Page 48 of Redeeming the Dragon

When I said this last part aloud, Kidron’s mouth turned down in a frown.

“No. I should not have angered her. I quickly discovered that I might flee as far as I wished, but I could not outrun a Scraggen’s magic. A strange thing began to take hold of me. Although I had been bonded to my dragon since it was a hatchling, we were two distinct entities. Nightflame was a dragon; I was a human. But that began to change.”

Before he spoke, I grasped what he was going to tell me. It explained so much.

“The Scraggen forced you to assume your dragon’s form,” I guessed.

The Warkin prince nodded soberly.

“Nor could I escape it. During the day, we are one. Only at night, in the dark hours, am I permitted to resume my humanity and my dragon his form. We have lived this way for nearly seven years, while I sought my mate. The longer this goes on, the more dragon I become. If the curse is not broken, Lorna, or I don’t marry the Scraggen’s daughter, one day, I will be dragon altogether. Nightflame and I will meld into one creature.”

Ice sluiced over me at the terrible words.

“Surely, there is a way to break the curse!” I said. Forgetting that he should be my enemy, that I should hate him, I stepped closer to the Warkin, clutching the shirt I had stained with candle wax.

“There was,” he replied solemnly. He reached up, clasping my hands and removing them from his shirt. Holding them firmly in his fists, he repeated, “There was. Unfortunately, it is crushed. I must go away to the Scraggen, and you will be free to return home.”

Even as he spoke, I felt my head shaking in denial.

“No. No! I don’t wish to be free to return home.”

Kidron regarded me sadly. “Don’t you?”

“No!” I asserted stoutly. “Well, yes. I wish for freedom to choose whether or not I’ll return home or stay here with you. That is what I wish.”

“Would that I might have given you that choice,” he said soberly. “The Scraggen stripped it from me by the terms of her curse, making it nigh impossible to break. Alas, she has won.”

“No.” Angry, I twisted my hands, pulling my fingers free. “No, she has not. I know I blundered by disobeying your suggestions. Tell me what I did wrong, so I might repair the damage!”

“There is no undoing it,” he said. He took a step back. I felt him withdrawing from me, shutting himself off.

“After a few years in hiding, I sent word to my father. I wished to see if anything had changed and if I might return home safely. He dispatched a reply that the Scraggen had delivered her official terms to him. Before my twenty-first birthday, I must find a woman, born with magic, who would be content to dwell with me for a year without seeing my true form. If I could manage that, her magic would break the curse. My dragon and I would be separated, allowed to return to our natural state. If not, the magic of her curse would compel me to return to her and bow to her demands. Either that, or, if I tried to remain in hiding, I would become my dragon forever.

“From that point on, I sought such a woman, but by the time I found you…” His voice grew hushed. “I fear it was too late for me,” he finished.

My throat tightened as I considered the culmination of his tale and the ramifications of the curse. No wonder he had warned me against being alone with my mother. My mother had done exactly as he’d feared, and encouraged me to look upon his true form, thereby shattering his one chance at freedom.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I did not know. You ought to have told me.”

“I couldn’t,” he shrugged. “Again, such were the terms of the curse. The Scraggen made it nearly impossible to break. She desired me to fail, so I’d be forced to wed her daughter. I couldn’t even tell you why I never left you unguarded at night, but I feared the Scraggen, by some witchery, finding my cave and killing you so I’d be bound to her daughter. Now…I am.”

“I will not accept that!” I cried fiercely, stepping towards him. “I made a mistake, but I can rectify it.”

The Warkin prince shook his head. His torment when he gazed at me bespoke more than sorrow at his own fate. His words confirmed it when he said,

“I would give anything for that to be true. The time we have spent together, although short, was the most peaceful time of my existence. There is something calming in your presence, Lorna. And joyful. You are my mate. I could have happily lived with you forever.”

Tears sprang to my eyes, burning. I would not let them fall.

“Tell me what to do, Kidron,” I pleaded. “At the very least, tell me where you go. I will follow you. I will find you.”

“I cannot ask that of you,” he replied. “I’ve asked far too much already. We tried, Lorna, and we failed. It matters not. I deserve my punishment for taking you from your family and keeping you here. You’re free now. Go home. Forget the dragon prince who lay beside you at night. Find happiness on your island with your family and tribe.”

“I will not do that.” Again, I stepped towards him, albeit he was retreating from me physically and emotionally. “Tell me where you are going. I will find you,” I vowed.

Kidron gravely studied my face, as if judging the weight of my promise. At last, soberly, he replied, “I know not. When I leave this cave, the magic will whisk me there. The name of the place is Moonswept, and it lies east of the sun and west of the moon.”

“What sort of directions are those?” I cried helplessly, throwing my hands in the air. “That is nonsensical. It could be anywhere!”

---