Chapter 174 Before II

Chapter 174 Before II
Third Person POV

Then he met Nymeria.

The first time Drakthar saw her, she was standing in the middle of the palace courtyard with another fae woman who looked increasingly close to losing her patience. Drakthar had been passing through the eastern corridor when the woman’s raised voice caught his attention. 

He was using his half trace body to shuffle inside the palace and if there is a place big enough for him, he can show his entire body and settle. Now they cannot see him except he wants them to and he is in human form. 

He slowed near one of the stone arches and leaned against it, more curious than concerned. The argument itself was nothing unusual. The courts were full of them. 

People argued over territory, marriages, alliances, titles, money and things so insignificant that Drakthar often wondered why anyone bothered remembering them. What caught his attention was Nymeria. 

She wasn’t angry. She stood there in a pale green dress with her hands loosely clasped in front of her, listening while the other woman spoke quickly and waved one hand in frustration. Nymeria’s expression remained calm, almost pleasant. 

Every now and then she nodded as though she were genuinely interested in what was being said. Drakthar had seen enough political disputes to know that this kind of calm could mean either remarkable patience or something much more dangerous.

He stayed where he was. Eventually the other woman stopped speaking. Nymeria smiled.

“I understand why you’re upset,” she said softly, her voice carrying across the quiet courtyard. “If I believed you had been deliberately insulted, I would probably be angry too. But you weren’t. You were simply excluded from a decision that was never yours to make.”

The woman’s mouth tightened. Nymeria continued before she could respond, her tone still gentle.

“And if you want to be angry with someone, choose the person who actually made the decision. Coming here and insulting me won’t change what happened. It will only make you look foolish in front of everyone watching.”

The woman went completely still. Drakthar’s mouth twitched. There it was.

Nymeria hadn’t raised her voice once, yet the other woman looked as though she had been slapped. She muttered something beneath her breath, turned sharply and walked away.

Princess Nymeria watched her disappear beneath the archway before finally turning around. Her eyes found Drakthar immediately, he has dropped his weight unknowingly. 

He straightened slightly. She hadn’t looked surprised to find him there. Instead, she smiled. Then she walked toward him.

“You’re Drakthar.”

He studied her as she approached, taking in the complete absence of hesitation in her steps. Most people became nervous when they came close to him. Even those who knew they were safe tended to remember exactly what he was when they stood within reach of him.

“You know who I am,” he said, his voice carrying the low roughness that remained even when he was not in his dragon form.

“Everyone knows who you are.” She stopped a comfortable distance away and tilted her head, studying him with open curiosity. “You’re difficult to miss.”

“Most people find that intimidating.”

“They do.”

There was something almost amused in her eyes.

Drakthar raised an eyebrow. “And you?”

Her smile deepened. “Should I be intimidated?”

He looked at her for a moment before the corner of his mouth lifted. “No.”

“Then I won’t.”

It was such a simple answer that he almost laughed. Instead, he folded his arms across his chest and regarded her more carefully. There was no trembling in her hands. No nervous glance toward the guards. No careful attempt to flatter him.

She was simply looking at him. Not at the dragon everyone had heard stories about. At him.

“You’re not afraid of me?” Be asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Nymeria’s expression softened. “I didn’t say that.”

His eyebrow rose higher. She gave a small laugh. “Drakthar, I’m not stupid. I know what you are capable of. I’ve heard the stories. I’ve seen what happens when someone is foolish enough to provoke you.”

“And yet you’re standing here.”

“I’m still standing here.”

That earned a quiet laugh from him.She smiled at the sound. Then her attention shifted toward the courtyard behind him. Something in her face changed. The curiosity became genuine interest.

“You came from another plane, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“Which one?”

“Several.”

Her eyes brightened. “Several?”

He nodded. “Where have you been?”

That was the first question that truly caught him. Most people asked what he had done. Nymeria wanted to know where he had been.

He told her. He spoke about a human city built around a lake that froze every winter. He told her about the Demonarchy and the strange markets hidden beneath its capital. 

He described mountains that reached so high even dragons struggled to fly over them and forests where the trees moved when nobody was watching. Nymeria listened.

She didn’t interrupt much. When she did, it was to ask another question. “What do human cities look like from above?”

“Small.”

“That’s all?”

“Very small.”

She laughed. “That’s disappointing.”

“You asked.”

“I expected something more poetic.”

“I am a dragon, not a poet.”

“That’s a shame. You have seen more of the world than almost anyone alive.”

“I suppose that makes me qualified.”

“For what?”

“To be a poet.”

She laughed again and Drakthar found himself smiling despite himself. She asked whether he had ever flown over the ocean. He told her he had. Whether storms frightened him. They did not.

Whether he had ever flown so high that he could see several kingdoms at once. He had.

Whether he ever got tired of traveling. Sometimes.

She was quiet for a moment after that. Then she asked the question that stayed with him.

“What does it feel like?”

Drakthar’s expression changed. “What does what feel like?”

“To fly.”

He stared at her. The courtyard suddenly seemed quieter. Nobody had ever asked him that.

They asked how fast he could fly. How high he could go. How far his wings could carry him. They wanted to know what it took to fight him and whether his scales could be pierced by certain weapons.

They rarely cared about the experience of it. Nymeria waited patiently for his answer. Drakthar looked past her toward the open sky.

“It feels like being free,” he said eventually.

Her eyes softened. He continued before he could decide not to.

“When I fly high enough, everything below disappears. Kingdoms become patches of color. Mountains become shadows. You can’t hear voices anymore. You can’t hear weapons or bells or people arguing over things they think are important.” His mouth curved faintly. “There’s nothing but the wind.”

Nymeria looked up at the sky. “I’d like to see that.”

“You can’t fly.”

“I know.”

“I could carry you.”

She turned back toward him so quickly that he almost smiled at the surprise on her face. “You would?”

Drakthar shrugged though the warmth growing in his chest made the gesture feel strangely weird. “I think I’d like to show you.”

Her smile appeared slowly. It was not the polite smile she had worn during the argument. This one was real.