The Vampire Queen's Dragon Lord

Chapter 8

Anastasia gazed into the mesmerizing depths of the dragon lord and her heart skidded to a stop as her gaze fell upon his wounds. Flesh was torn in various places and blood stained his golden skin. His chest rose and fell as he took labored breaths, as beads of sweat ran down the side of his neck and meshed with the crimson stains.

"Are you going to offer to stitch me up again? Or should we go about the more fun approach?" He asked as a smirk plastered across his face.

"I am not allowing you to feed from me again, Derkein." Anastasia breathed, as she felt her racing heart hammer in her chest.

"Liar. You didn't seem the unwilling participant before," his knowing grin not helping her already erratic emotions.

"I...you don't know me. Do not assume to have knowledge of my desires from one minimal encounter."

"That was anything but minimal. Maybe if we had a second go at it, I could change your mind." The dragon made a move towards her, and she gasped as she lost her footing and began to fall backward.

"Are you not hungry?"

Startled, Anastasia looked up at her mother with a quizzical expression. She gazed around her to find herself yet again in the conference room. "No. I---I mean, yes." Recalling her bout of weakness in the shower, she knew she should feed. However, her stomach rolled in protest.

When another minute ticked by and Anastasia still hadn't taken the cup in her hand, the Queen huffed out a breath and placed her empty goblet on the table. "Anastasia, I know you heard us in the garden. But do not worry. Many have ascended before you, and many will make the journey after." Swiping a dainty wrist over her blooded lips, she nodded her head and pointed to the tapestry hanging from floor to ceiling against the wall. "Your ancestors have long-lived through much harder times than these and succeeded. You will, as well."

Anastasia looked up at the family tree---a sickening reminder of her evil lineage and her utter lacking to keep up with it. Stretching up farther than even her keen eyes could discern were symbols and names of those who had come before her. Women who had overcome, ascended and conquered their fears and dominated those around them.

"For centuries, each female leader has been given a one-hundred year incumbency to rule, and then the line passes on," the Queen continued. "This is the way it's been done since the dark times. The way it must be to keep this horde together, keep up strong. It will soon be your time, Anastasia. Your obligation is to not only see us all through the next hundred years, but to keep our horde intact and in the seat of power among the other vampire clans."

I don't want to rule. Anastasia nearly let the words fall from her lips. However, she did want to govern. Just not the way her mother had and especially not how Luthur expected.

"Now," the Queen held out her hand. "Have you brought my crystal back, as I asked?"

Anastasia stared at her open palm before blinking up at her mother. The words of her failure froze on her lips before she forced them out in a rush. "No, my Queen. It was lost."

"Lost?"

"Yes. But I have found something else."

Katia took her hand back and shook her head. "Let me guess, another Derkein. Luthur, what on earth and sky should we do with her? I gave her one, simple task...."

"You worry without cause, my love," Luthur said, a smile in his voice. "She will find the crystal and return it to you."

Katia offered him a lazy grin. "Only because you'll be there to guide her."

"Stop speaking about me like I'm not here," Anastasia snapped, rising up to stand. "I managed to catch the dragon lord without his help."

Her mother's eyes flashed, color flushing her usually sallow cheeks. "Yes. However, you have obviously yet to retrieve anything useful from it. I need that crystal. More importantly, you will need that crystal."

"Why? Because he says so?" Anastasia said, pointing to Luthur.

"Our ancestors ruled without fulfilling that scroll's prophecy. You ruled without it. I fail to see why I cannot do the same."

"Enough!" The Queen stood. "You ask what good the crystal is, and I ask what good is another dragon carcass stinking up my horde?"

"If I may," Luthur said, easing up from his perch. The Queen nodded and placed a hand over her heaving chest in an attempt to catch her breath. "That dragon lord may be of use to us. He is not just any winged snake from the flock."

Katia's brow furrowed. "Go on."

With a knowing smile, Luthur moved beside her. "That Derkein your daughter captured is the only son of the dead King and Queen."

"What?!" Anastasia breathed.

The Queen's face instantly paled. "He wouldn't have possibly told you this. How do you know?"

"I saw something. Something I've only seen once before." His cold eyes settled on Anastasia. Their heated focus slid to her neck, lingering there before he met her eyes again. "Would you care to tell her, or should I?"

Anastasia thought about holding her tongue. If it was true, the ramifications, the possibilities overwhelmed her. But then she realized it mattered not what she said or didn't say. Luthur would tell her mother if she didn't. She sighed. "The dragon lord has fangs, like us."

The Queen covered her mouth with her hand. "Goddess, then it is him."

