Chapter Seven

 

 

With blood sample units in hand and the driver of the luxury karros smiling at them, the ladies left the vehicle and walked toward the heavily guarded archway.

Trin kept her head high as she slid over the smaller invitation and presented the verifier with her name embossed in it.

He set the small box into a much larger one and smiled. “Thank you, welcome to the night of meeting, Miss Adolla Venatrin Lem. A guide will take you to your station.”

She inclined her head. “Thank you.”

A young male in the livery of the dragon council was waiting for her, and he bowed low. “Miss Lem, please come with me.”

She followed him and noted the few other females who were standing near tables containing snacks and beverages. So, it could be a heavy drinking evening if she was so inclined. Nice to know.

Apraxa and Meadra showed up and were stationed three tables to the left and two tables across respectively. The other stations were filled with women who looked nervous and excited. Some even looked bored.

Trin gave a little wave to her friends, and they smiled and waved back.

To her consternation, a chime rang, and panels of shadow rose from the floor, cutting off her view. Shouts of consternation were coming from the other tables.

“Ladies, please do not be alarmed. As there are more entrants than normal, we had to use an open room. An illusionist has been asked to participate in maintaining the sense of privacy. We will now begin.”

It was the warning before four men walked through the barrier, and she was blinking at strangers.

She put on her best polite smile, honed behind the counter at her coffee shop, and she greeted the men, gaining their names one by one.

They were with her for ten minutes before the next batch was brought in. They greeted her, and she greeted them.

The men spoke about themselves, and she listened encouragingly. When they left, she spoke to the third round, and so it went. Not one man asked her about herself.

The eleventh group held a surprise. Four men who were obviously water dragons walked into her space.

Introductions didn’t even begin. One of them stood straight with his nostrils flaring. “You. You are the one she has been speaking to.”

Trin grinned. “Yes, that would be right.”

Black hair with silver and gold streaks flowed to his waist in a loose wave. His skin had the bluish sheen that the water folk often had, and his expression was pure irritation.

“Why don’t you save yourself and tell her to come with me?”

Trin stepped toward him. “Do you threaten me?”

He nodded, and his men closed around her. “I do.”

She stood and flared her wings out, using the tip of the right one to draw a drop of blood from his neck. “Right back at you.”

His eyes widened, and he backed up, but her wingtip followed. “You are not a quartz dragon like the others have been saying.”

She released her wingtip and dismissed her wings. “I am not. But... guessing is fun. Keep guessing. As for Apraxa, she is a woman who has grown up loved and supported. She has built an empire that could grow across the world. That is her passion, her creation. Don’t get in the way of that and you will get along fine. Find ways to help her, and she will make you her true partner in every way.”

He blinked with multiple lids. “I don’t understand.”

“She is under the impression that you want her businesses.”

He frowned. “That was her mother’s suggestion, not mine. I will take her any way I can get her.”

Trin smiled and walked over, placing her hand on his wrist. “Tell her that when you are in front of her, no matter who is with you, just be forthright and leave the ego behind.”

He slowly smiled. “You would be an ally?”

“I am her friend, but if you are what is best for her, you have my support. However, cross her or make her cry and I will use my wingtip to carve you into sushi.”

The men with him were standing back, respectfully, but one of them grinned.

Trin smiled. “You are the brother, I am guessing?”

His long dark hair slid forward as he bowed. “I am. Well spotted.”

“Good. Stay serious, and if you could turn your backs while Apraxa and your brother speak, it would be for the best.”

He bowed. “As you wish, my lady.”

She nodded. “So, now we wait.”

She waved at the table. “Help yourself to the food and drink.”

The two men who were with Apraxa’s male smiled and walked right past her toward the food.

Trin smiled and looked toward the storm dragon. “So, what is your name? I will need to be able to recognize it when Apraxa cusses you out.”

“Romak Drmor Aleghehar Wixenor.” He smiled.

“Trin Lem.”

He took her hand and bent his head over her knuckles. “It has been a pleasure to meet you, Trin Lem. Thank you for your advice on Apraxa.”

“No problem. Your other option is to just kiss her, but she might bite.”

His smile was conspiratorial. “I will consider that Plan B.”

They remained in companionable silence for the remainder of the time, and he and his men left her at the chime.

Trin was getting restless. She didn’t like to be boxed in, and this was definitely getting on her nerves.

She paced, and her next batch of suitors arrived. They introduced themselves, one after the other, and she nodded, but she was beginning to suffocate with all these dragons around her.

