Page 25 of Rejected By Dragons

Bristling, I curl my hands into fists, my nails digging into my scarred palm.

"None other," Fury sneers.

King Zephyr clucks his tongue. "I thought you had better taste," he says, shaking his head at Storm. He raises a brow. "This is why I've said we need to purify the blood lines." His mouth twists into a grimace. "Not propagate them."

"She's sterile," Storm assures them, and wow, okay, fine. Throw salt into the wound.

"Yes, your one saving grace," King Zephyr agrees. He tilts his head to the side, looking me up and down, and I quake inside. I felt dirty before, but there's something to his stare that makes me feel like he can see past my--admittedly rumpled--clothes. "We men have needs. Finding a suitable receptacle to slake them can be a challenge. Wouldn't want too many little bastards running around, trying to make a claim for the throne."

"Unless this is more than blowing off steam..." Fury says, one eyebrow raised.

I hold my breath. This is our chance. It's Storm's opportunity to finally assert himself, even in the face of his brother and father's obvious disapproval. For a half a second, I dare to imagine that he actually might do it.

I'm a fool.

"She's nothing." Storm's cold, dead voice lances me through all over again. His rejection tears me in two.

I can't help but look at him. I try so hard not to let the pain show on my face, but how can I, when my heart is breaking? We were always so afraid of getting caught. I knew he'd have to deny me if we did.

So why does it hurt so much to watch it unfold? "Storm--"

Storm finally looks at me, his eyes bright with the same pain I feel. It doesn't show in his voice, though. "Silence," he spits.

"Still," King Zephyr muses. "We have much business to attend to. I wouldn't want my second heir getting distracted by an open pair of legs..."

"I hardly think they're that tempting." Storm shifts his gaze away from me, but I can't bring myself to do the same.

King Zephyr narrows his eyes. "Best to remove them all the same."

"Wait--" Storm starts.

A new kind of venom enters the king's voice. His whips his head toward Storm. "Does my son wish to question his king again?"

Storm visibly shrinks, and my broken heart aches. How can I be empathizing with this man after he just rejected me and let his family call me a glorified Fleshlight?

I worked so hard to try to get him to open up to me, though. He never told me everything, but in our most intimate moments, he shared the pressures he was under. The quiet cruelties of his father and the indignities of serving beneath his brother's superiority. The helplessness and the frustration of trying to help guide the kingdom, without the power to see anything through.

Tendons stand out in his arms and neck. "No, your highness," he grits out.

"I didn't think so." King Zephyr waves a hand at me. "You are hereby banished."

"No--" I cry out, as the breath is punched out of my lungs.

He can't-- He wouldn't-- Not mere hours before the Emergence ceremony. I fought too hard, spent too much time preparing.

My cries fall on deaf ears. "Fury, remove this thing to her home."

Fury comes over and grabs me by my hair. "With pleasure."

Bright pain lights up my scalp as he tugs.

"This isn't necessary," Storm argues, cool and calm and like he doesn't even care that I'm being thrown out on my ass.

"She was going to be exiled after the ceremony anyway." Fury starts dragging me toward the exit. I kick and fight, but it's no use. "Honestly, he's doing you a favor, saving you the embarrassment of failing again."

"Let me try," I beg. Hot, angry tears overflow my eyes. I dig my heels into the ground, but Fury's grip is too strong. "I can feel my dragon, she's in there--I know it--"

I just can't unlock her. Without the Oracle's magic, I never will.

---