The Princess' Dragon Lord by Mandy Rosko Page A

should the creature
become mad again and attack, there will be little I can do in this
form.”
    There it was. That helpless feeling that she
hated so much, but she couldn’t let it consume her. “You said a
servant tampered with your wine,” she said, and more and more she
got the feeling that Nyx was the accused. “And that’s why he
attacked. That was a thousand years ago. I keep getting these
random flashes of memories, and I don’t know if it’s because I’m
near you, or what it is, but what if something else comes back to
me when I see him?”
    “You have already seen him. Did you have any
visions then?”
    He meant her attempt at trying to run away
before the dragon stopped her in her tracks. “No,” she said
reluctantly. Her hands were clenching up as her patience wore thin.
“But I still want to see him.”
    His entire body became bowstring tight. His
neck and jaw clenched as he stared at her, his eyes hard and angry.
He threw his hand through his hair, paced around, and then finally
gave in.
    “You will stay behind me at all times. Should
he rise up, raise his claws, or inhale deeply, you will leave me
there and run.”
    “I wouldn't leave you there to get killed,”
she said, suddenly rethinking her plan to go and see the
dragon.
    He’s trying to scare you out of going ,
she thought. Then inwardly repeated that thought five times to
comfort herself.
    “He will not kill me, but should he attempt
to attack, I could perhaps give you some time to return to my
dwelling. He does not enter that space.”
    He said it as though he still weren’t
convinced of the wisdom of this.
    Diana couldn’t blame him. If that dragon
really wanted to kill her, roast her like a hot dog over a fire,
and then eat her, there was likely nothing either of them could do
about it.
    Azoth's house, if it could be called that,
was made up of carved rock with no roof. An animal of that dragon’s
size could easily climb over those walls and search her out if it
wanted.
    “Do you still wish to meet him, sakkra ?”
    She steeled her resolve. “Yes.”
    “ Fekkah ,”
    Diana didn’t know what that meant, but from
the twist of his lips right before he’d said it, it had obviously
been a curse.

Chapter Seven
     
    Azoth led her out of his bathroom and back
into the treasure trove. Instead of moving across the stone
clearing to the space he made his home in, the turned towards the
mountains of gold and jewels.
    “How did all this get here?” She asked,
eyeing a particularly huge ruby—it was the size of her fist!—as
they walked by.
    “Our marriage was meant to bring together our
people. Some of this would have gone to Mab, your mother, had it
been successful.”
    “And now?”
    His eyes shifted down to her. Guilt pierced
deep inside her at the realization that she was probably bringing
up painful memories, but he continued on.
    “After my actions, war between the dragons
and the fae broke loose. As a peace offering, my sentence was to be
separated from my dragon, no longer one entity, but two, and
imprisoned here until any member from your remaining family deemed
I had been forgiven. It was not enough for your mother, not that I
could place blame on her, and the clans nearly destroyed each
other.” Azoth said. “Eventually, the bounty of my people was placed
here under my watch, to keep fae warriors from plundering it during
the war.”
    “Oh,” Diana said, sadness creeping into her
heart. “Where are they all now? The fae and the dragons?” Mostly
she was curious about the family she had never known.
    “Dead, mostly,” Azoth said. “Of the many who
killed each other off, there were a select few from each side who
fled at the thought of battle. Cowards, yes, but oddly enough,
their cowardice is to be thanked. Because of their lack of loyalty,
some fae and dragon blood still exists today. Though it has mostly
been mixed with the humans. Just around this bend, princess.”
    Azoth pointed her towards a new