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  “Not particularly, but it would be nice if we brought my father something. I mean, you’ve had his only daughter and legacy locked away here for over a month. Val probably told him I’m dead.”

  “Is legacy important to humans? It is important to dragons.”

  “Very. I’m the only thing my father has that will live on after he passes.”

  “Any children you may have will live on with the clan name Aleksander. They will not have your surname.”

  “I understand that… Wait a minute. Your surname is Aleksander?”

  “Of course.”

  “So your name is Aleksander Aleksander?”

  “No,” he said laughing. “Don’t be ridiculous. All dragons go by their clan name.”

  “So your father was named Aleksander?”

  “And his father before him.”

  “Do you have any siblings?”

  “Not to my knowledge, but I do not know my father.”

  “So you could potentially have brothers named Aleksander?”

  “Of course.”

  “And that doesn’t seem ridiculous to you?”

  “Not at all. What is your surname?”

  Mara knew she wasn’t going to be able to convince Alek of the absurdity of his naming conventions; his mind was made up and he had moved on to another subject. This was what would take the most getting used to.

  “Mine is Arnason.”

  “Very well,” Alek said, standing up straight and holding his nose high as he usually did when making proclamations. “Any human children you bear me shall go by the surname Arnason.”

  “Human children? Bear for you? Wait, what?”

  “You may gather a sack and return to collect treasure from the main piles for your father. I will not relinquish anything magical to him, though.”

  “That’s fine,” Mara said. “Ummm…one more question.”

  “I have made enough concessions for your father,” Alek said, starting to walk away.

  “It’s not that,” Mara said, chasing after him. “Do you mind if I give some treasure to the maids?”

  “Why would I give my treasure to my maids?”

  “Because I was just like them a short time ago.”

  “You were never like them, and your purpose was never to be like them.”

  “Well, it’s good to know you’ve had your eye on me from the start, but still, Alek—I had to perform their duties just the same. I don’t want them to be jealous of me or harbor resentment.”

  “If they treat you badly I will have them executed.”

  Mara felt the blood drain from her face at his declaration. “No! You cannot kill them.”

  “Why not? They are mine. When a human’s ox turns up lame and useless, they put the beast down. Why can I not put down a disobedient maid?”

  “Because it’s barbaric! They deserve more than that.”

  “I can argue the same about your oxen.”

  “I’m not going to compare a human life to an ox. Listen, Alek, please let me do this for them. I want to give them a gift.”

  Alek sighed loudly before turning his back on her and walking away. “One gift each. Better make it good.”

  Mara was left standing alone amongst the treasure.

  “What the hell just happened?” she asked out loud. One minute he had been happy and treating her well and the next minute he had morphed back into the proud and arrogant dragon lord who thought of himself above anything and everything. As Mara dug through the treasure piles for something good to give to the maids, it hit her like a pile of gold falling over on top of her.

  She stood up and smacked her forehead. “How could I be so stupid?”

  In winning repeated arguments with Alek, especially the big one, she had challenged his manhood and station as ruler over his domain. No longer did every decision he made begin and end with him, and he was seeing that now.

  “Typical,” she muttered. “Just like a man. Every time they lose, they have to show everyone how big and strong they are afterwards.”

  Alek was just lashing out because he felt his station in life, and in their relationship, was being threatened. She was playing a dangerous power game with a dragon and she was winning; not many women could say that. Even so, she had to be careful not to push him too far.

  “I need to let him win at something,” she said. “I have to reassure him.”

  Mara knew this happened often, from talking to the older women in her town. She had thought she was taming a dragon, but in reality she was just playing the game of marriage. Maybe dragons and men weren’t as different as Alek thought.

  Chapter 19

  “It’s beautiful!” Priya said as she wrapped the jade necklace around her neck. “I’ve never had anything like it. Thank you so much, mistress.”

  “Stop calling me ‘mistress’,” Mara said. “I prefer Mara. Please.”

  “Of course, Mara,” Priya said, fingering the necklace and beaming up at her.

  “I can’t decide,” Abigail said, holding up a ruby pendant and a sapphire ring. ‘They’re both so breathtaking. Oh, Mara, how did you pull this off?”

  “I just asked.”

  “And the master didn’t say no?” Both girls looked up at her expectantly, hoping that Alek had agreed to it immediately.

  “Well, at first he wasn’t too keen on the idea,” she said. Both of their faces fell and she quickly added, “But you know how dragons are, right? They don’t like to share anything. All it took was me telling him how much you all do for him and he was on board from that moment forward.”

  “The master is truly wonderful,” Priya said. “He’s so great to us.”

  “After all he’s done for our homes, and now he does this,” Abigail said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “I will work twice as hard to keep his home clean now.”

  “Raylene?” Mara asked, turning towards the oldest, and largest, of the maids. Raylene had separated herself from the gift exchange completely and was leaning against a table with her arms crossed stubbornly over her chest. If looks could kill she would have murdered all three women several times over. “There’s plenty more left that’ll make your eyes look wonderful.”

  “No,” Raylene said flatly.

