Page 32 of Spectacle

“I’m going to shift to prove to those gathered that I can, and then we need that meeting,” I say to the king, who is quick to agree.

“That should stop most of the negativity as well. There was some speculation on whether or not Papa would rename his heir when the general public heard that Tirrian did not mate a pure dragon,” Tallon tells us quietly.

Tirrian scoffs next to me. “They should know better. The mating bite usually fixes that, and even if it didn’t, she’s a mimic.”

“Not always. If you mated another shifter, you know there’s a fifty-fifty chance they’ll take after one parent or the other, and as far as the gossip goes, Lila is a low powered mimic and doesn’t have many forms,” Tisa whispers quietly so the whole room isn’t privy to the conversation.

“Well, shall I prove to them that Tirrian and I can give them pure dragonlings?” I roll my eyes and stand up, pushing my chair back.

Tirrian stands with me and puts his hand on my shoulder. “You know I don’t care about that,” he says firmly, looking me in the eye, and I snort with amusement.

“Yes, you do. You want a brood of eggs, and I understand that. I can’t guarantee a brood, but I can tell you this, buddy—you will be the one sitting on them. I have way too much on my hands to spend weeks nesting, but I’m sure you’re up to the task.” I pat him on the shoulder and walk off the raised dais to the large space Xavier teleported us to. When I look back, Tirrian is watching me with stars in his eyes, and I can feel my beast’s hunger for him and desire for more babies pulse inside me.

You are all going to have to wait a little longer. We still have a few more tasks on the list to complete before I will consider getting knocked up again by anyone, so slow your roll.

They all settle down, except for my dragon, who is chuffing to come out, so I let her take over. The change is just as painful as the first time, but I clamp my teeth together, refusing to show weakness in front of the predatory, judgmental crowd.

My body reshapes and reforms, and we stretch our wings, brushing one of the guards against the wall, who yelps and steps back when Tirrian growls at him. Our whole body shakes, and then she stretches like she’s doing the downward dog. I’m almost certain she’s just showing off now, and Tirrian’s growls get even louder. Her happiness at his jealousy has me rolling my eyes. I don’t sink back and allow her to take complete control. We may end up causing a galactic incident if we do that, so I monitor the driver’s seat in case I need to take hold of the reins.

I tune into what the crowd is saying.

“I’ve never seen a dragon that color before.”

“Isn’t she stunning?”

“She looks like a rare dragon’s eye stone. I haven’t seen one of those in years. I would love one for my hoard.” Ah, so that’s what my cave gems are called. Isn’t that ironic? I gave one to Tirrian. I hadn’t heard anyone call them that.

“I would love her for my hoard.”

“The crown prince is really lucky.”

“She’s a bit small, isn’t she? Hardly fit to be queen, and she’s kind of ugly.”

There are loud gasps of shock, and a small tittering of laughter. We drop out of the stretch and search the crowd for the person who said that last part. Of course it’s a pretty female, and she’s looking down her nose at us. Most people have stepped away from her, not wanting to get caught in any crossfire.

I feel my mate join me, stroking his hand over my side, and I quiver with joy. I have no desire to play into this one’s games, so I just ignore her and nuzzle my mate, but he obviously feels like he has to defend me.

“Still bitter I turned down your proposition I see, Ioldres? Be glad that I did, because neither of my dragons would accept you, and you would have been killed before you could even blink. Get over it and move on, otherwise you are going to find all the eligible bachelors are no longer available,” Tirrian says calmly, and I admire how neutral he sounds. Hopefully she lets it go, because I can feel how furious he is.

Her gaze moves, and when I follow it, I find she’s staring at both of Tirrian’s brothers, who look like deer caught in the crosshairs of a hunter’s rifle. Tallon is laughing, quietly amused at their terror. I huff out my own breath of laughter, smoke swirling around us, and a small hiccup of flame falls to the floor. Ioldres yelps and steps back a little. Yup, I totally meant to do that. My dragon rolls her eyes at my antics.

“Maybe lower your ambitions slightly. Neither of my brothers are looking for mates, and if you push it, their dragons will also kill you. You know this. Our dragons will not stand for human manipulations and calculations. They are primal and don’t understand those kinds of machinations.”

She huffs, and I can tell by the stubborn set to her shoulders that she hasn’t listened one bit. I change back, and Tirrian quickly strips off his shirt to throw over my naked body. His shirt has room for my dragon wings, which I keep on display as a reminder to the petty bitch. We turn our back on her, not willing to give her any more attention, and walk back to the table.

“I’m not sure that one is going to give up,” I whisper. “She had a look of determination that I recognize.”

He leans his head in and whispers, “No, but I won’t be sad to see her gone either if one of my brothers’ dragons eats her.” I chuckle as Tysar stands up and gives his wife a kiss on the cheek before leading us away from the throne room to what Tirrian tells me is the security and surveillance room.

The rest of my mates have joined us as well at Tallon, Thorn, and Titus. “When you apprised us of the situation, we sent in some of our ground drones.” Tallon is the one who starts up the conversation, bringing a big screen on the wall to life.

“Ground drones?” I ask, and Link is the one who answers.

“Small automated spy robots designed to look like insects, or small creatures from specific planets. It’s a side project my father created years ago. While my mother concentrates on the leisure industry, my father put nanobots to more practical uses, like the automated drones that care for our crops or households. These ones are aimed at home security.”

“Or spying,” Thorn says unapologetically. “Most savvy businesses or people with shit to hide screen their place of business or abodes twice a day for these kinds of measures—we certainly do. They are easy to track with the right system.”

“There are also effective countermeasures. This room contains them. The walls send small bursts of EMT pulses every few seconds. It’s a small enough burst to keep all the machines inside the room safe, but anything attached to the walls, floor, or ceiling automatically short out,” Titus explains.

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