Chapter 6

Aurelian's POV

The emissary I sent to retrieve that woman returned with his report. I crushed the crystal communication orb in my fist. The shards were nothing to me.

A month earlier, the court mage had performed a rites before me. He claimed to read omens in rippling water. Through his scrying, he glimpsed the truth: my bloodline had been tainted by a mortal child, nearly two years old. For those of the Dragon King's bloodline, pregnancy lasts less than a month—meaning the child's mother must have conceived less than a month before giving birth. This pointed to only one possibility: the woman I had encountered two years ago.

I strode through the corridors, servants flattening themselves against walls to avoid my path. Two guards failed to stand at attention quickly enough. I'd deal with their incompetence later.

The selection hall reeked of fear and cheap perfume. Pathetic offerings. I scanned those women with disgust. Weak. Unworthy. Useless. Until—

Her scent cut through the stench of the rest. The same essence from two years ago that had made my blood burn. I inhaled deeply, letting it fill my lungs, confirming what I already knew.

She belonged to me.

I examined her with cold calculation. Slim figure. Fair skin. Golden hair. Nothing remarkable by dragon standards, yet something about her had infected my thoughts.

The woman tried to hide behind another tribute. As if she could escape my notice. As if anyone could hide from me in my own kingdom. Her futile attempt only deepened my rage.

I approached with measured steps, deliberately looking at her companion instead. "This one is acceptable," I told Adrian, my words clipped and final.

I turned to Elenna then, staring at her with the intensity of a predator assessing prey. She would learn obedience soon enough. All humans did, or they died.

Once her companion was taken away, I savored the terror in her eyes—a look I never tire of.

She would be the last. Let her suffocate on dread—she should know the price of hiding the dragon king's bloodline. The fear before death was always the cruelest punishment.

Afterwards, I moved through the other groups, picking out a few women barely worth a glance. Then I went to the next room, where Adrian could report on the tribute to me. A disturbance from the storage room interrupted us—a female's cry of defiance.

Her voice. Not the soft sounds she'd made beneath me that night, but sharp with resistance.

I tore the spear from a guard at the door and strode straight into the room. Without hesitation, I hurled the weapon—its tip finding his chest and ending his worthless life.

Blood evaporated on contact. I watched him crumple, and feel every moment of his death. Defilers of my property deserve nothing less.

I fixed my gaze on Elenna, watching her eyes widen in terror.

"You," I snarled. "You have stained my bloodline—and nearly let a mere guard defile what is mine."

She backed away, her spine hitting the wall. "What bloodline?" Her voice trembled. Good.

I stood motionless, letting her squirm under my gaze. Let her feel the weight of her treason. Adrian entered, offering a scroll with a deep bow. No words—he knew better than to speak when my temper slipped.

"Elenna Valencia." I read the parchment. "WindBreath Tribe. First daughter of Gorand and Shalia. Sister to Kyra." My eyes lifted from the page, fixing on her with predatory focus. "Not a virgin."

The words hung in the air between us, heavy with accusation. "Where is my child, Miss Valencia? The one born of my blood after that night two years ago."

Her eyes widened in shock. Just as she was about to cry out, she clapped a hand over her mouth.

Now she remembered me. On that bed in the tavern, I had parted her legs and taken her.

For a long moment, she seemed unable to process what I'd said. Only after several heartbeats did she manage to speak, her voice trembling, her disbelief plain on her face.

"No... I-I didn't have any child."

Such a poor act.

"Lying to your king is treason," I said, voice deceptively soft. "Treason is punishable by dragonfire."

Her protests continued—no pregnancy, no child. Her eyes darted like trapped prey, searching for escape where none existed.

"The isolation chamber," I commanded Adrian without looking at him. "Now."

He moved instantly, gripping her arm. No hesitation. Perfect obedience. As it should be.

I returned to my chamber, knocking aside a servant who didn't clear my path quickly enough. The fool would spend a week in the healing pools for such carelessness.

That night two years ago remained in my memory. Unlike the forgettable females who'd warmed my bed over centuries, this one had left a mark.

I had entered that filthy tavern in disguise, attending a secret council to discuss rumors of traitors within the clans. I had no interest in attracting attention. She had stumbled toward me, clearly drugged, but beneath the potion's taint lay a scent that had awakened something primal in my blood. Something I had not felt in centuries.

I had taken her roughly, marking her as mine. Dragons take what they want. But she was just a fragile human. To keep her would have endangered my purpose. So I had left her behind, just as I would cast aside any broken thing that no longer serves me.

Only now did I see it: she had come for my bloodline. Fury simmered beneath my calm exterior. She would soon pay for her deception.

I approached her chamber, the guards stationed outside dropping to their knees without being told. The door recognized my blood, magic pulsing in response. I didn't wait for it to fully open before forcing my way inside.

She stood in the center of the room, her pathetic frame trembling at my entrance. Satisfying, though not enough. I could hardly wait to make her pay the price.

"Now you have the time to consider." I activated the seals, trapping us inside. No escape. No interruptions.

"Two years ago, you approached me in that tavern, reeking of a scent that triggered my rut." I rarely explained myself to anyone, but she would understand exactly why her deception warranted death. "Then you bore my child and kept him hidden."

Shock, fear, shame, and something else flickered across her face.

"Yes," she whispered, barely audible even to my enhanced hearing. "We were together one night. But there was never a child. I was drugged—"

"Enough games," I said sharply. I closed the distance between us in two strides.

I seized her wrists in one hand, slamming them against the wall above her head. The stone cracked from the force.

My heightened senses caught her involuntary physical response. Despite her terror, her body remembered mine.

"WHERE IS MY DRAGONBORN?" The room shook with the force of my roar, furniture vibrating against the floor. "You think dragon blood is a tool for your own gain?"