Ezeru

“You’ve changed,” Seron said, building up the fire for our first night’s camp.

“I’m sure I have.”

“I am…truly sorry about Aknu, and the other rock dragons who were killed that day. Whenever I lose a man, I always feel responsible for bringing them out there in the first place. I bet you feel it even more.”

“He was going to marry Nuru,” I said. “He was going to have a child. I can’t believe he won’t live to see it. But…that’s why I was there in the first place. I was afraid that the longer we waited, we might lose the chance to save you and Oszin.”

“You’re a good man.” Seron poked the fire. “How was it? You and Aurek? The human world? Seems like it’d be a lot for you. You hate pomp even more than I do.”

“Definitely too much pomp.”

Seron laughed. “And so what’s with the tail?”

“It kept the queen well pleased when you weren’t here,” I said.

“Replaced by a tail,” Seron said ruefully.

I shook my head. “I should tell you, I also brought some pleasure to Aurek. I’m sure he would have rather it was you. I don’t want to interfere, but he was so welcoming to me.”

I caught the briefest frown on Seron’s face and for a moment I thought he might be possessive of Aurek, but then his eyes widened and he coughed. “You really repay people well for being welcoming.”

I shrugged. “Well, I was already there with the queen and it just felt right.”

“No, I’ve never…with Aurek…I mean, we’re not lovers.”

“I know.”

“Then why do you think I would put my tail in his ass?” He sounded defensive.

I realized maybe I didn’t understand Seron and Aurekdel as well as I thought. “Well, sometimes a rock dragon pairing becomes so close with other rock dragon that if one mate dies, the companion will share the bed of the one left behind, whether male or female, so the dragon doesn’t feel the loss of their mate as much. Sometimes they mate to relieve an urge. Rock dragons only mate when they’re with the person that puts them in heat, but if that person is lost sometimes they still go into heat from the scent left behind for a while. Well, you and Aurek seem as close as that. Or more.”

Seron heaved a sigh. “You make it seem pretty straightforward.”

“You don’t love him the same way.”

Seron hesitated. “I—I don’t know.”

“I guess I don’t really understand. I never understood the mist dragons. They would marry without even loving each other at all. For a rock dragon, that’s not possible. I saw them at court; sometimes I was even allowed to attend weddings, but I was always on the outside, so I never got to see how it worked out.”

“Probably not that well,” Seron said. “I do love Aurek… Of course I do. Everyone does. He has this charm about him. And when he’s with Himika, I can’t imagine a better king and queen. They both have a way of putting everyone at ease and when they walk into a room it’s like turning the lights on. But I’ve also been ragingly jealous of him.” He mussed his own hair as he jabbed the fire with a stick. “I can still remember hitting him, and it felt kinda good. But he probably feels the same about me.”

“I think he admires you more. But affection comes more easily to him.”

“Love…yeah. it’s never come easy to me. And he’s always had as much love as he wants,” Seron said. “It’s not hard for Aurek.”

“He still seems lonely,” I said. “Maybe I’m wrong.”

“Nah. Not wrong. It’s just one of those things. Well, you know all about messed up childhoods. When I was down there…Izeria was always arguing about you with Rothair. And I bet she used to argue the same with Dvaro, didn’t she?”

I noticed him changing the subject, but it worked. I stiffened. “Dvaro hated me. But Izeria…was worse. She was…closer to me.”

“Are you going to be able to kill her if you get the chance?”

“Will I be able to? Gods. It would be my greatest wish. You can be sure, I won’t hesitate.”

“Okay…” Seron shrugged a little and put his rabbit on the fire.

“You think I would hesitate?”

“Do you have any idea who your parents are?”

“No.”

“Well…don’t you think it’s gotta be one of them?”

“They chose me because I had the blood of Orvenu. I saw Rothair cast the spell. It could have been anyone.”

“I don’t know. The way they were arguing about you… I could be wrong, but it seemed to me like you were in the family somehow.”

Revulsion shot through me. Of course, I’d thought about it. But I tried to shove it aside. I hated the mist dragon royals down to every drop of blood in my body, and I couldn’t stand the thought that any of that blood could be shared. “No. No. Not them.”

“Blood doesn’t have anything to do with who you are,” Seron said.

“Doesn’t it? We choose kings based on it! And it was the blood of Orvenu that brought this crown to me. It’s written into prophecies.”

“Yeah. I guess it does,” Seron said. “But it shouldn’t.”