Page 25 of The Emerald Dragon Prince
“Looks like the army is still with us, even if Osric isn’t,” Diamant said, standing close by his exhausted mate’s side. “What do we do now?”
“Exactly what Emmerich said we do,” Argus said with a shrug. “We wait until Osric’s men are rested, then we create doors into the castle and transport everyone there.”
“Isn’t that going against Mother’s rule of no magic?” Azurus asked.
“No magic to attack or manipulate things,” I said. “We’ve all been creating doors in this world what feels like every five minutes.”
Rufus snorted. “You know she isn’t happy about that.”
“She’ll be less happy if Osric loses the war and a dark sorcerer joins Freslik in running this world,” Gildur said with a frown.
I sighed, glancing at Rumi. “We’ve been left with very few choices if we want to win this war,” I said, feelingweary. I just wanted to get the entire thing over with so my mate and I could return to the magical world and begin what I was determined to make into a happy life with my family.
Blinking, I realized that my weary feeling wasn’t entirely my own. Rumi sank to sit in one of the camp chairs near the blackened space where the campfire that had been lit earlier in the day had been stamped out. He had both hands resting over his belly, which looked noticeably larger than it had at the start of the conflict.
Since everyone else had turned to their own concerns, whether to recover from the first battle or to discuss possible plans for a second one, I marched straight to Rumi and knelt in front of his chair.
“Are you well?” I asked, even though I could feel the answer to my own question.
Rumi put on a brave face for me and smiled. “I’m better than I could be,” he said. “I wasn’t slashed open this time around.”
I smiled, but the fear of what would have happened if Nikkos’s slash had been just a bit deeper stopped me from enjoying the jest.
I rested a hand on Rumi’s belly, curious as to whether I could feel our baby as well. My brow shot up when I felt something. It likely wasn’t as intense as what my omega could feel, but our child most definitely had a presence and was making itself known. It wanted to go home as much as Rumi and I did.
“Are eggs supposed to grow this fast?” Rumi asked, more than a little worry and exhaustion in his voice as he glanced at me.
I frowned. “No. Its growth is accelerated now because of the spell that’s been holding it for so long.”
My mate’s worry increased. “I remember learning way back in the beginning, when Tovey first fell pregnant, that the longest a dragon’s mate can go before birthing an egg is a week. What happens if they wait too long?”
I didn’t want to answer. On the one hand, I’d never heard of it actually happening, but the general belief was that once the egg became too large to be birthed, it would choke and die, taking its omega papa with it.
I forced myself to smile and send reassurance through the bond to Rumi. “Nothing is going to happen,” I said. “We’ll go ahead with our plan to take Osric’s army to the castle and we’ll defeat Freslik by this time tomorrow at the very latest. Once that’s done, I’ll take you immediately back home and we’ll bring this egg into the world.”
Rumi forced himself to take a deep breath and smiled shakily at me. “I trust you,” he whispered.
That trust was humbling, especially with so much on the line. I scooted closer to him, slipped a hand behind his neck, and pulled him toward me for a kiss.
Everything was better when my mate and I were joined together, even in just a kiss. Our bond grew stronger, and I felt as though I could and would do anything to make the world exactly the way it needed to be for my omega and our children to be safe and happy. I deepened our kiss, licking my tongue into Rumi’s mouth and playing with his, drawing strength from him and sharing what I had to make him feel as powerful as I knew he was.
I was tempted to throw caution to the wind and let one of my brothers take over leading Osric’s army so that I could return to the magical world and finish breeding my omega immediately when an eager Nikkos showed up right behind me to say, “I want to help with the cause.”
It felt like being doused with cold water. I reluctantlypulled away from my mate and twisted to look up at the wide-eyed omega standing behind me.
The fervor in Nikkos’s expression shot me right back to the creeping suspicion I’d felt when looking at the omega before. Outwardly, he appeared so demure and innocent, but up close, now that I was within touching distance of him, all of my instincts warned me that he was deadly.
A different sort of suspicion welled up in me, one that made my skin itch with discomfort. I rose carefully to my feet, feeling better once I was towering over Nikkos.
“Of course you’ll help the cause,” I said, careful not to stand too close to Nikkos. “You have been one of Osric’s right-hand men all this time.”
“I have,” Nikkos said with a proud smile, sparks of something more aggressive in his eyes. “I’ve been with Osric from the start. He’s trusted me with everything, all his plans, all his secrets, everything.”
The sense that I needed to be cautious swelled within me. Those feelings came straight from Rumi through our bond. Rumi stood and went so far as to take my hand in both of his. “We could use all the help we can get,” he said amicably, which felt directly at odds with the emotions coming from him.
“Excellent,” Nikkos said, his smile still broad as he glanced briefly to Rumi, then ignored him and smiled up at me. “Tell me what to do. Where do we start? What do we need to do once we get Osric’s army into the castle?”
I didn’t want to answer him. My suspicions were on high alert, thanks to Rumi. But my brothers had stopped their discussion and, along with Rumi’s brothers, they all gathered near.
