Page 11 of My Dragon Lovers

“Oh that’s wonderful!” Mom clapped her hands together. I knew that her elation was swiftly going to turn to despair. “Who have you chosen? Please tell me it’s Eliza. I will approve of anyone, of course, but I really hope it’s Eliza,” she chuckled as she spoke, treating everything with good humor. I remained solemn. My fathers looked at me with interest.

“It’s not Eliza. It’s Kyra,” I said, the word hitching on emotion. There was a moment of silence. Mom stared at me, as though she couldn’t believe what I had just said.

“I’m sorry, did you say Kyra?” she asked.

“I did,” I clasped my hands behind my back and lifted my head, trying to look as confident as possible. “I’ve been thinking about this long and hard. I know that each girl you have brought to me has been lovely, but there has been something missing from all of them. They are not Kyra, and I cannot stop feeling this way every time I am with them. It’s not fair to them that I should be with them and yet give my heart to another.”

Mom gave me a despairing glance. “I’m sure that if you just spent some more time with them you would be able to see the qualities they possess and you would fall in love with them. It doesn’t have to be something that happens immediately. Sometimes the most profound love is the one that takes a long time to bloom.”

“I understand mother, but I cannot help the feelings in my heart. Perhaps if I did not already know what love was then I could have given it time, but what is the use when I know how I feel about Kyra? None of the others are going to compare, and that is not to say anything against them. I just think that if we ended up together I would not be the mate they require, and I would not be happy. Why should we be unhappy just because you do not approve of Kyra?”

Mom’s gaze flickered. She shared a glance with the others. “It’s not that I don’t approve of Kyra, it’s just that things are… complicated. Besides. I thought that things between you and Kyra had ended a while ago.”

“I chose to restart them again last night,” I said. Buck coughed and cleared his throat. Brett glared at him. Mason remained quiet.

“You what?” Mom said, her words as sharp as a whip. They echoed through the chamber.

“I went to find her. I told her how I feel. I asked her if she would be willing to begin again, and she is. We have rekindled our love and I am here to tell you that I am not going to leave her again. I know that you are afraid of her, of what she might become, but she is not like her father or her mother. And it is not just me involved in this. Brock is as well.”

“You’ve gotten Brock into her as well?” Mom placed her fingers across her temples, massaging them gently.

“I did. We are going to be together, and that is all I have to say on the matter. I am a man and I have made my decision,”I realized that I had been holding my breath all through this. Once I had said this last piece I let out a deep exhalation, and everything came rushing out of my body at once.

There was silence as Mom, Buck, Mason, and Brett all pondered the matter. “I suppose if you’ve made up your mind then there’s really nothing more that I can say,” she sighed.

“There isn’t. And if you try to stop me I will fly away from here and never return,” I said.

“There’s no need for idle threats like that Aidan. Nobody wants you to leave,” Buck said.

“But are you willing to have Kyra here?” I asked.

“If she’s your mate and she’s willing to abide by our rules then I don’t see why not,” Mom said.

“And what about Jade?” I asked.

That was a different matter entirely, as evidenced by the silence that followed my question. It was as though they were all waiting for someone else to speak up. Eventually Mason was the one who did so.

“It’s different with Jade. She betrayed us Aidan,” he said in a soft voice. “She was a part of this thunder and she sided with the enemy. Even at the end she fought against us, and she only escaped because she valued her own life above the life of others.”

“And the life of her child. She left because she was pregnant with Kyra. She wanted to protect her baby,” I said, although they remained unconvinced. “I don’t care if you believe it or not, but when it came time to protect her child she did. That shows me that she is a good person deep down. She cares about Kyra. So do I.”

“It’s clear that you’re not going to change your mind on this, and as you say you are your own man. There was a time when I was told who I was going to marry. The decision was taken out of my hands, and I ended up running away. I always promised myself that I was never going to let that happen to mychild either. I am not about to dictate to you the terms of your happiness, but I will urge you to be cautious. I know that Kyra is not her mother and father, but her blood is still a blend of both of them. Just be careful, please, because if any part of her is like Ilvar-” Mom said.

“It’s not Mom,” I cut her off before she could finish the sentence. “Kyra doesn’t want to hurt anyone. She doesn’t even care about Drakon or anything like that. I think that Jade has made sure to protect her from our past. Kyra isn’t beholden to anything.”

Mom pursed her lips. I knew there was more she wanted to say, and she probably wanted to chew me out for falling in love with a girl who didn’t care about our history at all. But at least she realized there was nothing that could stop me from loving Kyra, and I was just glad that she wasn’t trying to dissuade me of the notion, or forcing me to run away. I felt relieved that I was actually going to get what I wanted. Kyra and I could be together, properly. I longed to race away and tell her the good news. A wide grin adorned my face and I started to bound away. We could make up for the years we had lost together, and we would never know what it was to be parted again. With Brock with us as well we could establish a great future together, and it was one that I longed to live.

Before I could leave the underbelly of the world, though, I heard footsteps behind me. It was Mason. He called me back and had a troubled look on his face.

“Aidan, before you leave I was hoping that I could have a word. Could you tell me a little more about Jade?” he asked, almost looking ashamed of asking the question. I knew that he and Jade were romantically involved before she had left, before she fell under Ilvar’s spell.

“I think she’s doing okay. I mean, she and Kyra are in some small town far from anywhere. I don’t think she has anycontact with other dragons, unless her friends have found her over the years.”

Mason nodded and pursed his lips. “I wonder if you could perhaps pass on a message for me. I doubt she will return to this place. There are too many bad memories for her, but if you could just let her know that she still has friends here, and if she is willing to make up for the mistakes of the past then we would be willing to look past them. I don’t think we should allow time to hold our feelings prisoner. We should be able to move on, and if you and Kyra are going to end up together then we could use this as a new beginning. We shouldn’t allow any of our kind to live in isolation,” he said.

I got the sense that he was asking a personal favor of me, and perhaps he was still going to have to convince Mom and the others that this was a good idea. He seemed earnest though, and it was clear that some memories of the past clung to his heart more than others.

“Of course I will,” I said, and then returned to the surface. I beamed widely at Brock and told him that when we saw Kyra next we had good news to share. It would have to wait until night had fallen though so we could fly under the cloak of darkness. I hated having to wait yet another day, but soon enough I would be with Kyra forever and nothing would ever be able to keep us apart. It felt like I had found my happy ending, and this ending was going to last for the rest of our lives.

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