queen
ly
stride, removing her cloak and standing over the conniving Councilman, whose eyes
widened in shock.
The room gasped. She heard her name muttered several times. The soldiers bowed.
They’d won.
Shooting pains raced down Adrienne’s spine and she doubled over as
black leather
wings the leng
th of several horses
shot from her back, spraying blood on the clean tiles. A woman shrieked. Havard smirked, though there was a spark of horror behind it.
A familiar croon entered her mind.
Let me take over. I will end him for us.
She growled, the sound echoing throughout the chamber along with the scrape of chairs.
This isn’t a good time.
The Dragon’s Chamber within her burne
d white-hot. H
er teeth, now pointed and sharp, bit through her
split and stretched
tongue. Her finger
s and toes dug into the stone floor, bursting from her gloves and boots, leaving marks as they hardened into claws. Her balance shifted as her spine elongated, a tail reaching to the walls behind her.
You do not control me!
With a great roar and feeling every inch of her skin burn as scales enclosed over it, her transformation finished. The entire kingdom would now know what she was.
Except, there was no more Adrienne. Only the dragon. Only rage without direction. Only instinct. It could see the guards preparing to attack, but only snorted in annoyance, smoke encircling its face. Amused, it watched to see what they would do.
Havard laughed. “What? A measly dozen soldiers too much for you? I must admit, my queen
,
I expected you to be… bigger, more impressive. Though black becomes a soon-to-be-widow, I’d say. Threatening a Council member by bringing an unsanctioned, dangerous animal to his wedding? Your husband will be executed by the end of the week, I assure you.”
Markus remained calm as a pair of guards subdued him, tying his hands behind his back and removing his weapons. He looked up at the dragon with searching eyes, but it didn’t acknowledge him.
Mate
crossed its mind, but it couldn’t be. He was too small and weak of a creature to be worthy of its glorious self.
Memories swept across its mind, however, and it blinked. Havard’s expression fell as he looked between the dragon and Markus. “Remove him. Quickly.”
But she recognized him.
Adrienne snarled
. K
nowing that she
’d be powerless if she changed back, she embraced
her dragon half for the first time. Eivonne entered the room and screamed. She looked at her little sister, arched her neck,
and
lifted her husband from the soldiers’ grasp, pla
cing
him next to her. She spread her wings and roared at those who had threatened her family. To their credit, the soldiers raised their weapons and charged. Adrienne swept them to the side, careful not to harm them even as their blades sparked and
clanged
again
st her scales. She then t
urned to face Havard, but he no longer stood at the throne. Listening, tasting the air, she at last felt footsteps beneath her and motioned to Markus where they were headed. He nodded and took off. Stepping forward, she transformed back to her human self, approaching her stunned sister.
“I’ll need to borrow a dress, Ivy. Is that alright?”
“N-no, I mean, yes, please put something on, but… I thought-”
“So did Markus. I’m sorry. I didn’t exactly have the chance to explain or I would have. I’ll answer all of your questions after we catch that greedy little- uh, Havard.” Adrienne washed the blood from her back in the bridal chamber and took Eivonne’s morning dress from its hook. “I’m sorry about your wedding.”
Eivonne shook her head. “It was just a business deal. You know how it goes. Besides, I’m sure you had a good reason…
if
you’re actually my sister.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I just saw a dragon turn into a person. How do I know you don’t just turn into anything you want?”
Adrienne sighed, trudging forward and out of the palace. “Test me on the way. Right now, Markus needs help.”
“R-right. Sure. Just… I’ll be watching you so… don’t eat anyone, okay?”
She laughed. “Even if I wanted to, which I don’t, what would
you
do about it? Dragons don’t really care if ugly portraits of them pop up around the castle.”
“Nice try. Any one of the servants could have told you that story.”
“Fine. I almost left Markus at the altar because I was afraid the Council would remove me from the throne and I’d disappoint mother. You had to find me hidden in the coat closet and explain how lucky I was to have found love. That most marriages as royalty were only contracts to benefit the kingdom rather than the individual.”
Adrienne struggled to breathe, not to mention walk, as Eivonne embraced her. “Thank the gods you’re alive! I almost had to marry that slimeball to keep him from taking complete control of everything! But how in the name of the sun did you
do
that?”
Adrienne squeezed her sister’s shoulder and marched forward at the sound of a yelp across the courtyard. “Later. It sounds like Markus caught his quarry.”
