Chapter 97 Ultimate powers
He stopped just inches from her, his chest heaving as he fought to pull his dragon fire back under control. This was the second time she had pulled away from him, leaving him feeling both powerful and completely rejected.
He stared at her for a few silent, heavy seconds. His golden eyes were dark, searching her face for a reason, before he finally turned his back on her.
"I can explain," Esperanza started, her voice shaking as she tried to stand. She wanted to tell him about her mother, about the psychic tether, and about the power she was afraid to lose.
"Stop." Ezra’s voice was a sharp, royal command that froze her in place on the kline. "Don't move from where you are sitting."
He didn't look back at her as he began to walk away, his boots echoing loudly against the floor. "I do not want any explanation," he said, his voice cold and bitter. "I know why you stopped. You think you are betraying Orion by being with me."
Esperanza watched his retreating back, her heart sinking. She knew that, in the past, that might have been the truth. The guilt of her connection to the prisoner had always lived in the back of her mind. But this time, as she sat there shivering in the cold,
Orion’s name hadn't even crossed her mind. She had stopped for herself for her own soul but Ezra was too blinded by his own jealousy to see it.
To him, every move she made was now a sign that she chose the "demon" over the King.
Esperanza knew the truth: her mother’s words were the only way she could reach the full regime of her ultimate powers. If she gave herself to Ezra now, her psychic strength would vanish forever.
"Ezra, you are wrong! That’s not what this is!" she cried out, trying to hide the fear in her voice.
Ezra didn't turn around. He stood with his back to her, his neck veins bulging and pumped with rage. He looked like a volcano about to erupt.
"Listen to me!" Esperanza scrambled off the bench and grabbed his muscular arm. The moment her fingers brushed his skin, the violent heat of his anger seemed to flow away, calmed by her touch.
Ezra stopped. He turned slowly, his face tight. "Then what was that?" he demanded. He looked down at her, and his heart sank when he saw her teary eyes shimmering in the torchlight.
"It’s because of my mother," she whispered, her voice breaking. "She told me I must not do that... that I would lose everything if I did."
Ezra let out a bitter, mocking smirk. He didn't believe her. To him, it sounded like a convenient excuse to keep him at a distance.
"Stop lying," he snapped, his voice dropping to a dangerous low. "Every time I get close to you, you do the same thing. You push me away, and I know why. It’s because of that infidel behind the door. You’re saving yourself for him."
He jerked his arm, trying to pull away from her grip, his face hardening back into the mask of a cold, jealous King.
The air in the hallway was vibrating with Ezra’s fury. Esperanza could feel the deadliest emotions pooling out of him jealousy, rejection, and a raw, scorching rage that threatened to burn everything down.
To stop the storm, she didn't pull away this time. Instead, she grabbed his hand—the same hand he was trying to jerk away—and pressed it firmly against her chest, right over her thudding heart.
"Believe me, Ezra," she pleaded, her voice trembling but steady. "This is about my mother. She warned me... she told me that if I lose my purity before reaching my ultimate powers, I will never truly claim them. I would be giving up the only weapon I have to save our world."
She held his hand there, letting him feel the frantic, honest rhythm of her heart against his palm. She wasn't hiding behind a lie anymore; she was showing him her greatest fear.
"I’m not saving myself for Orion,'" she whispered, looking deep into his golden eyes. "I’m saving my soul so I can be strong enough to stand beside you. If I give in now, I’ll just be a girl. But if I wait, I’ll be the Queen you need."
Slowly, the tension in Ezra’s arm began to melt.
The "Dragon King" started to understand. He looked at her teary eyes and realized that her resistance wasn't a sign of betrayal, but a sign of her immense sacrifice. He wasn't competing with Orion; he was competing with a destiny she hadn't fully mastered yet.
The silence that followed was heavy, but the rage was gone, replaced by a painful, quiet realization.
"That is the reason for before, and now again," Esperanza whispered, her voice finally steady. "I am telling the truth. I am not choosing him over you; I am choosing the power we need to survive."
She looked into his eyes, searching for any lingering doubt. Ezra watched her for a long moment, the fire in his gaze cooling into a soft, golden glow. Finally, he gave a slow, solemn nod. The wall of ice between them cracked.
Esperanza didn't hesitate. She moved closer and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a deep, grounding hug.
Ezra buried his face in her shoulder, his heavy breathing finally slowing down as he held her back, his large hands resting gently on her waist.
"You can hear your mother?" he asked, his voice muffled against her skin. It was a question filled with wonder the idea that even from the beyond, her lineage was guiding her.
Esperanza nodded against his chest. "Her voice is like a silver thread in my mind. It pulls me back when I’m about to lose myself. It’s the only way I can reach the full regime."
"I haven't seen her," Esperanza admitted, her voice soft and haunting. "But she can talk to me. Whenever I am not fully awake in that space between dreams and reality that is when she speaks. That is why she is talking to me now."
Ezra’s grip on her tightened slightly, but his touch was no longer demanding; it was tender. A look of deep, raw emotion crossed his face, softening his royal features.
"You have a connection with her," he whispered, his voice thick.
To a King who had lost so much to war and duty, the idea of a mother’s voice still guiding her daughter felt like a miracle. He looked at her with a newfound reverence, seeing the heavy burden she carried on her young shoulders.
"Stop this..." Esperanza murmured, her breath hitching. She could feel the deadly emotions from before shifting into something even more overwhelming: his sudden, intense vulnerability.
she was getting inclined drawn into the whirlpool of his feelings. The sadness, the longing for his own lost family, and the deep love he felt for her were flooding into her mind.
It was becoming too much. If she stayed wrapped in his emotions for too long, she would lose her focus again.
She gently pulled back, looking into his shimmering eyes. The Dragon King was no longer a storm of rage; he was a man who finally understood that they were both fighting for their souls.