Chapter 10:
Kavryiss
“I can’t help but notice that our little problem still hasn’t gone away.”
Those were the smooth tones of the regal D’Sharr. She wore a long see-through gown that sparkled in the light of the sun that pitched through the opening of the pit. We stood in the grassy field, the only part of the pit that could produce food. It was just far enough from the sun to catch the beneficial light and deep enough underground to stay moist.
I looked down at her small breasts that were thinly veiled through the silver material and quickly darted my eyes up to hers.
“I’ve been busy,” I said lamely. “The D’Karr assigned me to the armory to… Erm… test the weapons for the sun.”
“Ah,” she said with a flick of her brow, now turning to look at me. “And what a good choice that turned out to be.”
“It didn’t go as planned,” I said self-consciously.
“I hadn’t noticed,” she laughed and looked up at the sky, still littered with fallen blocks of sun. “I heard since your misfire, the topside has never been so dangerous. I heard two shifters died from the heat alone.”
I nodded uncomfortably. This woman was truly testing my patience. I gritted my teeth and managed to push out, “We’re doing another run in just a few cycles.”
“Take her with you then,” she waved regally, dismissing me. “See that she can get hit by a meteor or some such thing,” she said and gave a high-pitched laugh at the thought.
I grinned half-heartedly, and she continued, “You are bedding her, yes?”
I swallowed. “Yes.”
“Good,” she exhaled. “Then it shouldn’t have been this hard to get close to her.”
“The timing is…” I trailed off.
“I imagine her death gets in the way of your fun then, doesn’t it?” she said quickly and reached down to pick up a small orb of vegetation that was growing from Graynar’s greenery. “Don't forget your mission. You are my warrior. This is your assignment. This is for the good of our people. Do you want her ruling over Dobromia? A human?”
I shook my head. “No, of course not,” I said.
But the truth was, I wouldn’t mind at all. In fact, the annoying girl had garnered my respect over the cycles. It turned out she was more than just something for the D’Karr to wet himself inside.
She had good ideas; she was smart enough to know how to properly cultivate our land and use its resources to build useful structures. The more I thought about it, the more I wished she could take power. It was a mess of thought that hadn’t left my mind for the last couple cycles, but I couldn’t figure out an end-goal. Unless she stayed with the D’Karr.
The thought made me sick: sent shooting, burning bile up my throat and rested there long enough to singe me.
“I'm growing tired,” she said exasperatedly, her feminine, little voice never sounding so wicked. “I want this taken care of today. There are handsome rewards for you, Kavryiss.”
I bowed my respect to her, and she began to walk away. Just as I was coming off my heel, she turned to me.
“And Kavryiss?” she snapped. “It’s your head if this goes awry.”
“Of course,” I said, another bow. “I won’t fail you.”
I could hear her footsteps disappear behind me and another sick pang shot up my stomach. I thought about all the ways I could get rid of her: bring her out to the T’nemtar fields and wait for a burning remnant of the sun to destroy her. I could leave her to burn. Make love to her and strangle her.
As the one the D’Karr and D’Sharr went to for exterminating problems, whether they be people or creatures from other planets, the thought of killing something never bothered me, until now.
My mind whirled with excuses, reasons to make it okay to fulfill my mission. Then I realized I just couldn’t do it. I loved her, and apparently, that meant the end for me.
In fact, I’d heard nothing of loving a human that ever brought a Weredragon solace. Tredorphen loved Marina and abandoned us all, Vaikrand bedded Athena and had to fight to the death in a proving to stay alive, the D’Karr loved Diana and she was plotted against, and Aurlauc too loved Athena and seems tortured to no end by whatever went on between them.
The list went on and on. I knew of different warriors who had dealings with human females, and their lives seemed to grow into one endless complication after another.
Now I would risk my own life by disobeying the D’Sharr, all for a girl whom I wasn’t sure loved me.
No, she did.
I just don’t know if she did more than her desire to lead over Dobromia. And she deserved that, after all.
“What are you doing?”
The sudden sound made me jump back, my heart racing endlessly as I spun around and saw Tredorphen standing before me with narrowed brows. He folded his arms one over the other and traced his tongue around the inside of his mouth, awaiting an answer.
I swallowed hard and set my jaw, defiant against the D’nebu’a.
“What are you doing?” he seethed. “What does she have you doing? You’re going to kill her?”
“It’s my mission,” I said tersely, trying to sound indifferent about my assignment. The blue-eyed shifter’s scowl ran deeper, and his eyes met mine with a sharp gaze. “What does it matter to you? You just got here,” I said, incensed. “And this is your mother you’re speaking of. Our D’Sharr. She wants it done. Am I supposed to say no to that?”
He raised a brow and tilted his head ever so slightly. “I would.”
I scoffed. “Then you forget what it's like to live here. You're not a warrior anymore. You've changed.”
The golden shifter looked up, flapping his wings behind him and swaying his tail from side to side with irritation. He nodded in agreement and then said, “But everything's changing. Don't you see?”
I stared at him and wasn’t sure how to respond. The truth was, I was jealous of what he had and the freedom he had to do it. He wasn’t stuck on Dobromia any longer. He didn’t have our problems.
He had Marina: endless devotion and an Earth overflowing with food and resources.
“Not all of us are so lucky. Not all of us can choose to leave or do as we please,” I snapped.
He winced at the comment and turned from me, stepping into a stream of sunlight. He shook his head and scraped his fingers against the stubble that scattered across his cleft. “Why is she doing this?” he whispered. “Father will tire of her, that's... that's a given. Why not wait it out?”
“He already has,” I agreed. “But he loves her and wants to make her ruler.”
“I’ve heard she wouldn’t make a bad one,” he said with a small vein of humor running through his tone. He looked up at me seriously then. “What about my mother?”
“She’s already heard rumors that he plans to do away with her.”
“Idiots.” Tredorphen let out a full sigh and pinched the space between his brows. “You know… I was where you were once. Sent on a mission I didn’t agree with.”
The Vulcana massacre.
I knew exactly what he was talking about. We all heard about it.
“And what did you do?”
He shrugged. “What any warrior would do. I went through with it, and it was the worst decision I ever made.”
“Yeah, well,” I waved him off. “I don't have the luxury to—”
“Hold off for a few more days,” he insisted. “If you can promise me this then I can promise you a very different Dobromia.”
I couldn’t say I wasn’t intrigued by his offer. “Why should you care what happens to her?” I asked curiously.
He paused, and his eyes darted around the large courtyard like a true warrior, looking closely for the possibility of hidden enemies. He nodded toward me and lowered his voice as he answered, “Because I don’t like the way Dobromia runs, and this is at the root of it.”
“Sounds like you and Diana would have a lot in common then,” I laughed.
“Is that right?” he scoffed. “Then you can tell her that things are about to change.”
“Yes, yes, very cryptic,” I waved. “I need more information than that if I'm going to risk my life for some... human.”
The rose shifter walked up to me, towering over my stature as he was only inches from my face; his breath was ghosting over me like a hot fog. He studied my eyes for some time and then stepped back, seeming satisfied.
“You won't,” he smiled.
I laughed. “Oh?”
The powerful shifted shook his head and gave a knowing laugh. “No.”
“And why's that?”
But I already knew the answer.
Tredorphen looked at me with a smug grin, spreading his wings and preparing for flight. His feet were prepped to go skyward when he looked at me, pointing his index in my direction and shouting, “Because I know that look.”
And then he was gone.