When one of the men spoke, asking her a question she hadn’t heard before, she smiled.

“Did you just ask me what I was looking for in a mate?”

The man nodded. He was golden, his scent was from an area surrounded by sun-baked clay. “It seems to me that if I don’t find a mate here, I might want to take into consideration what a woman might want in a mate.”

She searched her memory and smiled. “It is a good question, Nolesander Kreelo. I would say, that what a mate wants, what anyone wants, is to have their mate be the best that they can be, and in turn, she will do her best. Together, they lift each other up, and they are both much stronger than either could ever be apart.”

The other men had begun to stare at her, and some of the arrogant façades that had developed over the waves of fawning women in the other cubicles faded at her blunt words.

“Dragons control this part of the world because we are wise and even-tempered. That said, I have met a lot of jackasses since my dragon woke, and many others are known and reported on around the world. Dragons have tremendous power, but it doesn’t make us innately better than humans or other shifters. It merely means that we have more to control and that control is what can lead to arrogance. It also means that when a dragon goes wrong, it can destroy their family, friends, and all around them. Keep that in a part of your mind with every heartbeat, every step, and every word you speak to those around you carries the weight of what you are. When I thought I was human, when they marked me as human, I had a human’s freedom to speak whatever came into my head. I knew that those words could hurt, so I tempered them. I did that with no power, no innate right to obedience. I could still make folk quail before me, just with words. My first meeting with a dragon was with a frustrated female whose insecurity caused her to lash out. I was able to answer back, but it cost me my humanity and all that it meant to me.”

The dragons behind Kreelo were staring with wide eyes.

“So, just be the man that you would want your mother to have had in her life or your sisters or your nieces, aunts, and friends. Act in a way that makes them proud to stand next to you, knowing that you have done all you can to be worthy.”

A silver dragon asked, “What about the women? What do they do for us?”

“We are the ground under your feet. The house that you take shelter in. If you undermine a woman, she will become the sliding sands of the windswept desert. She is made of the same stone but has been shattered so many times that she can no longer reliably support you if you need it. Keep her safe, keep her whole, and you will live a long and happy life.”

The young man asked, “What if we don’t get along?”

“That is easy. Let your dragons talk. Go somewhere, you shift and she shifts, and your dragons will compete for dominance or come into a treatise. When you return to human, you will understand what is going on and how you should proceed. We are not alone in this, our dragons make this choice, and we learn to live with it.”

Kreelo smiled. “It isn’t romantic.”

She thought about the first time that her dragon had identified Brommin as the pretty one. “It has its moments.”

“That is why the courtship is so important. Once our dragons make up their minds, the human parts of us have to make up for the suddenness of the decision.” Kreelo smiled.

She reached out and took his hand. There was a shop, the scent of herbs, and a woman with brown and gold hair. The scent of magic was in the air around her, and it was tinged with the scent of fascination. “Oh, so you...”

“This is for my father. My dragon has already chosen.”

Trin smiled, suddenly at ease with what was going on. “I wish you luck, Nolesander. Keep in touch after you find your lady’s heart. I suspect that she is holding many secrets.”

“Her father hates the dragons, so yes, I am guessing that I have a battle ahead of me.” He smiled and the corners of his eyes crinkled. He was looking forward to the fight.

The chime rang, and her amused gathering left.

Torm was in the next group, and he looked nervous and determined. “Lady Lem, I am glad to see you.”

She grinned. “Have you seen Meadra yet?”

He shook his head, and the other men with him looked confused.

She chuckled and took his hand. “It will be fine. You are her dragon’s choice. No one else is even visible to her eyes. It explains your fixation. You were close to what you wanted, but I was not it.”

The other males were all of a higher draconic ranking, but aside from greeting them politely, she had no interest when they reeled off their accomplishments.

She was waiting for the next group, and Torm smiled. “It is horrible in its way. The waiting.” He squeezed her hand, and she realized that she was still holding it.

“You do realize that after the final choosing and the binding, you are going to be my uncle or my stepfather, depending on which version you want to embrace.”

His eyes widened, and he laughed. “I look forward to it, niece.”

The chime rang again, and he and the others left.

She paced back and forth again as she waited. They had to be near the end. Brommin had to be close.

When the last group came through, there were only three of them.

She cocked her head. “Are you the last?”

They nodded, confused. “We are. This is the last round. We have seen the other females.”

That was it. It was the final straw to an evening of frustrations. She spread her wings and left her cubicle, searching for her mate.