Page 47 of No Ordinary Drakeling
Chapter 17
Tiri carefully put one foot in front of the other as he marched alongside the gorgeous dragon Fate matched him with. He wished he could get a better look at him—his cloak made everything difficult, but he was used to it. All sprites had to stay covered, so the evil Warrior Sprites didn’t find them, and Tiri had no desire to be killed. Especially not after meeting the man chosen for him. Tiri tried to peek up at Duke Zane, but he learned nothing new. He liked his tied-back brown hair and the scruff on his face. It nearly covered the teal scrollwork Fate gave them when they swapped blood.
Their group came to a stop and Tiri simply stood there. In front of him was a long, shiny boxlike object with wheels. He searched his memory for everything he knew of the outside world and wondered if it could be a car. Tales of a great many things made it into the workshop where he spent his waking hours, but Tiri had never left his village. In fact, he’d only seen the inside of three huts: the one of his adopted parents, the children’s sleeping tent where he still lay his head since he was only twenty, and where he worked.
“I want the robberies stopped,” a very tall man with a large crown said.
“If Alaric agrees, we can work out a schedule between the sentinels and the fallen knights so the village is constantly watched. We’ll arrest them once they attempt to rob a place,” a man with golden eyes replied.
The scary guy with the glowing gaze and daggers nodded as he handed the bag with Tiri’s belongings to Duke Zane. “Arvandus and Albrecht can work on that.”
“Great, let’s get out of here,” Golden Eyes responded. Before another word was spoken, the uniformed men disappeared. Tiri blinked to see if he was losing his mind, but they were definitely no longer standing there.
The door to the vehicle was opened, and the crowned men slid into it. Duke Zane turned to Tiri. “Do you need a moment to say good-bye to your village before you get in the car?”
Though he was shocked that he’d met his mate, Tiri was grateful to have his other half. He was taught since birth that you did what Fate dictated; his village was his old life now. He shook his head and lifted the hem of his cloak to climb in as the others did. The remaining men piled in after him, and Duke Zane handed him his bag. Tiri clutched it to his chest; it was all he owned in the world—a brush for his hair, one for his teeth, his nightclothes, and his second outfit. He’d worked hard on the design, and he was glad he was wearing his favorite even though it was hidden from view.
“Tiridythas, we are so glad to have you join our family,” Emperor Ellery offered. The car lurched forward, and Tiri was surprised that he found the movement soothing.
“Thank you, Emperor Ellery. Please call me Tiri.”
“I will call you Tiri if you call me Ellery,” he responded. “Can I introduce you to the rest of our family?”
Tiri nodded enthusiastically as he wondered why Ellery would prefer to be called by his second name. “Yes, please.”
Gingerly Ellery touched the arm of the man next to him in the matching crown. Everyone in the car had some sort of coronet on, and he found it strange they were wearing something to draw attention to themselves but weren’t chieftains. “This is my mate, Emperor Chrysander Draconis.”
The oddness of the men in the car grew in Tiri’s mind. How strange was it that both Ellery and Chrysander had the same first name, and why did they have three? Tiri only had one. Ellery pointed to a smiling man wearing all black. “This is Imperial Duke Damian Draconis, he is my mate’s twin brother.”
A man with four names, Tiri thought in surprise. He wondered how he was going to keep track of them. Then Ellery’s finger strayed to the last man Tiri didn’t know. He was also smiling. “This is Duke Costas Draconis.”
“May I ask a question, Ellery?”
“You may ask anything you would like.”
“Is Duke so common a name?”
“Duke’s a title and not a name,” Tiri’s mate explained quietly. “Like Emperor.”
“I didn’t realize Emperor was a title too.”
“It’s higher than Chieftain,” Ellery said. “And Duke is just below King, which is equal to Chieftain. The only exception is Imperial Duke, which is above King since he serves the emperor directly.”
“Thank you for telling me,” Tiri responded, pleased to learn his mate’s first name was Zane, not Duke. It was good that he’d asked even though he was just a servant, because calling someone by the wrong thing was a huge grievance. He wondered why someone like him was matched with a man of high standing.
“Tiri, what did you do in your village?” Emperor Chrysander asked.
“I’m a needleworker. I make clothing for my people.” Tiri loved his work, though he’d never made anything so fine as the men in the car with him were wearing.
“By what name do your people call themselves?” Imperial Duke Damian inquired.
“My people are known as the Sprite Grove.”
Zane put his head in his hands and Damian chuckled. “This is the best day of my life,” Damian enthused, which Tiri found strange since it was he and Zane who’d found their other halves. How could anything else in life compare?
“Fate does have one hell of a sense of humor,” Emperor Chrysander observed.
Tiri frowned; he did not find any humor in the situation. Did these dragons think Zane mating with a sprite was a joke? He wished he could ask, but these men were royalty and he did nothing but sew all day. His hands itched to do that now; it would help soothe the nerves that had been jumping in his belly from the moment he’d emerged from the workshop and was confronted by Fate presenting him with his other half.
