Page 12 of The Sapphire Dragon Prince
Misha held the dagger up to me. Sure enough, the handle was carved with roses in full bloom. It wouldn’t hold up in any sort of fight with a serious enemy, but it made Misha smile.
It did more than that.
“Papa always loved his roses,” he said, his cheeks glowing pink at what I could see was a beautiful memory. “He could grow the largest and most beautiful roses, and he grew them in all different colors. I don’t think I ever saw him happier than when he was working with his roses. He once told me they reminded him of?—”
Misha stopped, and I looked at him curiously, eager to hear the rest of the story. “Go on,” I said.
Misha smiled sadly and held the dagger to his heart. “Papa was in love with an alpha before Father found him and forced him into marriage. That alpha was the love of his life, and it’s a tragedy that they could never be together. Papa always said the roses reminded him of his true love.”
My heart broke for Misha’s papa, even though I’d never met the man. King Freslik was beyond cruel to stand in the way of true love.
“I think you should bring that with you,” I said, taking down a smaller pack from a high shelf and starting to fill it with food.
“It will be like bringing a piece of Papa with me,” Misha said softly before tucking the dagger into his belt. He smiled as he looked at me again. “My family,” he said. “That’s what makes me feel strong and safe. I know they can’t come with me on this quest, but keeping this dagger by my side is almost like a reminder of them.”
My mate’s sweetness was so touching that my throat closed up for a moment. I wanted to be his family, give him more family to support him and make him feel strong. That was my goal in the quest we were about to set out on.
We swept through the storehouse, gathering mostly food to put in our packs. I gave myself more of a load than Misha had, including a bedroll that the two of us could share. The things Misha packed for himself were mostly for cooking and taking care of ourselves. He even found a first-aid kit and tucked it into his pack.
“In case we get hurt,” he said with a sheepish smile.
I couldn’t have been more in love with him if I’d tried. My sweet omega was already hurt, but he thought to bring aid in case I was hurt as well.
We set off about an hour after leaving Mother’s throne room, each of us wearing a simple pack on our backs. We didn’t have any armor or hardly any weapons to speak of. I trusted that if weran into danger, particularly when we reached The Black Mirror, I could transform into a dragon and defend both of us that way. Although the legends and stories about The Black Mirror said most weapons and forms of magic were useless against it. I didn’t care. I would do whatever I could to defend my mate and help him complete the quest.
“I think this quest should be fairly simple and easy until we reach the end,” I said as we walked through the meadow. The path had appeared before us when we left the storehouse, so I trusted that was Mother’s way of pointing us in the right direction. “Mother wouldn’t send us off on a quest and then make it impossible to complete.”
“But every quest is a challenge in some way,” Misha said, turning slightly gloomy.
I squeezed his hand, which I held while we walked. “We’ll be able to complete the quest, though,” I said. “I don’t pretend that I know what each of the tasks means, but we’re clever, we can figure it out.”
“Clearly, there will be some sort of cherry orchard ahead of us,” Misha said, frowning in thought, like he was making an effort not to let the dark cloud of sadness and strain I knew followed him push him down. “And chickens?” He glanced up at me.
I laughed. “I have no idea what the chicken feather is all about,” I admitted.
“Do you know what The Black Mirror is?” he asked.
I wished I could have laughed that off as well. “I do,” I admitted with a sigh.
Misha looked deeply worried. “What is it?”
My expression turned pinched for a moment, but there was no point in hiding the truth from my mate. “Legend has it that The Black Mirror is an ancient, evil curse. No one is entirelycertain what it is, but they say it can bring even the most valiant warrior to his knees.”
“And I’m far from being a valiant warrior,” Misha sighed, looking down at the grass path we traveled over.
It pained me to see defeat creeping in around my beloved so soon after we’d set out. It hurt even more knowing that I might not be able to help him if my magic kept draining as it was.
“It worries me, too,” I said, surprising myself by admitting my own worries.
Misha glanced up at me, also in surprise. “You worry too?”
I laughed. “All the time,” I said. “I worry about whether I’m doing enough to support my mother’s kingdom. I worry about whether I’m a good brother. I worry that I won’t be strong enough to assist Osric in winning the kingdom from your father. But most of all, I worry that I won’t be able to give you all the happiness and peace you deserve.”
“But you’re a dragon,” Misha said, his eyes going wide. “You’re so strong and powerful. You can transform and fly. I can’t imagine anyone standing up against you for long. How can you have anything to worry about?”
I smiled and shifted to rest my arm around Misha’s waist as we walked. “Your faith in me his humbling, my sweet. But I’m just as much a human as the next man. Yes, I worry. I get scared, too. And much of the time I’m not certain I’ll be able to be the man everyone expects me to be, that you expect me to be. It takes courage to get up every day and be the man I’m supposed to be.”
“But you make it look so easy,” Misha said, still marveling. “You’re naturally strong, whereas I’m naturally weak.” He lowered his head again.
