Book 2: Hidden Gold

Azula

The Church bells rang Fifth Hour, and we were almost home. I asked could we take the long way… because the King was asleep, snoring with his mouth open in the carriage. I let him sleep on my lap and I petted his shoulder length hair. It currently wasn’t in a bun or ponytail, just loose…. I’d never seen him like this… so innocent looking…. I think it was more that He wanted to go home, but I was fine with that… being around nobles and pretending to be at their level was exhausting….

They made me feel…. Unintelligent…. lower… but besides the one nasty comment… everything else was just passive. Even as I held the love of the strongest man in the realm… with all his might he was well versed in the ins and outs of this world… He fit well with nobles, being below no other man… I’d seen him switch between elvish, draconic, witch, and common in the same sentence, so each noble felt comfortable….

“My lady, we’re almost at the castle.” Said Maizen’s father, Miyazok … honestly, he was just up there so it didn’t look strange…. To keep appearances. The unicorn Maizen trotted, though his father was the ‘carriage driver’. Unicorns were a kind of people after all. They were one of the rare, few people who could change forms. They were often hired by royalty if they didn’t live in their own villages, keeping to themselves.

“…. Go slowly.” I said softly. I didn’t want to wake my husband…

He growled softly, though I’d been around him enough to know it was a language. It was rare that he growled anyway…

The sun set, and I could see the torches come on as the night guards were the ones who lit them… I never thought about how much order the dragons brought when they were protectors… not evil greedy monsters…

When the carnage stopped, Drozakrahth yawned. “That was nice…. I want to continue this.” He said getting up fully now. He got out the carriage, and carried me to the King’s quarters. He walked slower than usual, but his hold was the same…. He didn’t walk a straight line though…

“Husband are you alright?” I asked.

“I’m just really drunk.” He chuckled. “Me and Nox threw back an entire barrel of drake’s breath, And about 4 or 5 glasses of elvish wine each…I forgot about the Delay in elvish drinks…. Draconic ones knock you off your ass immediately.”

He opened our room with his foot. He kissed me on the forehead, smelling of smoke and alcohol… once he got to the bed, he passed out. He snored happily, covering himself with the thick sheets.

“Goodnight” I made up my mind that I was going to start calling him this…” Goodnight …Drozo.” I said casually…. He was asleep… but even still it felt a little bit like I was breaking some unwritten rule, even though I know if he heard, he’d be elated.

I wasn’t so afraid anymore… I wasn’t a Slave anymore… I was his wife… it was time I show it… I didn’t have to do something grand or be vulgar either…

Even if I wasn’t a queen, I know it likely pains him… or at least annoys him. I am the only woman besides his family he’s likely given this permission…

My stomach growled… I’d have to go to the kitchens. That was fine. I never changed out of my party dress, but I made my way down the hall. I made sure to walk with my head at least level, not looking at the ground.… The dragon guards were always intimidating… but they bowed their heads to me… I saw some of them with red hair now too that I noticed.

The moment I stepped in the kitchen, the smell of roasted beef made my mouth water.

“Your highness… please wait in the dining room.” Said Marry. She already had a tray for me.

“It’s just me tonight…. The king is passed out.” I mumbled.

The kitchen was a little quiet.

“He wasn’t angry or anything right?” She asked…. Mary looked like the only one who Could muster up the courage to ask.

“No he was happy. We danced and had small elvish food… He isn’t Like the Black Dragon Clan… but he probably will be hungry… I wasn’t kidding when I said the elvish food was small.” I smiled. It put them at ease.

“We already have his majesty’s meal roasted fresh… I suppose we could put it in the cold storage. Nadya the Water Mage was employed by Lady Yulanya today.” Said Mary.

“Alright.” I said leaving.

I was glad that I was Queen… they still feared the power of the Blood King… I didn’t quite know How I felt. I wasn’t afraid of him in particular. He’s done nothing but behave as an Actual gentleman… but dragons are not gentle.

Every single female here is a victim of the cruelty of dragonkind… They thought it fun to hurt us, spit fire at us…. Eat us… right in front of the rest of us… I still remember the executions they held… I know the servants did too. But as the Queen… I could and Would protect them.

I sat where I usually do, and I enjoyed the grilled salmon. It was an imported fish from the north, and it was my first time having it. There were lemons on the plate as well, and I took it, and put it on the meat.

“How’s the fish my Lady?” Asked the purple skinned dragoness, Yulanya. She was almost as tall as the King, but that was to be expected of a dragon, related to the heir of her tribe.

