Page 89 of The Heart of the Dragon

"What is that smile for?" Rose asked. "Or do I even want to know."

"Probably not. I was thinking about my uncle and what I plan to do to him."

"He deserves it. Keeping you trapped in his servitude for countless years with no autonomy was enough to convince me, but now knowing that he was responsible for my family? There's no coming back from genocide."

I winced at her assessment. It was my dragonfire that had caused it all. And now was the opportunity I needed to tell her. I opened my mouth to say something and nothing came out. My stomach twisted, and a deluge of guilt threatened my sanity, but I still couldn't say the words. Not when to do so would cause her to try and leave. Something I or my dragon wouldn’t allow. Then where would we be? I would become her captor.

No. Neither of us was ready for those truths.

Soon. The right time would come. It always did. Then we'd sit down and hopefully have a rational discussion.

"I know we are in your uncle's kingdom, but I have to admit, it looks pretty peaceful and idyllic. Is there a secret underbelly I can't see from here?"

I smiled sadly. "One would think. But the underbelly is up on that hill, hiding from the rest of the realm. They all know what kind of king they live under, and they rightly fear him. But the people are nothing like him. Most are kind and hard-working and want nothing more than to enjoy life with their family and friends. They deserve so much better than what they've got.”

"It reminds me of the town my parents live in back in Scotland. Sans the evil king of course. Well, there is technically a king, but he serves as more of a figurehead than anything else. You didn't get a chance to see much at my parents’ home, but it's a wonderful, caring community."

"Yet, you chose not to live there." Her cottage wasn't overly far from home, but she'd gone to some effort to put a little distance between them.

"Despite what you might think, I'm really not a people person. I like to live alone."

"And yet you volunteer at a soup kitchen and you sell your plant-based potions out of the back of a fancy coach. That sounds like a lot of peopling if you ask me."

If I wanted to be alone, I put a lot of actual distance between me and others.

"Well, there's peace and quiet and then there's complete and total isolation. I prefer the former. Plus, selling those goods allows me to spend my winters alone on the coast. Just me and my plants, working together to come up with new solutions for the world."

"Your nobility shines through no matter what. A binding spell didn't seem to change you much. I think the people here are going to love you."

She suddenly stopped walking, and I had to turn back to see what had caught her eye. Only she was staring at me, not her surroundings.

"What's wrong?" I walked back to her so I could keep my voice low. While the kingdom was filled with kind and good people, there was also no shortage of people who were completely loyal to my uncle. His spies...

"You make it sound like this is where I will live."

My muscles tightened at the alarm in her voice as she spoke those words. "We are fated to be together. This will beourkingdom."

"What about the dark fae kingdom? What has happened there since they were..." She didn't seem to want to finish that sentence and I didn't blame her. I didn't want to think about it anymore than she did.

"I don't know." At least in that I could be honest. It hadn't been that long since my uncle consumed them. I doubt he'd had much time to do anything at all.

"Then people there might need help?"

It was possible. Anything was. But even Ensley had made it sound like there were no survivors. I knew it was a mistake not to come clean in this moment. I could feel it clear to my marrow. There was going to be a steep price for my silence, but I had no choice. I needed her focused on the here and now before we broached the castle.

"The best thing we could do to help anyone in that kingdom or this one is to eliminate the real threat. The longer we delay the harder it becomes. My uncle is not stupid, and he has eyesand ears everywhere. He will figure out what I am up to sooner rather than later."

And the longer we waited, the more opportunities there would be for him to figure out exactly who and what Rose was. That idea terrified me. Not that I had any intention of getting her close enough to the man for him to figure out shit. But I couldn't leave her unprotected in the village, either.

"So, what's our plan? Is there somewhere you know he'll be that we can grab him?"

I laughed at the gleam in her eye. "Is my crazy little flower up for some more kidnapping?"

"That's not exactly what I was thinking, but I guess that works too. If you have somewhere private to take him. That helps you know."

I burst out laughing. Of course I knew, but that didn't mean I wasn't loving how her beautiful mind worked. "Unfortunately, we have to go to him. My uncle is the most paranoid person I've ever met. Which means he pretty much never leaves the castle."

"Of course he is. Narcissists usually are. Will you be welcome there? Will you have to explain where you've been?"

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