Page 38 of The Gold Dragon Prince
“The moment you left our world your powers over me broke,” I said, not that I cared to give her any explanation.
I had eyes only for my beloved mate and our egg. I rushed the last few feet to him as Selle broke away from his brothers and flew into my arms. He still held our egg tightly and couldn’t put his arms around me, but I made up for it by wrapping him in my embrace and holding him as if I could hold the world together and make everything right by enveloping him.
“Gildur, you came!” he cried out, pressing his face into my shoulder. “You’re here.”
“I’m here, my love,” I told him, breathing in his paper and honey scent. “I’m here, and everything will be alright.”
“Who the devil are you?” King Freslik demanded. “Unhand my son and give me that gold at once!”
He attempted to take a step forward, but his progress was arrested while he still had one foot in the air.
“You certainly do know how to make a scene,” Argus said, striding forward as quickly as he could in his current, withered form, the staff he used clacking on the marble floor.
“If you’ve been here this entire time, why didn’t you stop things sooner?” I demanded.
Argus shrugged. “I have my orders from Mother. They include not interfering unless absolutely necessary.”
I stared incredulously at him, wondering what constituted absolutely necessary in Argus’s mind.
“Counselor Dormas?” King Freslik said, gaping at Arguswith a look of utter confusion. “What do you have to do with any of this?”
“He’s a dragon,” Saoirse gasped, seeming to suddenly make sense of the situation she was in.
Her surprise turned quickly to fear. She glanced around the room as if more of us would appear at any moment, then turned to run.
Her flight stopped as soon as it began when she raised her hand, presumably to create some sort of door back to the magical world, but nothing happened. She skidded to a halt, then shook her hand out and raised it again. When her magic failed again, she let out a desperate whimper and turned toward us.
“Give me back my magic,” she demanded, though she sounded more like a child who wanted their toy back than anyone with power. “You cannot do this to me. It isn’t fair!”
“I have orders to bring you before my mother, Queen Gaia,” I told her, letting go of Selle long enough to step forward and face her with the authority that had been invested in me.
“A queen?” King Freslik snorted. “Queens are useless and powerless. Don’t listen to him,” he charged Saoirse.
Saoirse made a sound of desperation and frustration as she glared at Freslik, then looked at me. “Let me go and I will give you whatever you want. I will make you rich and powerful beyond your wildest dreams. When I take over the Universe and am ruler of all the worlds, I will make you my right-hand man. You can have anything you want, just let me go!”
I would have laughed if I wasn’t so disgusted by her ploy.
“I do not care for riches or power,” I said stepping slowly toward her. “Gold means nothing to me. I’ve nointerest in controlling others and making them bow to my whims for my amusement. Such things are hollow, temporary power at any rate.”
“Then what do you want?” Saoirse asked, at her wit’s end. “Anything. I will give you anything at all if you let me go.”
I stopped and turned back to Selle, smiling. The warmth and comfort I felt for him through our bond was stronger than any wealth or power even my mother could offer.
Selle softened into a smile as well and walked over to stand with me. The confidence and love I felt from him made me feel more powerful than I’d ever felt before.
“I have everything I need right here,” I said, cupping the side of Selle’s somewhat smudged face, then resting a hand on our egg. I felt our baby thrill at my touch. “I have love and comfort. I have someone who believes in me, even when I don’t deserve it, and who gives me a purpose greater than the accumulation of mere things.”
“I love you, too,” Selle said quietly, tears of affection making his large eyes sparkle.
“Yes, yes!” Freslik blurted. “I’ll give you my son in exchange for the gold. Take the wretch and do whatever you want with him.”
I frowned and dragged my gaze away from Selle to stare at King Freslik. “He is not yours to give away,” I said. “Selle, all of your sons, are their own men. They will choose their own mates and their own destinies.”
“We will?” the youngest of the princes said, looking curiously at Argus.
Argus chuckled at the young omega. “It isn’t our time yet, sweet one,” he said. “But be patient, it will come.”
“What does that?—”
