Page 17 of The Gold Dragon Prince
“I am not,” I said, holding my chin up and hugging our egg close. “It wouldn’t be right,” I added, relenting a little. “Please let me help. I cannot help the people of my own kingdom, so perhaps I can help these serfs.”
“Alright, meddlesome mate of mine,” Gildur said, stepping forward to kiss me.
His kiss was sweet and deep, and it almost convinced me to forget the whole ogre situation so that we could go back to bed. Being bred by my fated mate wasn’t nearly enough. I wanted to spend hours making love to him and exploring all the things I’d only ever been able to dream about before.
I could feel that Gildur wanted that, too, but he stepped back instead. He rested his hands over my hand and the egg as I cradled it close, and when he stepped even farther back, a tight, leather sling had formed itself out of the fibers of my clothing, securing the egg against me, close to my heart.
“We’ll need to fly to Saoirse’s estate,” Gildur said, backing upfarther. “Come.”
He held out a hand and led me to the balcony we’d landed on the night before. It was wide for a balcony, but as soon as Gildur began his transformation, shifting into a small version of his golden-scaled dragon form so that I could climb onto his back, I could see why.
As soon as he launched into the air, his body grew and elongated into the full-sized dragon I’d ridden the night before. There was no feeling quite as exciting as riding a dragon as it climbed up towards morning-tinted clouds. It was a good thing that I felt as though my egg was safe and that I didn’t need my glasses.
I cried out with the fun of the whole thing, whooping like Leo when he’d stolen one of the faster horses from our father’s stable years ago and gone careening off over the countryside before the guards could catch him. Gildur indulged my sense of excitement by turning circles in the sky, speeding up, then slowing down and dropping, only to soar up again when I was certain we would crash. He was wicked to play with me and our egg that way when we had a mission to see to, but I loved him for it anyhow.
He sobered up after the first part of the ride, as we traveled through the valley, then up over a set of tall hills and on to a fertile, grassy plain beyond. There were fewer trees in that part of the kingdom, so I could see all the way across the vast farmland to a grand mansion set near a winding stream. It was surrounded by verdant, green gardens that I could see dotted with colorful flowers, even from a distance.
The estate wasn’t what caught my attention, though. The property itself was surrounded by a wall, and on the other side of the wall were three small villages. One of them was in the process of being smashed by huge, rock-like shapes, the clump of ogres.
“Hurry,” I told Gildur, squeezing his body tightly with my legs.
Gildur growled and zoomed toward the attacking ogres. As we drew closer, I could see dozens of ordinary men and women fighting back with whatever they had. It didn’t look like they were winning, though.
Gildur roared as soon as we were close enough for the ogres to hear us. I was worried for a moment that they’d be too stupid to notice a dragon in the sky above them, but I needn’t have worried.
One of the larger ogres turned and bellowed in fear, pointing up to Gildur in the sky. As soon as he made his noise, the others turned to look as well. Gildur roared again and breathed fire at them as he swooped down toward them. I shouted as well, though I didn’t think a slight omega yelling would scare them at all.
Perhaps I was wrong. Or more likely, ogres were just terrified of dragons. As soon as they saw Gildur, they began to flee. The serfs were encouraged by our arrival, although I couldn’t tell if they were just as afraid as the ogres were. They fought back, poking and hitting the ogres with their pitchforks and clubs as Gildur continued to swoop and dive at them.
It wasn’t much of a battle, in all honesty. Ogres were apparently cowards as well as bullies. They ran as Gildur scattered them, and they didn’t stop, even when Gildur chased after a different one. Within minutes, the attack was over and the terrified ogres were all running away, bellowing.
“Ogres,” Gildur snorted, twin, small plumes of fire shooting from his nose. “They’re unforgivably stupid.”
I laughed as Gildur wheeled back to the edge of the serf village, where people were picking up the pieces andputting out a few fires. I was eager to speak to the men and women, and even some children, who had come out to defend their homes so valiantly.
Gildur landed softly at the edge of the village, but instead of transforming into his human form, he rolled his shoulders a little to help me get down.
“That was spectacular!” one of the village women said, her eyes round as she smiled at me.
“Thank Goddess you arrived when you did, Lord Dragon” a tall, broad-shouldered alpha said, striding forward. “I don’t think we could have held out much longer.”
“We did what we could,” I said, still breathless as I stroked my egg against my chest. “Was anyone hurt? Do you need healing?”
“We’re all well and accounted for,” the alpha said, glancing to the woman, who rushed to his side and hugged him. “They were only attacking the buildings.”
“Ogres like nothing more than destruction,” another man, a beta by the look of him, joined the couple.
“Why would they want to destroy your village?” I asked, glancing around at the serfs who left what they were doing to come speak with me. “Who would want to attack a group of defenseless villagers?”
Several of the people huffed and shook their heads.
“Lady Saoirse says she’ll offer us protection, but she’s done nothing,” the alpha said.
“She’s done nothing but demand every coin and every crop we have in order to protect us,” the woman said, then spit in the dirt. “If you ask me, she created the problem so that she could solve it.”
“But why would anyone do that?” I asked.
“Why indeed?” Gildur said.
