Page 88 of Beautiful Beast

So much green spread out in front of me, like we were resting on an emerald. Down the gentle rise from where were spread on the ground, Idroal was in dragon form, playing with Varí. The smaller dragon’s color currently matched the older as he flitted around, dodging the swipes and small flame bursts Idroal threw at them.

Like children chasing each other or an obstacle course, there was no malice. Even from here I could see the way Varí swirled with glee.

The green made my breath catch. Everything was so lush. Gleira wasn’t like this. The most green we saw was patches in the early spring that quickly turned to brown with any kind of heat.

Something deep and sad rose. This was proof they all told the truth. The world was dying. Or at least the human half was.

“Did I sleep too long?” I asked. “I thought we needed to go straight there?”

Endre pulled me onto my back so I could see him where he’d been settled behind me. “We have a little time. Given we meet with the Elders right away, we would all rather be rested.”

He leaned down to kiss me before I could say more, pouring heat directly into my veins. His hand roamed beneath the coat Belleo gave me. It dragged a moan from my lips. “Unless we have time to finish what we started yesterday, we can’t.”

His growl shivered over my skin. “You have no idea how much I wish, Princess.”

“We all do.” Sirrus looked down at the two of us, and I could do nothing but stare. Proudly naked, he glimmered in the sunlight. He held out a hand to help me sit up. “But you’re right, we don’t have the time. Not if we want to get there by the evening.”

I frowned and rearranged my clothes, brushing the grass off them. “I thought we weren’t required until dawn tomorrow?”

“We’re not.” Endre stood as well, stretching. “But appearing before their deadline is a gesture of goodwill, and we will need all the goodwill we can have.”

Zovai joined us, and I glanced back briefly. Idroal and Varí were still locked in their playful battle. So I stepped into them, allowing them to crowd me with touches and purrs. “Before we go, I want to know what’s going to happen. When we arrive.”

“We won’t—” I placed a hand on Z’s chest to halt his words.

I smiled tightly. They were trying to spare me. “Again, that’s not the question I asked. I know you’ll try to protect me. But knowing that doesn’t tell me what I’m facing.”

They shared a glance before Endre spoke. “There are six Elders. Three of them are our sires. The reason we have not told you what you might face is that we simply do not know. We will go before them, and it is likely they will demand a punishment of us for defying their wishes.”

Saving my life.

“How did you? Save my life.”

Now that I knew enough about what dragon power could do, the fact that they saved me at all was a miracle.

“It wasn’t binding,” Sirrus said. “Too many things can go wrong in a battle to serve a binding command such as the one we made to protect you in Skalisméra. If we’d been bound to kill you and somehow the Craisos soldiers had been ready with their scalefire, we would have perished.” He smirked. “They may hate us, but they still need us.”

The humor didn’t spread, because we knew there would be nothing in Doro Eche to put them in danger by chance. Any commands the Elders gave could be binding without consequence. I swallowed. “Is it possible to defy a binding command?”

“It is,” Endre said softly.

I was under no allusion a dragon could simply choose not to obey. “And what is the cost?”

“Your life.”

Cold dread covered me like they’d dropped me straight into the sea. Already I could see what might happen. They would be ordered to kill me and destroy themselves to make sure they didn’t. “You can’t.”

“I can. I told you when we met that you might not survive me, Princess. But I will use everything at my disposal to make sure you do.”

My brain spiraled into panic. Didn’t they know that watching them die would be just as bad? They’d opened up the entire world to me, and I couldn’t go back.

Sirrus took my face in my hands. He saw it written all over my face. “The one thing we know for sure is that the Elders are aware of appearances. In spite of their actions, they do not view themselves as villains, nor do they want anyone else to see them that way. They will hold court. They will ask questions. They will, at the very least, try to appear measured and fair. That is to our advantage.”

One of the very few.

Inside, I was torn. These fields that rolled into far-away forests, the lake bluer than the sky in the distance, watching Varí play and the males standing around me. I wanted to hold on to them as long as possible and not let go. Pretend we lived in a world where it didn’t matter who I was or where I came from. We could simply be together without restraint.

That world didn’t exist. And so the other half of me wanted to go and fly and face these Elders who believed they owned the world so that no matter the result, we would know.

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