We are made of what we believe in, Emily kept chanting in her head as she went through the evening gowns in the closet. You are now a princess, if only by alliance.
“Do we really have to attend dinner?” She whined as the choice made itself difficult.
“After the lunch fiasco, it wouldn’t do our image good to skip on dinner, dorogaya,” Theodore stated almost darkly after a while.
She wasn’t used to having him speak to her in that tone. She wasn’t used to seeing this cynical side of him.
“Are you okay, lover?” She asked as she held two evening gowns in front of her and showed them to him.
He pointed at the blue one wordlessly.
“Theo,” she called his name in a whining tone. Why wasn’t he answering her question?
“I am peachy,” he said on a tired sigh. “How many times must I reassure you?”
“Well, you don’t seem fine to me,” she countered, not missing a beat.
“That’s because I am worried about you,” he admitted at long last. “They attempted to poison you on your very first appearance at the court.”
“It’ll be okay, lover,” she tried to sound confident but her voice came out slightly shaky. Indeed, if the great Theos, who was rumored to be like a god of war, was scared for her, then she had good reasons to worry.
“I can’t always be by your side,” he uttered in dismay. “I only trust Liam and Serena to be around you. But even my siblings will have to resume their lives at some point.”
She was left speechless at that, and that statement of his made her realize that she was never left alone.
Serena took her to the gardens and stayed with her while the men chatted about whatever concerned them. She didn’t even leave when the queen suggested that she did, and claimed that she was interested in their girl talk.
As for Liam, he said he would accompany her to her and Theodore’s bed chambers, but he didn’t leave when that was done, and stayed instead until Theodore arrived.
“Aren’t you being overly protective?” She asked as she tried with difficulty to zip up the gown.
Theodore closed the distance between them and helped her out at that.
“You look ravishing, dorogaya,” he told her in a sweet mesmerizing tone, ignoring her question as he probably found it silly or something.
His proximity as always did wonders to her, and she felt her core throb in need anew. Her eyes stung and she had to repress the urge to gasp at what the mirror reflected.
“Theo,” she called his name, “My eyes.”
“You’re slowly changing into a dargon, dorogaya,” he told her softly. “We can be triggered by desire,” he explained, “by anger too…”
“Copy that,” she told him as she gulped down her dread. Upon blinking, her eyes recovered their usual green color.
“We can naturally control ourselves,” he then told her. “We can make the red surface at will.”
“Will I grow scales?” She asked, biting her bottom lip.
Theodore chuckled good humoredly. “Only when you change into your dragon form. Have you seen any scales on my body?”
“True that,” she told him succinctly, unable as she was to say something appropriate.
“Don’t fret it, love,” he placed a kiss on her cheek. “I’m sure your dragon will be magnificent.”
“I never got to see yours,” she said with a pout.
“I am a big dragon. The estate wasn’t the best setting for that kind of show,” he joked. “Let’s compromise,” he then said as he turned around to face him. She looked up into his eyes questioningly. “On your first change, I’ll show you my dragon, and we will even play a game of tag if you want.”
She frowned. “I am not a kid.”
“It will be fun,” he told her huskily.
“Why do I get the feeling that this game of tag you speak of won’t be as I picture it?” She wondered out loud.
“Because it won’t be,” he told her with a grin.
** ** ** ** ** ** **
There were again many nobles at the damned dinner table, some of which Emily had seen at lunch. They all looked at her and Theodore cautiously, their worry almost palpable.
“As you know, it is tradition to drink pale ale when a new couple is formed at the court,” the king announced after some time. “Let us all welcome to the court my son’s mate, Emily Nill.”
He raised his glass of ale, and everyone did the same, save for Emily – the very person of whom they were celebrating the arrival.
“Do you fancy something else?” The king announced, his eyes hardening ever so slightly.
“It is just that I have never been fond of alcohol, your highness,” she told him softly. “So many people lose their minds and damage their health because of alcohol…”
“Humans perhaps,” the queen quipped almost angrily. “It would take a lot to make a dragon drunk.”
“I am not yet a dragon, your highness,” she protested feebly.
“I am perfectly aware of that,” she told her, annoyance oozing off her every pore. “But surely you can have a celebratory sip?”
This was a lost cause, Emily thought as she raised the glass to her lips at long last.
Theodore stopped her from drinking with his hand grabbing her wrist gently.
“It is nothing but an old tradition, mother,” he said. “Besides, Emily is just eighteen.”
“Are you scorning our traditions, son?” The king all but bellowed.
“I would never,” Theodore told him calmly, and yet his words were dripping with sarcasm somehow.
“You are not yet king, Theo,” he sneered at him. “But even if you were, tradition is tradition.”
“Traditions, protocol, etiquette… I could care less about these, I’ll have to admit,” Theodore shrugged as he flung the words nonchalantly at the king.
It seemed to have offended him greatly for he reddened. “You either abide by the rules or else…”
“Or else?” Theodore taunted, his eyes holding the king’s captive.
“Theo,” the queen began almost hesitantly, and he shifted his focus to her face, “son,” she seemingly tried to appease him, “the traditions you do not care for are part of who we are. You of all people should know that. Our traditions are law.”
“Man-made laws can be changed,” he told her simply, an eyebrow rising defiantly. “I’ll drink for my mate.”
Somehow, Emily understood that there was more to the story than just a celebratory drink. She didn’t know what it was about, and now wasn’t the time to be a nosy she-dragon.
How many times must she rely on Theodore to come to her rescue?
She needed to grow a backbone and speak for herself. But she was much too scared to offend the queen and the king – who already didn’t seem fond of her – and thus she rarely allowed her sass out.