The place where Gavin had been living for the last year was pretty remarkable to Nya. Carved out of the top of a mountain, the village looked normal to Nya, except for a few key points. First of all, there was absolutely no vegetation whatsoever. No grass, no plants, no bushes grew anywhere within the village. Nya wondered if any of the people here ever ate any vegetables. For that matter, she wondered what they ate at all.
The entire town was lit by a soft red glow that emanated from a ring of glowing embers around the top of the hollowed out area in the mountaintop. As Slate led Nya and Gavin toward what he referred to as his home, she couldn’t help but look up in awe at the entire scene around her. The houses were all built of rock, which made sense considering their location, but other than that, they resembled the villages she’d seen in her own kingdom. Even the building they were clearly
Nya’s eyes flashed from Slate’s face to Gavin’s and then back again as she tried to process what the dragon shifter had just told her. “I’m… what?” she asked, her mind not quite wrapping around what he’d said. “The donation?”“Yes, of course,” Slate said, as if he had just told her she was a girl or a princess or a human and not that he was planning on keeping her in his mountaintop fortress for the foreseeable future. “You are the donation, Princess. You took the place of the angry prisoner left for me at the rocks.” He shrugged, far too nonchalant for the discussion they were having. “Now, you must take his place.”Nya’s eyes were wide as she gazed around the room. Her focus landed on Gavin who was smiling widely, as if t
The silence between them was deafening, but Nya didn’t want to be the first to speak. She wanted Slate to say something first, to tell her that she was right to be upset, that she was right to feel tricked into coming there, not realizing that he intended to keep her in his mountain kingdom until he was able to get the Heart of Magic back from the king who had stolen it from him. But Slate wasn’t talking either, so the two of them sat there, awkwardly, not looking at one another, until Nya could hardly stand it anymore.She turned her head and looked at him, studying him for a moment. He was probably the most attractive man she’d ever laid eyes on, but she couldn’t let that affect her. After all, he wasn’t really a man, was he? He was a shifter. Part dragon, part man, all deceitful. How could someone who could conceal such a huge beast within himself not be deceptive in one wa
A bowl of steaming stew sat before Nya, a goblet of some sort of wine within reach. The dining room was crude, lit by a candelabra in the middle of the ruggedly hewn table. She poked around in the bowl with her spoon for a few seconds, contemplating whether or not she should eat it. Slate was sitting at the far end of the table, a good ten yards away from her, already nearly finished with his own portion, which had to be twice what she’d been served. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that it had been a while since she’d eaten a meal, but since she had no idea what kind of meat this was, where it had come from, or where the vegetables that floated around as she stirred the brown broth might’ve come from, she was leery of putting any of it into her mouth.“It’s beef,” he assured her. “The vegetables come from the farm fields of our old territory. There are humans th
The warm water soaked into her aching muscles as Nya sank deeper and deeper into the heat of the tub. The servants had graciously filled the basin with steaming hot water that smelled of lilacs and rose petals, and when Nya had climbed in, she’d sank up to her chin. It was delightful to be so completely consumed by the warmth of the floral scented water. Not only did her muscles feel soothed, she felt her mind clearing as well.She hadn’t been completely honest with Slate about what she’d seen. But then… this newfound ability of hers, to see the future. It wasn’t necessarily one hundred percent accurate. After all, she’d just realized she had it a few months ago. Even then, she wasn’t sure she was actually seeing the future. The only times it had really served her had been when she’d been fighting those idiots in the military barracks and when she’d ta
Breakfast was hardier than what Nya was used to eating. Rather than just some buttered bread and fruit, the table was spread with meat and thick rolls, as well as the normal fruit and cereals made of grain.She got her fill of bacon and rolls, as well as a few strawberries and grapes, and washed it down with some of the sweetest, coolest water she’d ever tasted, which Slate had told her had come directly from the ice caps on the mountainside. It was refreshing and woke her up more than even the sweetness of the berries or the savory flavor of the bacon.Once she was finished, she wiped her hands on the cloth napkin supplied by the servants and waited for her host to finish. He took his time, putting away more calories than even the top four of her father’s warriors combined might do at any given meal. She watched in awe, not sure where all of
“Gator, this is Nya,” Slate, the dragon king, said as Nya followed him over to where the others were training. The fellow in question, a ginormous man, only an inch or so shorter than Slate himself, with massive, bulging muscles, was dressed all in black, a similar outfit to the one Slate always wore, except there were no red accents.Gator eyed Nya for a moment, his eyes traveling from her head to her toes and then back again. He nodded, his dark, shoulder-length hair swaying slightly with the movement of his head. “Nya?” he questioned.“Yes. That’s me,” she said, taking a deep breath and brushing her own hair over her shoulder. She was dressed in the same outfit she’d worn when she arrived but it had been cleaned. She knew she could move in it well since it was what she’d worn to ambush Slate. Still, fight
“Well, that was not at all what I was expecting,” Slate said, standing inside of one of the buildings near the training field. He had his arms folded across his massive chest, and Nya stood a few feet away from him, trying to figure out what this building was used for while still paying attention to what the dragon king had to say.From the looks of it, they were in some sort of a lounge. There were a lot of seats in this large room, a bookshelf with a few hundred titles, and a large container sitting on a counter with a bunch of glasses next to it. She wondered if this is where the people came to take a break from their training, but she wasn’t in a position to ask at the moment.Returning her attention to Slate, she asked, “What were you expecting?”“I don’t know,” h
The library had a large map spread on a table over by the window where there was more light, even though the red glow from outside didn’t help illuminate the parchment drawing much. Slate lit several lanterns, including a low chandelier hanging from the ceiling. He would have to be careful not to hit his head on it as he leaned over the table, he was so tall, and it was so low over the map spread out for them to look at, but then, Nya had the feeling he had maneuvered in this position many times before. At her height, there was no risk of her hitting her head or catching her hair on fire from the multiple candles, the melted sides showing they’d been used for many years.Slate hovered above the map, looking down at it for several minutes while Nya’s eyes oscillated between the map and the man staring at it. It was clear to her that the map showed all of the surrounding kingdoms from the m