Page 38 of Kingdom of Flames & Flowers
My eyes fluttered shut. The pressure of his hand around my throat felt soothing and calm; it was as though I didn’t have to decide or worry about surviving while he held me like that. I slid my fingers up across his tip, and he groaned.
“Never mind, I can guess,” I continued. “One of you plays the prince while the other is off playing the dragon. Am I far off the mark?”
My hand kept sliding up and down his length as if it had a mind of its own. His hand tightened painfully around my throat, and I stopped.
“I’d say you’re right on it,” he grunted. “Most people aren’t silly enough to poke a dragon.”
I let go of him, and he released me. I slid back to the other side of the cave until my back hit the stone wall.
“Your mother tried to feed me to you.”
Zariah winced. “She … has never coped well with all of this.”
I scowled, pulling my knees to my chest and resting my arms and head on top. “And what exactly isall this?”
Zariah sighed and sat down, unconsciously letting his arms hang down over his propped knee. “It’s a curse, Mari. We’ve had it since we were born. Zion was born first, and when I came out … I … well, it was a shock to everyone. So that’s how we play our parts.”
My arms crossed over my chest. Azalea had been right about the dragon being a curse! “Pity you didn’t scorch your mother from the womb out.”
He glared at me, and I glared back. “Don’t be ridiculous. We didn’t start turning into dragons untilafterwe came out of her womb.”
I rolled my eyes at his non-answer. “So, Zion gets to be the official prince since he was born first. And you get … what? To play guard?”
He refused to rise to my bait. “One of us has to be the dragon. If we don’t, we lose control over the transformation. We lose our minds. It’s for everyone’s safety that we take strict shifts. We’ve done it since we were infants. Zion and I switch in and out when needed.”
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t imagine a baby just being … left out here in the open. Then again, I could imagine the queen doing it.
“Why were you cursed?” I asked. Hadn’t Azalea mentioned the curse had lasted a hundred years? Zion and Zariah were my age. The wall was much, much older than that!
“It’s a punishment,” he shot back, surly.
My eyes rolled to the back of my head. “And here I thought it was a birthday present.”
He huffed in acknowledgement, but went silent. I wasn’t about to get any more information out of him. My stomach rumbled loudly in the cave, and I put my arms over it, hunching in on myself.
Zariah frowned. “I need to get you back.”
I barked out a laugh. “You’rejoking. Your mother just tried to make me dragon kibble. There’s no way she’s taking me back.”
He arched a dark eyebrow. “You survived the dragon. She won’t have a choice. To do otherwise would thumb your nose at the gods. You’ll be fine. Besides, everyone will see you triumphantly returning on my back. Quite a feather in your cap, really—a splendid performance. It’s the best talent of all, really.”
I growled at his smug grin. “It isn’t funny. Your brother—at least I think it was him and not you—said hehadto obey your mother. Are you the same way?”
His nostrils flared in irritation, but he didn’t deny it.
I laughed. “What’s to stop her from ordering you to murder me then? Why didn’t you eat me on the roof? She’d been pretty clear about that.”
Zariah sighed. “She does control us. I can’t really explain why: it justis. It’s a good thing when you think about it; she can make sure we don’t go on a rampage and destroy the entire kingdom. As for not eating you? Well, she must have made a blood pact with you. I can smell it in your veins. She won’t be able to make anyone else hurt you. She must do it herself.”
My jaw dropped. “I’m supposed to be happy because your mother has to kill me herself?”
His eyes closed, and after a moment, he shifted back into his dragon form. I yelped as golden scales filled the small cave, scampering on my bum toward the mouth of the cave. Zariah gave a small huff of heat at me as if my fear was amusing. I raised a fist threateningly at his nose. I’d punch his snout again if I had to.
He grumbled, then lowered his head and neck down to the ground. The meaning was clear: get on.
“I will go back, but only if you promise to tell me everything about this curse in less than two days,” I added, knowing he’d stall if I didn’t put an expiration date on it.
The dragon growled but nodded his massive head.
