Legend of the Touched (2 page)

A lot will change. Our relationship, her genetics
will become like a dragon's, we'll share our thoughts with each
other. I'm not sure I'm ready for all of those things to happen at
once.
But the hormones were driving him crazy. And his
heightened sense of smell didn't help much. All day long he smelled
her skin and noticed the delicious scent of cinnamon caramel on
her. Those scents meant lust and flirtation, and saying no to her
subconscious desires was getting harder to do every day. But he
still had to wait, because any time they talked about sex, Gwen
only expressed fear.

He shook his head and started water for a shower.
With how my father treats women, I'm not surprised. She probably
wonders how much like him I'll be.
His father, Lynx, the Great
Lord of the Inero, was not a good husband. He'd forced Navi into
marrying him, along with hundreds of other women, cheated on all of
them, and treated them more like possessions than people. It's why
Navi had run away from the man as soon as she was able, and now,
hopefully, was safe in the loving arms of her bodyguard Chris.
Jason was positive the only reason Lynx wanted her back was simply
because she was his prize.

Sadly, his father's philosophy on relationships was
becoming more common in the country of Inero. After all, if the
Great Lord condoned it, then why shouldn't other dragons do the
same thing? And since dragons were only born male, it made it
easier for the men to treat the human women as nothing more than
breeding tools.

If she's nothing more than a tool to you, then
what's stopping you from mating with her?
The voice said.

Jason stuck his fingers in his ears to try and drown
it out with his own voice. "I'm not listening anymore."

Chapter Three

The Inero

Matthias entered his father's office. As usual he was
being called into an important meeting. Nothing out of the ordinary
for him, seeing as how he was the head of the military, even if he
was only seventeen years old. His powerful aggressive magic lead to
a natural gift, one that was hard to ignore. And why should his
father, the Great Lord of the fire dragons, blow off Matthias'
talents based on his age? Matt liked to think of himself as mature.
After all, he was married, a father, and had always been obedient
and loyal to his country. Sometimes old people were too stuck up,
and his father Lynx recognized this.

He knocked on the door like he always did before
entering. When the door opened, he was surprised to find another
man already in the office speaking with the Great Lord. He slowly
started to back out, feeling more than a little embarrassed that he
had just intruded. That was how things were always done before.
More often than not, Lynx would tell him if he was seeing someone
else too so Matt could be prepared.

"Don't go," Lynx said.

He stopped and entered, but didn't go further than
the entryway. "I didn't realize you were with someone else."

"I should have said something, my apologies. Though I
do want you two to meet." He motioned for Matt to take a seat next
to the stranger.

Looking the man over, he realized they were with a
foreigner. The man wasn't of Inero blood. Matt could tell because
he had dark brown skin instead of the Inero's golden tan. In fact,
if he didn't know better he would say this stranger was from the
earth dragon's tribe – the Terran. While some of the earth dragons
came to live in Inero along the border between their two nations,
there was a huge distinction between the two. On even more rare
occasions, an Inero man would mate with a Terran female. This man
could have been the result of such a pairing, but Matt doubted it.
Especially given a lot of the dealings his father was making with
the other tribe.

"This is Taylor. He was recently voted in as the
Great Lord of the Terran," Lynx said with a small gesture. "Lord
Taylor, this is my son Matthias. He is one of the Touched."

The Dragon Lord of the earth nodded as if
understanding and offered Matt his hand. Matthias took it and was
amazed at how timid the man's hand felt inside of his own. Most
rulers and officials he'd met had good, strong, shakes. Not Taylor.
His was almost limp and his hands were cold and clammy. He must
have been nervous. This made Matt question whether or not he could
fully trust the man. Nerves often resulted in flakiness.