Anastasia's gaze fixed on the look of horror on her mother's face. Something was wrong. Her mother, the most vicious and bloodthirsty Queen of the horde in centuries, was not scared of anything. But right now, she was terrified.

"Luthur, we must not harm him," she said, clutching his lapel tight. "We must set him free." Her mother's words came out in a whisper, but Anastasia heard them clear and true.

"Are you mad?" Luthur asked. "We couldn't have asked for a better situation to fall in our lap. Think about it, my sweet. What better wedding gift to give our people than the head of their enemy? He is the last, the missing link that ensures our triumph. They have no other son, no other heir. He is the only remaining hope, and now he is ours."

"Which is why we must set him loose," she said, her voice cracking.

"No." He nodded to the soldier, now standing next to the wall. The warrior stepped forward, filled the Queen's goblet to the rim and handed the chalice to Luthur. "You are weak. If you were strong again, you would see." Luthur settled the cup to her lips and urged her to drink. "Without this beast, the dragons would slip into nonexistence. You will go down as the most successful ruler of our time, and we will finally rule."

"You will rule." Anastasia stated, although neither of them paid her any heed.

Katia took a deep swallow of blood before glancing up at him, a question in her eyes. "I don't know....."

"That is why you have me to think for you," he said into her ear before taking the shell between his lips. Her mother's eyes fluttered, and a smile curved on her lips as she took another drink.

Anastasia didn't know what was going on. All she knew was if she didn't act fast, that dragon lord's fate was as good as sealed and, for some reason, her mother did not want it so.

"May I have a word, mother?" She stared at Luthur. "In private."

His coal eyes steadied on hers. For a moment Anastasia thought he might refuse. However, he disengaged himself from her mother's side. "Go ahead with your girl talk, my dear. I have a prisoner to interrogate."

Anastasia's heart thumped as she watched him walk away. "Why?" she called after him. "If he knew anything about the crystal, we would have uncovered it last night. I say he is telling the truth, and we do as the Queen says. Let him go. Demonstrate our goodwill to the dragons. Use the beginning of this new era to show them we are willing to change."

He stopped, his back visibly tensing. A heartbeat later, he'd crossed the room in a plume of smoke and mist to stand before her. Cold fingers wrapped around the bare flesh of her arm, pulling her into him. "I grow so weary of your insolence, little Anastasia," he spat, twisting his hand until her skin beneath it burned. Grimacing, she pulled free of his hold. "I'm happy to disappoint you."

Again he made a move for her. But he stopped short, as if he finally remembered he stood in the presence of the Queen. With a shift of his shoulders, Luthur straightened and turned his focus on Katia. "That dragon knows the location of the crystal and will confess it in good time. He is too strong and willful for us to have broken him in one night." He looked back at Anastasia. "And as for releasing him, that is something I will not do until I am confident he speaks the truth. Or he is dead."

Anastasia watched him turn on his heel and again make for the door. "I will not let you destroy my entire reign before I even get there," she cried. "Do you hear me?"

When Luthur didn't reply, a wave of helpless annoyance rode through her. "You cannot deny my orders! I am the ruler here!"

Finally, he stopped and looked over his shoulder, his lips twisting. "Not yet, you're not."

Anastasia watched in stunned disbelief as he left the room. The moment he was gone, she rushed back to her mother. "Are you honestly going to let him get away with this? He's trying to start another war."

The Queen casually took up the bottle and refilled her goblet. "We are already at war. Luthur is only trying to do what is best for our horde."

"You say the words as if you're trying to convince yourself. What is best is to let the prisoner go. You said so yourself only moments ago."

Katia lifted her head and Anastasia couldn't help but notice it lolled slightly to the side, as if it were too much effort to hold it upright. "Why this fierce stance on the dragon's life?"

"Me? What about you? A minute ago you were begging Luth-----"

"How many others like him have you killed for the good of the horde?"

Her question hit Anastasia like a bucket of icewater. "Too many."

The Queen stood. "Perhaps you should be thinking, not enough." Chalice in hand, Katia lifted her skirt and turned toward the bedchamber door. "I'll see to it that Marguerite comes to get you fitted for your ascension gown."

"So that's it? Are you going to lie down and let him make all the decisions for you?" Anastasia exhaled. "Goddess, he has you totally delusional, doesn't he?"

The Queen spun around, her black eyes flashing. "I will not have you address me so. This is my horde to rule until you ascend, and by the Goddess, I will do what I see fit."

"I wish you would rule. But you have only two days left. And you better hope and pray the dragon lasts that long." She sucked in a breath, hoping to drag some courage into her lungs along with air.

"If not, when I become Queen, you and your lover will have to answer to me."