“It’s nice.” I said with a smile.

“I ordered it myself… I even paid for the shipping.” She smiled back.

“Really?” I said in genuine interest.

“Yes my lady; Fish is my favorite but I don’t particularly like catfish…. It’s too rubbery.” She said cutting into hers. Hers was a whole one… not just a cut off the side like mine.

“I don’t think I have a favorite.” I said thinking about it… “But if I had to pick One thing… it would be stewed beef soup… the carrots, potatoes, and leeks really make it taste wonderful.”

“I used to get in trouble with his majesty and his brother.” She grinned. “We’d still his father’s personal black fleeced sheep, flay it, roast it, and not even the Bones were left. He would be so mad.” She giggled. “Oh, or when we flew to the borders of King Hellion, and drew…. Obscene things in the sand with sticks.”

I giggled. “…. Does his majesty like to have fun? He seems so…”

“Unapproachable?” She finished for me. “If you allow yourself to relax, you will see the man he is. He IS unapproachable to outsiders, but you are not that. Jest with him, dare say small pranks or suggestions of naughty things, and he will relent Very easily. Well, so long as it isn’t Too bad. He won’t outright break the law.” She smiled.

“He told me very briefly about your betrothment.” I said as royalty does. I didn’t mean to mention this to be spiteful, but I don’t know when I’d have an opportunity to talk to her alone again.

“Yes…. The Crimson King … he thought we would be a good fit, but High King Drozakrahth wanted a mate, not a wife.” She said casually. “His majesty looks so much happier now too….”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“He is the Blood King, the All King… the Realm Eater…The Great Maw…. Who would question a man with a title like that? Who would show affection? Besides his mother and grandmother, his majesty is too…. He is too high above to look in the eye.”

“… I don’t think I could imagine him without me…” I said honestly… Even now, I would have loved to share this meal and conversation with him….

“Yes, he has someone to love and be loved in return.” She smiled. “Of all the things I ever wanted, that was one of them. I was also Very happy it Wasn’t Me.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I am not his mate.” She said firmly. “To be fair, I didn’t want to marry the King… He is too… intense for me.” She admitted. “Nothing bad happened, it’s just that since he isn’t my mate, my instinct is to be ruled by him. Does that make any sense?”

“…No?” I said taking the last bite of the salmon, moving onto my favorite part, the fried potato slices. They were thick, but crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside.

“We dragons… hmm… how do I explain this? … Even after all these years, even growing up in the castle… the instinct of a dragon is to Kneel to him. His praises or chastisement… it feels like either the Best or Worst thing to Ever befall you. It’s not there in the front, but more like… always in the back of your mind.” She looked like she was trying to word what she wanted, and I tried to help.

“Like it isn’t something you think about?” I asked.

“Exactly… His passive glance is enough to dowse the fire out your belly if he even shows the Slightest annoyance. It doesn’t even have to be directed at you. I don’t like feeling like that… like I’m an Ant, and he a bored child with a torch… It isn’t even fear… I don’t know how to word it in Common. In Draconic, we call it [Roar]. He just… it’s Not Normal.” She admitted.

“I think I kind of get it… back when the princes had reign over the castle, even when they weren’t around, the moment they were, even if they didn’t do anything, there was a worry as to When they Would do something.” I said thinking out loud.

“It’s more like, his commands move the body without say so…. for a dragon in his presence, we’re always at attention. He does not do this on purpose, it is just the way he is. The air around him, the way he carries himself, and his scent… all those things combine, and I Hate feeling like that… But he’s a good person, and I like to think of him as a dear friend.” She smiled. “The skin we wear is an illusion after all… we are beasts.”

“I think that’s good….” I mumbled, still a little confused. “But you are no beast to me.”

I didn’t have instincts…. At least not like that. It sounded like she couldn’t relax around him, not fully… But I could… and I would. I already made up my mind that I would be more assertive…

Tomorrow I’m calling him his name with him Awake….

“I thank you for your honest kindness…. If you ever need anything… you’ve done me a solid… the Kingdom itself owes you its lifeblooded debt.”

After we ate, we did find so much missing gold, gems, and chests of silver too in the abandoned Queen’s Quarters… chests you would put clothes in… not small lockboxes like normal… It seemed the more time passed, the More Evil we found they’d done. I was glad my husband came and took the castle… They starved us for nothing…

All that money was behind a wooden door… one so old and off hinged that I bet even I could have toppled it…

I Already knew that, even when I was a surf that they cheated us, since there were taxes left to care for the orphanage... but to See it… it made my blood boil.