Page 19 of Under the Dragon's Spell
"I want to be an equal in that relationship. I want—"
"I think that's quite enough of that," Tyrel's mother spoke up. Her gaze was sharp as she met mine. I got the feeling I was hitting on some deeper issue I knew nothing about. "Our cook worked hard to prepare a nice meal for us. Let's not spoil it with business conversation. Such things can wait for when we're done."
"I don't know, mother. Don't you agree our guest brought up an interesting point?" Tyrel pushed his plate away. "I'm about done with dinner anyway."
"Eat your food, darling."
"I'm not twelve, mother."
"Some days I wouldn't know it." She raised a napkin to her lips.
"Excuse me." Tyrel stood up from the table and left the room before any of us could say anything more. I watched him go, wondering just what I'd done to spark this. When I turned back to the table, his mother wasn't looking at me. She wasn't looking at anyone, but I felt the displeasure radiating off her.
So much for getting the woman to like me.
"I get the feeling you shouldn't ask too many questions around here," Michael said softly from his seat beside me. I only nodded and made myself finish my stew. We passed the rest of the meal in silence.
"I agree with what you said earlier," Michael said when we were on our way back to our rooms. "That parents should be equal partners and all that."
"Thanks. I guess I just didn't pick quite the right time to say it. Or maybe they don't agree with me. I'm not sure." After all, what did I know about dragon parenting?
Michael stopped in front of the door to his room. "I read somewhere that there's very few female dragons compared to male dragons, but the ones who exist are usually well respected and in positions of power. Tyrel's mother… she seems like that. Maybe she doesn't think much of equality."
"I didn't know that," I admitted. I knew entirely too little of dragons. After all, I'd never had a reason to dig deeper until I'd met Tyrel only a short while ago. "She seems to be the head of the family, in any case. When Tyrel invited me here, he said something that made it sound like she had a good bit of authority in deciding who he ends up with."
"It wouldn't surprise me if that was true."
"In which case I fucked myself over back there."
Michael shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry. But if things are really like that and Tyrel can't pick you because of his mother… then he's not worth it, anyway." Michael blushed, andthen he added, "Don't judge me, but I'm a romantic. I can't help it. If it was me, I'd want him to fight for me."
I laughed. "Don't tell me you're into dragons because you're into fairy tales."
His blush deepened.Oh God. I laughed harder.
"Busted," Michael said meekly.
"I don't think Tyrel's quite fairy tale material." I wiped at my eyes.
"No, probably not." Michael looked lost for a moment. "Honestly, I think I might like reading about this stuff better than experiencing it."
I smiled at him. "Yeah, that might be the safer option. Well…" I turned to my door. "Have a good night, Michael."
"You too."
He entered his room and I entered mine.
I didn't hold out much hope for sleep, but I changed into my pajamas anyway. All the while, I couldn't stop thinking about what Michael had said. If I didn't like the way things were run in this family, did I really want to be a part of it? Did I want any child of mine to be a part of it? It was true that Tyrel was going to do most of the choosing here, but I had to decide some things for myself, too. I wasn't a mindless pawn—I could decide that I wanted out at any point. They weren't holding me hostage. Thankfully.
I was just about to crawl under the sheets when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," I said, eying the door suspiciously. Who could it be now? Michael?
But when the door opened, it was Tyrel who came in.
The last person I'd expected right now.
To top it all off, he didn't look like he was all too sure what he was doing either. He closed the door behind himself and stepped inside quickly. Then, he grinned.