  “Oh, come on, Raylene!” Abigail said, finally settling on the ruby pendant. “There’s so much wonderful treasure in here.”

  “That’s the master’s treasure and you know it, dear!” Raylene was now wagging her finger at the other two maids disapprovingly.

  “But he wanted us to have it as a gift,” Abigail protested, pushing her bottom lip out.

  “No, he didn’t. Don’t believe the mistress’s lies! She is only trying to make you feel better. The master would never part with his treasure for commoners like us. You are easily duped, young one.”

  Now poor Abigail was wiping even more tears away as she rubbed her fingers thoughtlessly on the ruby pendant.

  “Why do you have to be so mean, Raylene?” Mara asked. The other two turned to her as she questioned the older woman, their eyes wide.

  “Excuse me?” Raylene said, standing up straight and refusing to back down.

  “You heard me. You’re so mean to everyone else. You act like you run this ship. Alek said I could give them treasure and he said you could have some too. Why can’t you accept it instead of belittling everyone else?”

  “Serving the master is its own reward,” Raylene declared with a look of smug satisfaction on her ugly old face. “Why would I need anything else?”

  “Some people like to feel appreciated. There’s nothing wrong with that!”

  “Nobody here needs to feel appreciated. The master has done enough for us already. We are working a debt to repay him for everything.”

  “Now who’s naïve?” Mara asked. She didn’t want to completely shatter the other girls’ notion of Alek and the wonderful things he’d brought for their villages, but she knew it was a flat-out lie. They revered him like some kind of god when in actuality
he was just a magical creature who had lived a long time.

  “You doubt the master’s omnipotent? I don’t know what he sees in a whelp like you!”

  “Then why don’t you talk some sense into him, since you’re so good at doing it to everyone else?” Mara asked, giving Raylene her best snotty grin. She knew the older woman wouldn’t say a word to Alek.

  “You think you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you, girl?” Raylene asked. “You think you’re so special.”

  “I don’t think that at all,” Mara said, turning her face away from Raylene.

  “You’re just like all the other whores!” Raylene said. “You show up with your breasts hanging out and your ass in the air thinking you’ll get a free ride. When the master is done with your body, he’ll throw you out like all the others!”

  Mara felt like someone had punched her in the gut, or thrown a spear through her heart. Her entire core burned with pain as Raylene’s words cut right through her. What in the hell? Had Alek lied to her the entire time? Other girls? Whores? Thrown aside?

  She backed away from Raylene quickly, trying to grab onto the table to steady herself. This news was too much to bear.

  “Raylene!” Priya shouted.

  “You stay out of this, child!’ Raylene shot back.

  “Raylene!” a much deeper and much angrier voice bellowed through the room.

  Everyone froze and turned to the door as Alek strode in with murderous intent in his eyes. It only took him a few seconds to clear the room, and he had Raylene by the throat and he was lifting her off the ground before Mara could even react.

  “You dare to speak lies about me in my own home?” he demanded. “You dare to speak ill of my wife? After all I have given you?”

  “Master, please,” Raylene choked out. “I was only trying to make a point.”

  “Silence!” he roared, sounding more like the great dragon than a man. “I will hear none of your fool’s words! Still your forked tongue!”

  “Alek, put her down!” Mara yelled, finally regaining her senses. She ran over to Alek and began to yank on his arm, but she might as well have been trying to pull a thick tree branch down from an ancient oak—it refused to budge. “Please, Alek, unhand her!”

  Alek wasn’t squeezing, he was merely holding Raylene in the air above him. Mara could see the white scales rippling under his skin as every muscle in his body tensed. Helplessly she looked back at the other girls, who were frozen with fear as they watched.

  “Don’t kill her, Alek,” Mara begged, still trying—to no avail—to pull Alek’s mighty arm to his side. “If you love me, Alek, please don’t kill her.”

  The words she spoke broke the haze of rage that enveloped her lover and forced him to turn his eyes towards her, but they were still filled with hate and anger.

  “She has betrayed me and hurt you,” Alek said. “I told you I would have them executed if they did such a thing.”

  “And I told you it was barbaric. Alek, you cannot kill her like this because she said something foolish and hurtful.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because humans say stupid things out of spite all the time!”

  “The words she has spoken are not true. I have not had any whores in my lair. You are the first human female I have given my body to in seven hundred years.” He turned back to Raylene, beginning to squeeze on her neck. Clearly, it would take no effort at all for him to pop her head right off her body and end her life in a bloody spectacle. “And you know this, Raylene. You would dare to propagate this lie for what? Jealousy?”

  “I am sorry, master,” Raylene choked out, her eyes growing bloodshot and her face growing pale. “I am jealous, you are right. I was hoping she would leave if I hurt her enough.”

  “Raylene, shut your damn mouth!” Mara screamed. Each word that came out of the older woman’s mouth only served to incense the dragon more.

  “She speaks the truth,” Alek said. “She will die an honorable death now that she has admitted to her transgressions.”