"Lord Taylor also has a son who is Touched. It's one
of the reasons he was voted in. After all, anyone who knows the
prophecies knows the Touched will bring about the new peace through
the coming of the Great Dragon." Lynx spoke as if this were common
knowledge, and while it should have been, most of dragon kind did
not study the holy book as deeply as they should have. Matt was
guilty of not picking it up for a long time. He was going to start
reading it again soon to get a better perspective of these
prophecies he kept hearing so much about.

Matt nodded to be polite. He didn't understand the
Terran too well. They were drastically different from the Inero.
Every five dragon years a new leader was elected in their tribe.
The Inero ruled through the family. Lynx had been chosen by his
father, and some day he would choose another. The word of the Inero
Lord was law, period. Nobody could contest it or they'd be
considered unloyal to the nation. Depending on the issue being
disagreed upon, this could result in severe punishment. In the
Terran tribe, however, they had divisions of leadership and
representatives. It took a long time for an executive decision to
be made there. The last Terran Lord had been fairly aggressive, so
Matt had respect for him. He wasn't quite sure if this new one
would make the cut.

"As you know, I have two Touched sons. Quite the
anomaly let me say, but I am happy to be so blessed," Lynx
said.

"Yes, I would be as well," Taylor said.

Matt gave a smile, in an attempt to participate in
them talking about him as though he weren't there. Being Touched
and a twin, he got used to it even if it was dehumanizing at times.
It came with the life. God blessed him with extra, powerful, magic,
so of course that would put him and his brother in the spotlight.
They had nearly one hundred times more magic than a normal dragon.
On top of that, twins were nearly impossible in the dragon species,
identical ones even more so. Something about how the eggs formed in
the womb didn't allow for it without complications which usually
resulted in the death of one.

"He is the father of the female dragon," Lynx
added.

Taylor raised both eyebrows and stared at Matt. "I'm
having a hard time believing it still. Please forgive my
skepticism."

"No offense is taken my lord. I have a hard time as
well, but my faith is keeping me strong."

"I hope to be able to do the same."

Matt continued to smile, his face starting to hurt
from having forced it there. Even he didn't know what to think of
the possibility of having a daughter. Everyone knew dragons were
always born male. That was why they needed the human females to
mate with. Having a girl dragon would throw off the entire system.
Would she be the only one? Or would this become a new thing? Their
entire way of life was going to change if that were true. They
wouldn't know until after the egg hatched. Initial scans suggested
the baby his wife Kat carried was indeed a girl, but nothing was
for certain until they could finally see her. First the egg had to
be delivered and then it would need to incubate for another three
months before it hatched. A month and a half remained until
delivery.

"I figure it would be good for you to meet now before
she is born, so you can get acquainted with one another," Lynx
said.

"Excuse me, what?" Matt raised an eyebrow.

"As part of the agreement made with the last Terran
lord, the son of Taylor's son will wed your daughter."

Assuming I have one you mean.
Why hadn't he
been consulted about this decision? He stared at his father to
silently express his displeasure in this.

"Lord Kinsley desired a large price to make up for
the cost his people would be paying in the war against the Oceina.
A pure blood dragon marriage is a good offer, don't you agree? The
offspring of two Touched ones. Imagine what that union would do for
our two nations. We will be stronger together."

"Yes." Matt could see the logic. It would certainly
make raising her a bit easier if she was in a prearranged
relationship. He only wished he could have been asked, even if his
answer would have been yes.

Chapter Four

The Oceina

Feeling like a zombie was nothing new for Tai these
days. Being pregnant sapped a lot of her energy, and that mixed
with Darien keeping her up all night with his late night thinking
didn't help. At least he had helped her study which resulted in the
longest conversation the two had with one another in a long time.
Everything was a lot more difficult than she thought it would be.
Being pregnant was at the top of the list, and she wasn't even that
far along. For a while, she'd been petrified of the idea,
especially afraid of getting large and wondering just what the
other students would think about her. It'd be easy for her to
disappear, but then the whole purpose of going to school would be
gone. She rubbed at her eyes, trying to get rid of the sleep
lingering about them.

