Page 16 of The Forsaken Heir
Probably some attempt to gain favor with my father without me around, or a suggestion for more aggressive actions toward the Laurents. Everyone on the council knew I was vehemently against war with the Laurents. Dragons were bigger, stronger, more powerful, and capable of flight, but the wolves outnumbered us. By a lot. A cat was bigger than a mouse, but if it had to fight a thousand mice at once, things probably wouldn’t end well. It was the one thing I feared more than anything, and why diplomacy and wariness needed to be used more than any other tactics. I didn’t mention this to Dad, though. He already knew my position.
“That sounds like him. He’s trying to assert control by dictating meeting times,” I said. “He knows how easygoing you are, and, well, what a dick I am.”
Dad belted out a hearty laugh. “You make me sound like a pushover and yourself like a miserable prick.”
I shrugged. “You’re no pushover, but you have to admit that you give the other noble houses more leeway than Grandfather did.”
He grunted. “I loved my father, but yes, he was far stricter in the way he ruled. When I took over, I swore I’d give our people more agency. More freedom. It only made sense as our numbers dwindled. Perhaps I’ve taken it too far.” He stared past me, deep in thought.
“Anyway.” He shook his head. “Back to the business at hand. The Hikshil tribe. You didn’t get to talk about them much last night. How are the fae?”
“They’re fine,” I said, relaxing a bit as we switched topics. “Still a bit old-fashioned. They mostly refuse to accept a lot of the luxuries of the modern world, and the ones they do use are mostly out of necessity. This was my first in-person visit, and it was eye-opening. These folksdohave magic, so they aren’t wholly without comforts and conveniences.”
“That’s good,” he said. He narrowed his eyes and gave me a weird grin. “Any of the fae ladies catch your eye?”
“Good God.” I sighed. “Stop. Please. No, I didn’tbangany fae, if that’s what you’re asking.”
He spread his hands. “A young man has needs. I know that as well as anyone. I’m not going to fault someone for sowing their wild oats.” His smile faltered. “There was a bit of discussion before you arrived last night, about me remarrying.”
“Again?” I asked, incredulously. “They’ve been doing this at least once a year since Mom died. It’s getting tiresome.”
The council had been pushing him to remarry and attempt to have more heirs. With me as the king’s lone offspring, the Decimus family had less leeway if something unfortunate happened.
“They do seem to be dead-set on it,” Dad admitted. “Though, I can’t see myself being with anyone else. Your mother…” His entire body seemed to sigh in sadness. “Your mother was one of a kind. I’d rather abdicate early and let you take over than be with anyone else. Plus, all the noble ladies they suggest are damn near two hundred years younger than I am. Sure, they’re of marriageable age, but there’s something repugnant and vile about the idea of mating with someone younger than my own son.” He shivered in disgust. “Besides, it took your mother and I well over a century to conceive you. I don’t see it happening with anyone else.”
“You’re the king. The nobles can push and ask and beg all they want, but you are in charge. I’m glad you aren’t letting them force you into anything you don’t want.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” he said, a sarcastic lilt to his voice. “But what of you and your romantic prospects? I’m not talking about a roll in the hay with a fae girl. I mean an actual mate.”
That was a sore spot for me. As the crown prince and heir to the throne, it was expected that I take a mate and sire children. The populationhadto increase. If I took over, it didn’t matter how good my policies and plans were if there weren’t enough dragons to implement them. Our birthrate was decreasing every decade. In five or six hundred years, at the current rate, our species might be close to extinct. An eternity for the human mind to comprehend, but barely more than a generation for dragon shifters.
“It’s going fine,” I lied. “I have my eye on a few ladies.”
My father smirked. “Truly?”
Truly? No. The truth was, the council had steered the very women my father had spoken about in my direction. I’d found them all lacking. They were beautiful, smart—some of them were funny—and charming, but I’d yet to feel thatspark. And I flatly refused to bind myself to a woman I felt nothing for. It wasn’t fair to me, and it most definitely wasn’t fair to her.
Sometimes, in the darkest parts of the night, I worried that love would never be in the cards for me. As king I would have to marry. That was a given. Right now, as prince, I have more options and time to be picky. Once the crown was placed on my head, my choices would be removed. I’d take a wife, spark or no spark, and do my duty. The thought always filled me with sadness. My entire life, I’d dreamed of having the kind of love my parents had shared.
“Sure.” I grunted the single syllable as an answer to his question.
He stared at me for several long moments, and I thought I could almost see the thoughts and questions spinning, desperate to be let out. Thankfully, he seemed to read my reticence to speak on the issue on my face.
“What of the humans?” he asked, again changing the conversation course back to diplomatic areas rather than personal.
“They are as they’ve always been. They’re advancing faster than ever,” I said, happily going along with his line of questioning.
Dad shook his head in wonder. “You know, I can still remember when they first took flight. We’d heard rumors that they were trying, andnoneof us believed it could happen. My father and I both truly believed the sky was the dominion of onlyonesentient species. Then those two brothers did the impossible.”He chuckled. “Now they have satellites in space, probes on the moon and Mars. Soon, their technology will be even beyond our magic.” He gestured to the computer on his desk. “I can barely understand this thing as it is. Who knows where they’ll be when you take over as king?”
“It is impressive, although I think it will be a few more centuries until they can compete with men who can transform into dragons at will.”
Our conversation continued like that for another hour. As much as my father liked to think he had kept tabs on the advancement of the humans, he was woefully uninformed on most of their recent developments. Gene editing, artificial intelligence, nano tech. I was serious when I said the humans weren’t close to rivaling us and our magic, but it wasn’t as far out as I’d let on. It wouldn’t be afewcenturies. It might only beone.
When we’d covered all the topics that needed to be discussed, my father bade me farewell and called Titus for his dinner to be brought up.
“Dinner?” I asked at the door. “It’s past midnight, Dad.”
He shrugged helplessly. “A king’s job is never done. I forgot to eat. Better late than never.”
