Page 32 of The Diamond Dragon Prince
I loved the pulse of determination and zeal I felt from my amazing mate. He wasn’t going to like what I had to say, though.
“Leo,” I said firmly, contradicting my tone by resting my hand tenderly on his face. “We need to talk about getting you back to the magical realm, to my lair, so that you can birth our egg.”
Leo stiffened, frowning. The anxiety and helplessness that flowed through our bond painted a different picture than the frustrated warrior who stood before me.
“I don’t want to throw away my chance to do something meaningful for my people by curling up in some comfortable nest somewhere and hatching an egg,” he said.
I sighed. “It’s not like that at all. Once the egg is birthed, you can hire a nursemaid to watch it until this battle is done.”
“But I’ll feel my child’s pull constantly, in everything I do and every breath I take,” Leo said, pained by the idea. “That’s what Tovey and Selle tell me, at least. Once you’ve given birth, you are forever a papa, whether you want to be or not.”
I wanted to tell him that he would love our child and that he would enjoy being a papa, that he could be a papa on his terms. It would have been crass to say those things, though. I couldn’t say that they were true. I wasn’t an omega, especially one with as much fire and purpose as Leo. I knew what a life of leisure felt like, and now that I, too, had drive and purpose, Leo’s drive and purpose, I didn’t want to go back to being idle.
“If I could give you everything you desired, dress you up in the finest armor, and put youat the head of the battle that appears to be coming, I would,” I told him, grasping his face in both my hands. “But what’s done is done, brave Leo. The egg is already within you. There’s no turning back from your fate and mine. We are in this together.”
I lowered one hand to rest on the bulge in his stomach. It had grown a bit since I’d last held him in my arms.
Whether it was my touch or some sort of internal acceptance, Leo lowered his head and blew out a breath. “I do want this child,” he admitted quietly, then raised his eyes to me again. “But not yet. My work here in this world isn’t finished yet. We need to overthrow my father and make Osric king. I cannot simply leave something so important for other people to do.”
I clenched my jaw and stood there staring at him, wishing a solution to the whole thing would come to me.
“Selle has told us all before that eggs don’t have to be birthed immediately after conception,” Leo went on, more certainty in his voice. “He says that some dragon mates have been known to wait an entire week before birthing their egg. It’s only been a couple days.”
“What are you saying?” I asked, even though I already knew.
“Give me time,” Leo said, taking my hands and standing closer to me. “Give me two or three more days to help Cousin Osric launch his campaign. Once this thing has been put into motion, I will take time to go with you to your lair and bring our child one step closer to the world.”
I smiled. Leo was far braver and bolder than I had ever been. I would have a lot of work ahead of me to be worthy of such an outstanding mate.
“Alright,” I said, pulling him close for another kiss. “But as soon as I feel your urgency to birth this egg, and that moment will come, I’m taking you to my lair.”
Leo’s face pinched as if he didn’t like the truth, but he relented and said, “Agreed.”
I couldn’t help but kiss him again, long and passionately. I knew what waited for us when we finally did come together to bring our egg into the world and the anticipation of that sort of passion alone fired my blood.
“Now,” Leo said, rocking back from me, a look of fiery determination in his eyes, “let’s rejoin the others and plot a revolution. My father won’t stand a chance against an army like this.”
Dragons or no dragons, I knew my beloved was right. He alone was a force to be reckoned with.
Chapter
Ten
Leo
It was such a relief to have Diamant close to me again. I’d been feeling worse and worse as the morning progressed, despite the amazement of learning there was actually someone with a legitimate claim to my father’s throne. Not just someone with a claim, but someone who was everything I would have wanted to be as a king myself.
Osric was intelligent and kind. He’d taken us in and welcomed my brothers and I with open arms. He’d made certain that Misha, who was traumatized by all the conflict and stress around him, felt as safe as he could, and he’d answered all of Rumi’s and Obi’s questions openly and in detail. He’d been raised well by Lord Oberlin’s family, and he had a sense of justice that I admired. And a few times he’d said something that hinted to me he might know about the magical world.
All of that was like the answer to a prayer, but it did nothing to ease the ache deep in my gut and in my heart.
And then Diamant had appeared in Osric’s camp and it was as if I’d been washed with clean water and made whole again. Even the egg that continued to grow inside me felt happier and softer within me. Being with my dragon meant all was right with the world again.
Well, almost right with the world.
“We need to head to Freslik’s dastardly work camp first to make certain the prisoners he’s taken are well and that they can be returned to their villages,” Osric declared from the top of his magnificent steed as his army gathered into marching formation. “I doubt my uncle would allow his plans for the camp to simply evaporate.”
“I don’t think it’s likely that the guards who scattered when the villagers revolted would stay away for long either,” Rumi added as he and Emmerich took places on horseback near Osric’s side.
