Page 10 of Worthy Promises
“Worth, do you know more about contacting the Council than we do?” Somerly asked. “Are you assured the humans will help us?”
“It’s difficult to get information with the way Boian stifles our links to the outside world, but I’ve been told that if I could get out, that’s the route I should take. I’ll be honest—it was a good thing you two came along. I’ve been trying to get off Ethelin land for…well, decades now, and I keep getting caught and dragged back to my prison.”
“Lex, he’s been caught. What if we are?”
“He’s not very good at observation,” Lex responded dryly. “He walked into a moving car. We’ll be all right.”
Worth refused to allow his embarrassment to show. He was so caught up in his nerves, he had indeed missed an entire vehicle trudging toward him. “So, it’s my fault now that I’ve been so grievously injured?”
“Yes.”
“Who told you that you could appeal to the humans to join the Council?” Somerly asked. “I thought everyone was loyal to my father.”
“There are those who are loyal to Boian, but somehow he’s managed to find a man or two with a lick of sense in his head. It was a man called Duke Drogo,” Worth said. Although Worth’s respect for the man had diminished, Drogo was still a good man. His loyalty to Boian was absolute, and he was a relic from another age. Boian had been selected by Fate, but he was a poor excuse for a leader and a man. “As the King’s son, I’m sure you’re familiar with him. He’s your King’s first.”
“Lex here is Duke Drogo’s son.”
Worth’s brows flew up. What would Drogo think after he discovered both of Boian’s sons were gone, along with his own? Maybe it’d be the fuel Drogo needed to reexamine how important it was to be a Duke if the man you served was undeserving of allegiance. “Then my estimation of you was wrong. You can’t possibly be a brainless twit with such a fine man as a father.”
“Thanks, I think. My father’s a good man but blindly loyal to King Boian.”
“No. You misunderstand him,” Worth commented. “Duke Drogo’s an ancient dragon over two thousand years old. He’s the type of dragon young people cannot measure up to. When he was made a Duke, he took a vow to serve his King. He chooses to do that with honor. It’s not his fault he’s managed to find himself under a man with no soul. A King lacking in even the most basic of normal emotions and a complete lack of empathy for the world around him. He’s a greedy, conniving son of a bitch who uses people, then casts them aside when they no longer suit his purpose.”
The old bitterness rose up to choke Worth. Not once had Worth and Boian found any shared opinions. Father and son had barely tolerated each other. Boian had treated Worth like an embarrassment long before his pink dragon had sprouted wings. As he grew up, Worth hadn’t realized how lonely he’d been or that his desire to seek sex so recklessly was a way to fill up the sadness inside him.
Worth had taken everyone at their word that they’d genuinely considered him a friend, and it still burned that he was nothing more than a foolish twit who’d believed their lies. Never again would he allow anyone to fool him, and Worth had long ago given up the idea of surrounding himself with smooth-talking acquaintances or trusting a man to know him intimately. Worth would not be used again.
“Thank you for the kind words about my father. I do believe he’d see it that way,” Lex said, his voice going from suspicious to friendly. “He’s a stern sort but has been a good parent. I feel much the same as you do about King Boian.”
“You’re welcome. He’s been kind to me over the years. He didn’t have to be. Your King certainly wasn’t.”
“Why haven’t we ever heard of you before, Worth?” Lex asked.
“I’ll tell you what. You take me to the humans and secure passage for the three of us to travel to the Council, and I just might tell you my secrets. Somerly, I think you’d be particularly interested in them.”
“I would?”
“Yes, but don’t be asking me now,” Worth said. If they were caught, it would be better if Somerly didn’t know about their connection. Worth was also embarrassed that his only parent had wanted to erase his existence. Had he truly been that awful, or was Boian a complete wretch? “The truth, no matter how ugly, always finds its way out. Your King should’ve told you about me, but the man lacks balls.”
“I don’t like him either,” Lex responded, and Worth’s estimation of Drogo’s son rose. It hit Worth belatedly that he hadn’t known Drogo had any children. His son was no drakeling, so he was at least a century old. Duke Drogo had often spoken of Boian’s youngest child but had never mentioned his own child. All those years, Worth had considered Drogo a friend, yet the old Duke hadn’t wanted him to know about Lex. Why? Was he afraid Worth would ask for an introduction?
Of course Duke Drogo wouldn’t want the pink dragon to know about Lex, Worth thought bitterly. He probably feared explaining to Lex the miserable color Fate had chosen for Worth. The beast in him roared, and Worth was sorry he’d hurt his dragon’s feelings. Man and beast had learned to coexist, butit was a far cry from the respectful connection men and their dragons were supposed to have, which was another dark mark against Worth.
Even the man who’d been his lone companion for a century thought so little of Worth that he’d purposely hidden such an important aspect of his life. He refused to let it hurt. If he were lucky, he’d never lay eyes on anyone in Court Ethelin again, and that included the noble dragon who’d pretended to be his pal for the last ten decades.
Chapter 5
Somehow, Worth and his new acquaintances had left Court Ethelin behind. Worth had walked into a human police station, and an officer had led the trio of dragons to a private room. Would they send him back? How would he survive another century of unabating loneliness? Refusing to give in to his fears, Worth curled his fingers into fists once he was in a hard plastic chair next to his new companions.
“Are you going to help us?” Lex asked.
The officer pulled out a small notebook and pen. “Let’s begin, shall we? I’m Sergeant Robert Brown, and what information you give me determines what assistance I can offer. Now, I’d like your identification cards please.”
Lex and Somerly moved to grab their wallets, but Worth had nothing to offer. In 1914, King Boian had had no system of tracking his dragons with cards, and in the ensuing years, he had certainly not handed Worth one.
“And you, sir?” Sergeant Brown asked Worth.
Lifting his chin, Worth reminded himself of his bravery for perhaps the hundredth time since he’d crept off the sagging porch of his old house. “I have no identification.”
