The emperor's gasp of pain made Markath wince and he finally pulled his attention away from the female who was treating the emperor. He knew he should have been paying more attention to his duty, but his head was swimming with a mix of emotions he'd no experience of. Guilt at having hurt his emperor was only part of it.

I should be helping, it is my fault that the emperor is in pain, he thought. But the idea that a human doctor could treat the ruler of the Dragon Empire was sufficiently alien to him that he couldn't bring himself to assist. He'd have protested the empress's decision to summon Dr. Cain if he'd thought that there was the slightest chance that it would have made a difference.

And that wasn't the only thing that was confusing him. The doctor herself roused thoughts and feelings in Markath that he couldn't control, or even understand.

Perhaps Verikan hit my head harder than I thought. Shaking his head, Markath winced and stepped back. The female was intoxicating to look at, and a distraction that he could not afford. Not when he was the only guard the emperor had — and it was his fault that the emperor was vulnerable.

He ought to have been worried about protecting the emperor from the female, but that thought hardly entered his head. Instinctively he knew that he could trust her, that she would only do the right thing. Instead, his eyes were drawn to her body as she worked, and he traced her curves, drawn in by them. What human sorcery is this? Am I going crazy?

A chuckle beside him broke his focus, and he nearly jumped as he rounded on the other human who had entered beside the doctor. He'd barely paid her any attention, as distracted as he was by the doctor. She looked up at him, smiling, and it took an effort not to growl at her.

"That's my sister you're staring at," she said, laughing. "Should I be warning you off or something?"

The idea that this creature could keep him away from the doctor should have been funny. Instead, it enraged Markath, who took a step back to avoid the temptation to strike her for it.

"Hannah!" Dr. Cain snapped without looking round. "I don't need you to defend my honor. Don't make me regret letting you tag along."

The new human giggled at that, shaking her head. "You already do, I can tell. But the big guy here was staring at you like he was gonna—"

"Silence," Markath hissed, not wanting to hear what she was on the verge of suggesting. It was irritating enough to have such sudden feelings for a human; to have them spoken of out loud would be intolerable.

The warning note in his voice seemed to reach Hannah. At least, she did fall silent, though he could still see the amusement in her eyes. In the sudden quiet, the sound of Dr. Cain snapping the emperor's wing bones back into place seemed to fill the air. The awful grating noise made everyone wince, though Verikan gave no more than a grunt of pain.

Dr. Cain sprayed a foam over the break, and as he watched, it set forming an instant cast to hold the broken bone in place. It was a far cry from the powerful medicine that the empire had used during its height. Unfortunately, none of that had survived the long dark centuries since they'd been forced into hibernation under Mars's surface. This would have to do until they could recover the lost wonders of their civilization.

"Thank you, Doctor," the emperor said as Josie helped him to his feet, Dr. Cain carefully supporting his wing as he rose. He turned to Markath and nodded. "It's indisputable that you won this fight. I concede your victory."

The formal words made Markath feel a little sick now, seeing the injury he'd dealt the emperor in his victory. But he had won and there was no point in worrying about the right or wrong of the contest now. It had been the emperor's idea — how could Markath be in the wrong for going along with it?

Bowing, he accepted Verikan's statement, but he felt his eyes drawn back to the doctor, despite himself. She still steadied Verikan's injured wing, and the little frown of concentration on her face was adorable.

Markath shook his head. That wasn't an appropriate thought.

"You need to get this into one of your healing pools," she said, addressing Verikan with no more respect than some worker might get. Markath tried to summon his anger at that disrespect but found it hard to do. Instead, he realized with mounting horror, he felt anger at Verikan himself. Am I seriously feeling jealous because she's touching him? Thousand Suns, what's wrong with me?

The other female, Hannah, nudged him in the side, and he knew his gaze hadn't gone unnoticed. He glowered down at her — at least he had no difficulty being angry at the disrespect this human showed, even if it didn't seem to bother her in the least.

"If you want Amanda to touch you, I'm sure she'd be happy to treat your wounds too," Hannah said in a whisper he was quite sure could be heard by everyone present. Verikan at least did him the favor of pretending not to notice the comment, but Josie had to stifle a laugh and Dr. Cain's face flushed red.

"Hannah Cain," she snapped, glaring at her sister. "Shut. Up."

Biting down on his anger, Markath strode forward to take the emperor's arm with as much dignity as he could muster while ignoring that comment. "Sire, I will escort you to your chambers and the healing baths. There is no need for these... humans... to stay."

Verikan's wry glance at his empress reminded him how impolitic that sentiment was now, but Markath didn't care. He just wanted this done with. And so it seemed did Dr. Cain, who let him take over supporting the injured wing and threw her medical kit back into the bag.

"We'll be going then," she said, grabbing her giggling sister by the arm and pulling her towards the doorway. "If the injuries don't heal quickly, let me know."

With that, she was gone. Markath should have been outraged by her lack of protocol. She hadn't even waited for Verikan to acknowledge her statement before leaving, but he was too relieved to see them go to care.

Or part of him was. Another part wanted to drag her back, but that had nothing to do with Verikan or anyone else. He pushed those thoughts aside with a frustrated growl, determined to focus on his duty.

Verikan shook his head and looked at Markath, raising an eyebrow slightly and smiling.

"What?" Markath demanded before remembering to whom he was speaking. "I mean, what is it, Sire?"

"You are not quite acting your usual self, Guardian," Verikan said, walking carefully so as not to disturb his injured wing. He didn't need any assistance, but Markath stayed close beside him, ready if something should go wrong.

