The Dragon’s Throne 1

When she finally spoke, she was finally feeling better, the tears dried up and the heartache of knowing that her mother had sewn each stitch by hand with the knowledge that she would die bringing her daughter into the world.

“Do you think she knew all of this?” Anna said, motion to the house.  “I mean the Fate thing, too.  Did she know that my soulmate would be a WereDragon?”

“I’m sure she did.”

“I just can’t imagine knowing all that and everything else she knew and still having the strength to go on.”

“Sometimes, you don’t know how strong you are until you don’t have a choice to be anything else.”

“I just wish I could have met her,” she said. 

“I’m sure she wished the same. But the people we’ve lost are not gone, at least not in the way you might imagine.  I’m sure she has seen the woman you’ve become and she’s proud of you.”

“Thank you for that,” she said.  “I guess there’s just one thing left to do.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“We should probably tell your parents that we’re getting married.  Unless they already know.”

He laughed then, kissing her soundly and pulling her close.

“They don’t know,” he said.

“They don’t?”

“No.  In fact, my dad and brother were taking bets on how long it would take for you to escape.”

“I like them already,” she teased.

“You’re going to love my family,” he said, taking her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles.  “I can’t wait to tell them.”

“Why wait?” she shrugged.

“You want to do it now?”

“Not today,” she said.  “But we can tell them.  And we can make plans to have the villagers there.”

His face darkened at the mention of the villagers and Anna’s stomach dropped.

“What’s wrong?”

“The villagers won’t be there,” he said.  “Mayor Freeman has convinced them that we’ve gone back on the treaty, even though they gave you as a sacrifice.”

“Won’t me being alive prove that isn’t true?”

“It will, which is why the mayor will never let it happen.  He’s got the people under his control, and he’s not willing to give that up.”

 “He’s so corrupt,” she said, her anger rising.   “The people are being lied to.  We didn’t even know about electricity.  He’s been keeping the people that trust him in the dark.  We need to stop him.”

“We will,” he promised.  “But not now.  Right now, we have bigger things to deal with.”

“If only there was some way to get to Eleanor and bring her here.  I can live without the village, but I would love to have her by my side.”

Eli was shaking his head.

“It’s not possible.  The mayor has guards stationed, ready to attack us if we come near the village.  Besides, Eleanor has her own destiny to fulfill, and right now, that doesn’t include us.”

“But it will someday, right?”

“I can’t say because it depends on the choices that she makes.”

“I wish Fate would give us clearer signs and make us do the right thing.  It would be so much easier that way, and there wouldn’t be all this heartache.”

“If Fate did that and controlled everything that happened, then there would be no choice and no free will.”

“You’re right, but maybe that would be better than all of this uncertainty, and waiting for people to make the decisions that put them on the correct path.”

“It would be easier that way,” he agreed.  “But if we had no choice and Fate ran the show on a set script, what would be the point of even living?”

***

Mayor Freeman sat in his home outside Aldeia, sipping warm tea with his feet up by the fire.  There was a knock on the door, but he didn’t move to get it.  His servants would take care of that, just like they took care of everything else without complaint.  It was amazing what a small room and all the creature comforts he had once taken for granted could convince a man to do. 

He had three full time servants that only left his property to accompany him when he needed to go into town.  Even then, he usually went on his own, preferring the quiet of his own thoughts to the presence of another human being. 

He heard footsteps approaching and knew that his late-night visitor was the man he’d been expecting.  The man stepped into the room and glared at the servant, who scurried out of the room quickly without being asked, closing the door behind him.

“I see you’re dressed,” the mayor remarked, taking a sip of his tea and smiling at the man over the glass.

“She’s made clothes for us that don’t tear when you shift.  I kind of like it,” he said, turning so that the mayor could admire the man’s clothing.  “It makes it easier to walk amongst the humans without having to find somewhere private to put clothes on.  We gave a prototype to our textiles shop and they made about one hundred in a week.”

“It’s a game changer for sure,” the mayor agreed.  “Too bad WereDragons don’t walk among the humans as freely as they once did.”

“That will change soon,” the visitor said.  “I have news.”

“And what is that?”

“In a few weeks, on Anna’s birthday, they will be married.”

“So, the prophecy was correct.”

“It appears that way.”

“And I’m sure everyone is eagerly awaiting that next step.”

“Not everyone.  There are many of us who do not wish to serve a human queen.”

“I can imagine,” the Mayor said, his smile devious.  “So, what are we going to do about it?”

“There’s nothing we can do, for now.  But we have something in the works.”

“I trust that you’ll leave me out of it so that I can deny that I ever knew about your plan.”

“As usual,” the visitor confirmed.  He looked around the sitting room, shaking his head and laughing to himself.  “How do you live here in the lap of luxury and none of the villagers know that electricity even exists?”