The Dragon's Distrust by Eva Weston Page A

angry and his hatred
spilled from him.
    Upon hearing those words, Aristo lunged
at Patryck and held him down, “You like water so much, Water
Dragon? How would you like to drown in it?” Aristo kept Patryck’s
face under the water, slammed it into the mud and made sure Patryck
could not breathe.
    “Stop!” Tania screamed. She tried to
pull Aristo off of Patryck but she was no match physically. He
tossed her aside and kept his hate and rage directed at the Water
Dragon, “Stop!” she yelled. She cried the word “stop” so many times
it began to sound strange in her mouth. Finally, she dug her heels
into the soft bank and with every fiber of her being she bellowed
out the word, “Enough!”
    The earth shook and the heavens wept.
Animals ran for shelter while leaves fell from their homes. The sky
darkened into a sickly shade of pale green as Tania commanded her
dragons to obey. As soon as she spoke the word, Aristo and Patryck
immediately stilled. She was the Dragon Mother and she could
command her dragons.
    “This ends now,” she whispered. The sky
lightened slowly and Tania unclenched her fists. She began to walk
forward but stumbled. The ground she had been standing upon now
reached her knees. She had sunk. She pulled herself up and held her
head high, “I love you both. I admit it. You are both my dragons
just as I am your lover. You have claimed me and I have claimed
you. We belong to each other. We are a part of each other. We feel
each other’s pain but we also feel joy,” she placed a gentle hand
on Aristo’s shoulder, “When you first discovered I was pregnant,
before the anger, I felt jubilation. You were excited. Was that a
lie?”
    He shook his head.
    “It is my duty to carry on your
legacy—the legacy of all dragons. This is my destiny. You and
Stephan have told me this. You should be happy that a dragon will
be born. After decades of decay, the dragons will rise once
more.”
    Aristo stood up and embraced her
tightly, “I am happy. I just wish the child was ours.”
    She nodded, “I know. And one day we
will have a dragon child. But please be happy for Patryck and I. My
heart is breaking every moment you two force me to choose. Know
that I cannot choose. I will never be able to choose.”
    Aristo pursed his lips, “I know but you
are asking a great deal of me. I do not share…”
    Tania rested her head on his chest,
“Don’t leave me, Aristo.”
    “I will never leave you.”
    “Princess,” spoke Patryck, wiping the
muck from his face, “Aren’t you worried I’ll leave you?”
    She shook her head and said simply,
“No.”
    Patryck scoffed, “I might.”
    She smiled, “No, you
wouldn’t.”
    He sighed, “You’re right. I would never
leave you. But why do you keep pandering to Aristo? Each time you
run to him instead of me is like slapping me in the face. I do like
it rough, mind you, but not emotionally rough,” the rest of the
sentence became garbled as Patryck mumbled the words.
    Tania pulled herself from
Aristo and with her eyes asked permission to embrace Patryck.
Aristo nodded and she reached for the Water Dragon. She tried to
clasp her hands around his waist but he was too thick. Instead, she
merely held him, “We have a…” she searched for the right word. The
words “different” and “interesting” came to mind but she said,
“a special relationship. Our relationship started off rocky—you forced
yourself on me. And then you helped me find Aristo, helped me
rescue tortured prisoners. You did so much for me that I could not
see you as a monster.”
    “You saw me as a monster?” He looked
hurt but his tone clearly stated he was not. If anything, he was
proud of himself.
    She frowned, “Not as such. But you were
very aggressive,” she continued with her earlier train of thought,
“You and I are bonded now. I,” she faced what she had been ignoring
for so long, “I am carrying your child.” When she finally spoke the
words out loud, she suddenly realized she