"That's because I haven't usually lost control and injured my emperor, sire," Markath said. Together, Markath and the imperial couple made their way down the spiral towards the emperor's chambers. The public spaces of the Dragon Palace were above ground but dragons preferred to lair in caves when they could. That fact had saved the lives of every dragon still alive on Mars. Anyone above ground when the empire fell had died in the attack that destroyed Mars' atmosphere.

Verikan looked at him with a piercing gaze. "I don't think that's all of it," he said. "Your reaction to Dr. Cain was... unusually intense."

"I don't like a human medic tending you," Markath said, but the excuse sounded weak even to himself. Weak enough that Verikan laughed at it. Markath tried to continue anyway. "It should be one of our own, or if it must be a human, then a better-qualified one, someone who works directly for the empire. Dr. Cain is not loyal to you."

"None of us are doctors," Verikan pointed out. "And there is no such thing as a human qualified to treat one of us, as you well know. As for Dr. Cain's loyalty, any human doctor we brought in would almost certainly work for one of their governments or corporations, not for the empire. Dr. Cain, at least, we know."

"And she's my friend, as well," Josie said from the other side of Verikan. "That might not mean much to you, but it's more reason to trust her than you'll find for anyone else."

All of that was true, and it was all irrelevant. Markath knew it, and he knew that Verikan and Josie knew it too. His objections weren't anything to do with the doctor's medical ability, though he couldn't put his finger on what they were.

"I don't like it," he said plainly.

"Of course you don't," Verikan said, clapping Markath on the shoulder and ignoring his objection. "You want to keep her to yourself."

"What? No, of course not." Markath glared at Verikan for a moment before remembering who he was looking at. "Why would I want that, sire?"

"Guardian Markath," Verikan said as they stepped into his chambers, "you are usually more perceptive than this. You know the tales of our people, of the First Emperor's quests. You've told me the stories often enough."

"I don't see what that has to do with—" Markath broke off, freezing in place and feeling his wings twitch in horror at the very idea. "No. No, sire, you're wrong."

"Why?" Verikan didn't stop with him, making his way into the pool that filled a corner of the room. Stepping into the pool, he carefully sat and lowered his injured wing into it. Josie supported the wing until it was under the clear water where the nanotech could do its work.

"Because it's not possible," Markath said. "My mate will not be a human, especially not that human."

Turning over the idea in his mind, he tried to push it away. Amanda Cain was not what he wanted in a mate, not at all. She was human, abrasive, and she had no loyalty to the Dragon Empire beyond her friendship with the empress. How could she be a match for him?

And yet the idea, once planted, wouldn't go away. Her voice had been intoxicating, she was beautiful to his eyes in a way that he'd never seen before, and something about her manner drew him to her as much as he didn't like it.

Verikan looked up at him from the pool. "The First Emperor didn't expect his mate to be a Guriad nanoengineer either. Do you think I was expecting a human mate? You're the traditionalist who believes in fate, Markath — before all this happened I expected my marriage to be arranged by my family."

Markath gritted his teeth at that. Before the Great Sleep and their reawakening by the humans, he'd been one of the few to believe the old tales were literally true. The implanted technology that every dragon had inside them could evaluate potential partners, a feature that dated back to the founding of the empire. It had been needed to prevent their species dying for lack of mates. The stories that those same implants could conspire with fate to draw a dragon to his perfect mate, though, many rejected as fairy tales.

And now Verikan was accusing him of doing the same. What was worse, he wasn't sure that the emperor was wrong.

"No," he said simply, trying to deny it. "A human isn't..."

Verikan laughed again as Markath's words trailed off. He was already looking better, the healing waters closing his wounds, and Markath found himself wishing he could hit the emperor again. That's not a worthy thought for a Guardian, he told himself. But if he keeps mocking me...

The trouble was, Verikan had a point. More than a point. The humans might be primitive, weak, and rivals of the Dragon Empire. It didn't matter. If Amanda was the woman fate had chosen for him that was that. It's what he would have told any other dragon in the same position as him, but he didn't want to listen to the advice himself.

"Very well, Sire," he said, bowing his head and taking a deep breath. He was being unreasonable, and that was beneath him. Still, it was an effort to force out the words. "I must concede the possibility that this is my fate."

"Good," Verikan said, closing his eyes and relaxing. "So what will you do about it?"

"I will seek out Dr. Cain and talk to her, see if this is the call of fate," he said. Then he barked a laugh. "You realize that would mean we fought for nothing? If I take a human as my mate, then I will not need to speak in favor of your plans. Everyone will presume I favor an alliance."

"Which means you broke my wing for nothing," Verikan added, laughing in turn and shaking his head. "I think fate is playing tricks on both of us, my friend."

The two dragons laughed together, and then looked around at Josie's cough.

"Markath, you're still bleeding," she said, shaking her head. "I know that you dragons don't think much of injury, but please go and take care of your wounds first. I promise you, Amanda won't appreciate it if you show up at her place looking like you do now. Whatever fate has to say about you two, that won't help."

Markath looked down at himself and winced. The fight had hardly been one-sided, and the number of scrapes and bruises that Verikan had left on him were impressive. He nodded his thanks to Josie and bowed to Verikan.

"Then, with your permission, I will go and tend to my wounds," he said. The healing bath in his own quarters would deal with them in a few hours. As he bowed and turned to leave, Markath couldn't shake the sudden stab of jealousy at the fact that Verikan's wounds had been treated by Amanda and his wouldn't be.