"Need some coffee?" Alexjavier, one of her
classmates, practically shoved a cup under her nose.

You have no idea.
She wanted it, badly.

Huh?
Darien popped in. She needed to get
better about blocking out all of her small insignificant thoughts
from him. He was always too curious for his own good. There was a
comment for everything it seemed, and it was more or less
annoying.

Nothing, can't I think to myself?
she
asked.

Yeah, geez.

She returned her attention to Alex. "Thanks, but I
probably shouldn't have too much caffeine. It gives me migraines."
And it's bad for a baby.
Or so she'd been told which was
more than enough to keep her from having even the minimum amount
that had been cleared by the doctor.

"It's a half-caf vanilla latte. I got it for my mom
'cause she works in the office today, but she said it would mess
with her diet. Figured I'd give it to you or my sister. I like you
more though." He smirked. Alex had a pretty smile. Perfect white
teeth, but mostly she liked the dimples that formed on his face and
the softness in his blue eyes. Usually he was so hard and rough, so
it made for a nice contrast.

Don't blush,
she instructed herself. This time
making sure Darien didn't hear it because he would no doubt have a
meltdown. From day one Alex had made it clear he was attracted to
her, and while he was nice to look at, she didn't reciprocate the
feelings at all. She was married to Darien for one, and for
two...well there was no second reason. She was married and that was
all there was to it. While nobody at school knew this, the couple
still made it known they were together.

"If it's half-caf, I guess I can take it, might be
safe. But you should be nicer to your sister." She grabbed the
latte. It smelled divine. In fact, just the scent of the coffee was
enough to give her a boost of energy. Drinking it might not be
necessary. The vanilla came through strong. Her sense of smell
became heightened when she had undergone the transition between
human and dragon, but now it was even more so because of the
excessive hormones pumping through her. Pregnancy was much harder
than she thought it would be.

"I am." Alex laughed.

"Well, thank you," she said and took a sip. The two
stood there quietly, and that was when Darien decided to show
up.

His arm wrapped around her waist, hand settling on
her stomach as it was prone to do these days. She didn't like it
when he did it in public. It felt too obvious, and while he was a
proud father, she wasn't quite as happy. They were too young and
had a lot to work on in their relationship. Plus she didn't think
she'd be a good mother. He'd be great at the parenting role, but
her – not so much. Then again, he'd been waiting for this moment
his entire life. She never thought she'd ever meet someone worth
marrying.

Actually, if Darien hadn't forced her into their
relationship, she probably wouldn't have given him a chance. The
circumstances in how they met left her with a bitter taste at
first. As she got to know him, however, those feelings faded and
turned into nothing but love and admiration. He put up with a lot
when it came to her, and was so patient in waiting for her to come
around. And she did once the realization came that she needed it to
happen. Tai had been taken from home against her will, but without
the push, none of the things she had dreamed of would have ever
come true. Love used to be out of the question, something she'd
never wanted because the drama didn't seem worth the work.

"Hey babe." Darien leaned in and kissed her forehead,
holding it for a long time. Why did he have to flaunt their
relationship so much in front of Alex? With everyone else he was so
much more laid back. Being shown off like she was a prize didn't
make her feel good, and she didn't like how uncomfortable it made
everything.

Alex's jaw tightened for a moment before he put on a
more forced smile. "Alright, I'll see you in third, okay Tai? And
you in ten minutes, Darien?"

"Ten minutes." Darien also smiled but her husband's
was much more genuine.

She waved as Alex left.

Darien raised an eyebrow as he watched Alex go. "He
brought you coffee. How sweet."

"He brought his
mom
coffee. She didn't want
it, so he gave it to me." Tai rolled her eyes. Was he really doing
this now?

"Mmhmm." He walked her to her class and made sure to
stay close the entire time. She was trying to understand, but it
was frustrating.
I don't like him hitting on you every chance he
can get you alone...or that you lead him on.