She’d ventured out only a handful of times, once for the coronation of King K’rah and then twice more when her daughters had been in danger. During one of the latter times, she’d encountered H’ry.
“You must not deviate. You must control your dragonesses and go straight to the temple,” she instructed.
“Yes, priestess,” they responded in unison, but excitement wafted off them, as if they were a wing of dragonlings on their first flight.
How will you control your dragoness? came the taunt. Perhaps I shall dally. Fly to the highest spires. Follow the lava rivers for as far as they flow.
If that is what you wish, she responded, confident she would do no such thing. The dragoness relished the power, the fear their position evoked. Striking terror in the king? That was practically an aphrodisiac to her.
Perhaps that explained why the dragoness had accepted Rhianna and Helena—because doing so had thwarted the king, who had opposed allowing humans into the royal court. For the longest time, the monarch had abided their presence on Draco only because she had ordered him to. Since Rhianna and Helena had mated to two of his sons, he’d softened a tad.
You wound me! Do you think you are the only one to mourn our daughter? Our fyre burned within her. Not yours, ours. She was my daughter, too. Rhianna and Helena are my children, also.
O’ne recalled the dragoness’s race to the dungeon to free Rhianna who’d once been unjustly imprisoned by the king. You’re right. I’m sorry.
Never apologize. It is a sign of weakness.
Contrary as always. O’ne returned her attention to the acolytes, who, while naïve, were more reasonable. “The guardians will fly in formation around us as we travel to the temple,” she explained, and then caught a familiar scent tinged with the alarming peppery odor of danger.
She sprinted for the passage, hampered by her hair and train. Demiforma guardians had converged on H’ry who crouched in a fight stance with dagger in hand. A human would never win against a single dragon—and a dozen? But he exuded no scent of fear, only determination.
“What is going on?” she demanded.
“This human says he came to see you,” a guardian growled.
They’d said their goodbyes. He shouldn’t have come. He was making this so much harder. But her fyre flashed and danced. “Let him pass.”
The guardian hesitated, and O’ne expelled a burst of fire as much for H’ry’s benefit as his. He needed to understand she was the priestess; the O’ne he’d held and kissed existed no more.
The guardians fell back, and H’ry widened his eyes. “I didn’t know you could do that in woman form.”
“There is much you don’t know about me.” She should have let the guardians deal with him. “Walk with me.”
As they moved down the passage, her hair and dress dragged like weights. “Why are you here?” she asked in a low voice. “We agreed to part—”
“When the ship landed. It hasn’t touched down yet.”
“You play on a technicality.”
“I had to see you one last time.” He halted her and cupped her face between his palms. She gripped his wrists, seeing her own misery reflected in his somber gaze. “I promise to keep my distance on Elementa.”
She collapsed against him, and he enfolded her in his strong arms. Their lips fused in one last desperate kiss.
“I’ve decided to return to Earth,” he said.
“Because of me.”
“I have no reason to stay, except for you,” he said.
“I thought you said it wasn’t possible, that your president told you to stay here?” It testified to her selfishness that she would wish him to remain just to know he was near. She slipped out of his arms before she lost the will to let him go.
I, for one, applaud his leaving, the dragoness sniffed.
“I plan to ask Helena to intervene with her father. If she asks him to let me come home, he’ll do it.”
“That is the best thing for you,” she conceded, her heart clenching, her fyre wavering. He needed to meet the woman she’d seen in her visions, the one who would give him children.
The ship bumped and swayed as it landed on solid rock.
“I guess I have to live up to my promise now,” he said.
“Take this.” She took off her necklace.
“I can’t accept that!”
“Please,” she begged and slipped it over his head. When he met that future woman, he should have the pendant to remind him of the Draconian priestess. “Remember me.” She ran for her cabin as fast as her hair and dress would allow.
Chapter Eleven
The amber diamond sparkled like O’ne’s eyes. Flawless and about half the size of her fist, the stone threw out starbursts of light. Sitting on his bunk, Henry examined the pendant, stunned and stricken that she’d given it to him and that he’d never see her again.
A hail gonged inside his cabin, announcing Helena wished to see him.
He’d been expecting her. She’d contacted him and told him to wait for her; she’d have disembarkation instructions. He hadn’t seen her at all during the journey. She’d been busy with her official duties, and well, he’d been occupied.
The wall melted away, and she entered. “Are you decent?” she joked and then caught sight of the stone. “Is that the priestess’s pendant?”
He nodded. “She gave it to me.”
“She did?” Her eyes widened, and then a sly smile curved her lips. “Ah…”
“There is no ah.” Much as he trusted and respected Helena, and valued her friendship, he had no intention of confiding in her. He’d never been one to share intimate details of relationships, out of respect for his partners, and, in his line of business, any information shared could lead to tragedy.