Markus stroked his wife’s hair as she lay in his lap, watching her belly dance and wiggle with the life growing within. The fire crackled in the fireplace of their little cabin, and all seemed at peace with the world. After her public transformation, neither of them would gain the support of the people or Council to rule the kingdom again. So Eivonne sat on the throne, by herself, after rigorous testing to prove that she was not also a dragon, and was proving both efficient and just. Havard would not be seeing the light of day for a very long time
. T
he rest of the Council had denied having anything to do with his scheme
.
T
he rift between commoner and noble had also lessened after learning there was another race living in their midst to whom none knew how to respond.
Adrienne laughed as their baby kicked again, though she also managed to sound annoyed. “If she keeps going like this, my ribs are going to break before she comes out.”
Markus grinned. “She takes after her mother.” His wife rolled her eyes and hoisted herself up. “Where are you going?”
“To relieve myself, if you must know. You know, if you’d been a dragon, too, I could have just laid an egg and not had to have dealt with all this.” She gestured to her scarred, swollen, pregnant body.
Markus smirked and stood to kiss her. “But I love all of this.”
The baby kicked him as he leaned in close and Adrienne ran away with a squeak to the lavatory as he laughed.
A knock on the door distracted him for a moment and he pulled on a tunic from their pile of half-folded laundry. There was much Adrienne would have to learn now that they had no servants.
Claudius grinned at him from the door. “I come with gifts.”
Markus lifted a brow. “But the baby-”
“We know, we know.” Agniss shoved her way through the door. “But there be some things er’ry baby, dragon or human, needs afore they be born, an’ this’n’ll be comin’ soon. I do hope the Momma is takin’ her nap?”
Markus shook his head. “She’s… busy.”
Agniss marched deeper into the little house, muttering to herself. Markus turned to his father-in-law. “Let’s go outside, shall we? I don’t want to be here wh
en those two butt heads.
”
Claudius nodded and chuckled
as th
ey leaned against the porch pillars. “You should have seen her face when I told her dragons couldn’t have children until after their first transformation. It was
like catching a glimpse of how she might have been excited as a child
. Priceless.”
Markus smiled. “I’m sure. I know I was excited when she told me.”
“Any names chosen yet?”
He shook his head. “
Adrienne says there are t
oo many to choose from. I don’t know what the big deal is
. She can use the other names on other children
.”
They sat in silence for a while, watching the other Drakes, some in dragon form, others human, mingle and interact with each other.
Markus brought out a dagger and started polishing it. “I’m sorry you had to move the entire clan.”
Claudius shook his head. “I’m not. We do it every so often anyway and it’s worth it to keep my family safe.”
A scream came from the cabin and both men ran in, Claudius’ skin becoming pebbled, Markus’ dagger at the ready. Adrienne stood hunched over, a puddle of what looked like water underneath her, panting. Agniss ran out, already burdened with towels.
“Markus, ye git the water an’ start ta boilin’. Claudius, ye take these an’ lay ‘em on the bed. I’ma gonna git our momma here walkin’ and workin’. Looks like this li’l one likes ta make a grand entrance.”
Markus grinned at Adrienne. “Just like her-”
“Shut.
U
p.”
---
Hours of grueling labor later, Markus sat next to his family on their bed, stroking his nursing daughter’s fuzz on the top of her soft head.
“
Thought of any more names
yet?”
Adrienne sighed. “Eternity?”
“Eternity?”
“Because it took that long to get her.”
They laughed. Markus thought for a moment. “You know, you’re a dragon.”
“Really?”
“And I’d say she’s your treasure.”
“You both are.”
“Let’s name her Jewl.”
Adrienne beamed. “Perfect. It fits her sapphire eyes.”
“You know most babies lose
their blue eyes as they grow older, don’t you?
”
“Let me dream, okay? It would be nice if they looked like my mother’s.”
Markus laughed. “You know, this was not how I pictured our lives happening.”
Adrienne laughed as well.
He kissed his wife’s head. “But I wouldn’t change any of it.”
She sighed, resting against his chest as their daughter hiccupped and snuggled into her breast to sleep. “Me neither.”
DID YOU KNOW???
- This book was written, edited, AND published by the Author herself.
- The author offers writing courses for both those starting out and seasoned authors.
- You, too, can become a Knight and get a FREE copy of “How To Write A Book”.
What are you waiting for?
It’s time to Forge Your Legend