  “She won’t die at all, Alek!” Mara screamed, winding up and slamming her fist into his ribs as hard as she could. The pain shot through her hand and body instantly, almost bringing her to her knees. She bit her bottom lip to stop from screaming and looked up at Alek, who was staring at her with shock and horror on his face.

  “You struck me!” he cried.

  “A lot of good it did!” she said, holding her hand, which was beginning to swell.

  Alek looked down at her hand and immediately his face was awash with concern. He released Raylene, letting her fall to the ground in a heap as he grabbed Mara’s hand.

  “You are hurt!” he yelled.

  “It’s just a bruise,” Mara said. “What are you made out of? Stone?”

  “I am dragon,” he said with all the seriousness he could muster.

  “Yes, of course you are,” she said. That was the only explanation he was going to be able to offer.

  “I cannot believe I hurt you,” Alek said, shaking his head furiously.

  “You did not hurt me,” Mara said, using her free hand to rub his face. “I hurt myself being stupid.”

  “It is my fault,” he said.

  “No,” Mara said.

  By now Priya and Abigail had broken their spell of fear and were standing beside them, looking at Mara’s hand. Raylene just lay on the ground sobbing.

  “You need to put ice on that,” Abigail said.

  “She speaks the truth,” Priya nodded. “It will help with the swelling.”

  “Get a heavy wash cloth,” Alek ordered.

  Both women ran to a cabinet, throwing towels and cloths on the ground until they found one that was suitable.

  “Now hold it over her hand,” Alek ordered.

  What happened next almost made Mara forget completely about the pain. The magic in the world was a wondrous thing and she was seeing things most humans would go their entire life without ever laying eyes on. Alek bent over the wash cloth and began to gently blow into it. As he did, his breath turned icy and the wash cloth filled up with chunks of hard ice.

  Mara couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as Priya wrapped the ice up and Abigail used a ripped piece of towel to tie it down on Mara’s hand.

  “Why are you smiling?” Alek asked.

  “I didn’t know you could do that.”

  “I am a white dragon. My breath weapon is winter’s death.”

  “But still,” Mara said. “I saw it when you were a dragon, but not as a human. You really are magical.”

  “I have a strong connection to magic,” Alek said, nodding his head. He still didn’t get what was so great about what he did, but Mara expected that.

  “As for you,” Alek said, turning back to Raylene. Mara’s eyes nearly popped out of her head as he cracked his knuckles and drew in a deep breath, as if he intended to freeze Raylene for good.

  “No,” Mara said again. “Do not kill her.”

  Alek turned back to her, the rage in his eyes laced with desperation. She was doing it again, challenging his station in life and his power. To make it worse, she was challenging it in front of the maids. If she forced him to agree with her and back down again, then all of his power and control would be sapped from their relationship. The dynamic would completely shift in her favor and Alek would grow to resent her over time, or worse, do something incredibly stupid and violent to get it back. No, she had to give in to him this time and let him have his way, but she couldn’t let Raylene die brutally like this.

  “She must be punished,” Alek declared.

  “I agree,” Mara said, trying not to look at Raylene or the other maids. “She has defied you and has been insubordinate. She must be punished, but death is too easy a way out.”

  “Explain yourself.”

  “She loves you, does she not? She loves serving you and wants nothing more than to be by your side until she dies. Right? If you killed her, she would be removed from the mortal coil and she would not know what h
appened, and it would all be over.”

  “So?”

  “That’s no punishment. A true punishment would be banishment. Remove her from our lives. Force her to go home or to another village. She would lose her purpose in life and truly feel the sting of her transgression.”

  Alek smiled as he looked down at Raylene. The old maid’s face was awash in horror as her gaze flew back and forth between Alek and Mara.

  “Please!” she begged. “Do not do it, master! I am sorry! Chop off a finger! Take a limb! Do anything but banish me. I cannot live without you!”

  “Your grievance is too great in my eyes, Raylene,” Alek said, standing rigid and regal. “I warned you not to harm my wife or treat her badly and instead you chose to lie to her and make her think that she was nothing special. She is very special to me. You were once special in a different way, but no longer.”

  Mara looked away, unable to look at Raylene and the expression on her face. Mara disagreed with any kind of punishment. Raylene knew what she had done wrong the minute he had burst into the room and began to admonish her. His rage was enough, but Mara had to let him win this fight. Alek had to get his way to save their future, even if it was at Raylene’s expense.

  She looked up at the other two maids, who were both also looking at the ground, afraid to make eye contact with anyone. They all continued to look down as Alek tossed Raylene over one shoulder and marched out of the room with her kicking and screaming the whole way.

  As soon as she was gone, the two younger maids looked up at Mara with horror in their eyes.

  “It was the only thing I could do to save her life,” Mara pled.

  “I know,” Priya said, trying to fight back tears. “The master’s rage is not something to be trifled with.”

  “Death would have been kinder,” Abigail said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  Mara turned from both of them and steadied herself on the counter. She had done what she had to to ensure her future happiness with Alek. It had been a tough decision, one of many surely to come in her future.

  Chapter 20