The Dragon Mate

Painful Truth

I couldn’t stop pacing. Fern and Knight had no idea what was wrong with Frost and so far she’d yet to wake up and wasn’t looking any better. Sebastian wasn’t looking any less worried than me as he sat with his gaze locked on the floor and his hands clasped together in front of him. I span around when I heard the door of the home open and immediately my eyes widened to a new size as I saw the fae queen standing there with her personal bodyguard at her side.

“Your majesty.” I greet with a respectful bow.

“Hello Alpha Levi, I’ve heard our dear Mana is unwell.” She said stepping into the home with her guard close at her side.

The fae queen was beautiful, she was only four foot five, her eyes mismatched with the left a sparkling blue and the right a deep emerald green, her skin a light green which was common among the fae, her hair a light pink, and her form slender with practically no curls common among women.

Her bodyguard was tall, seven foot eight tall with muscle that made me feel inadequate in comparison, hair a red so dark it looked like blood that hung just past his shoulders, eyes the color of fire, and skin a dark tan as though he lived in the sun. He wasn’t fae as far as I could tell but I could be wrong, maybe he was a kind of fae I just hadn’t seen before.

“She’s still unconscious, even her parents don’t know what’s wrong.” I reply, worry etched into my voice.

“What happened before she passed out?” The queen asked in her normally calm voice that seemed to ease the tension and worry from my body, an effect that wasn’t limited only to my own body as I noticed Sebastian relax as well.

“She fought her soulmate, the one who rejected her.” Sebastian answered. “Knocked him out, personally I think she should have just killed him.”

“She’d be dead if she had.” The male at the queen’s side said, his voice deep and seemed to have a natural growl to it.

“What?” Both Sebastian and I ask at the same time.

The queen sighed looking resigned.

“I’d very much like this to remain a secret and not leave this building. This is my mate Lord Sandalphon, he is a dragon and second prince of the dragon kingdom.”

Sandalphon gave a slight nod of greeting to them before he spoke again.

“Dragons are different than others in regards to our soulmates. If we harm them we suffer, if we killed them we die as well. Rejection or not, Mana cannot be allowed to harm her soulmate again.”

My eyes widened at this news; Frost hadn’t known she’d suffer for hurting her soulmate. This man was a dragon, just like Frost and none of us had known.

“Why didn’t you tell Frost?” I demand, suddenly very angry with the fae queen.

“Dragons as you know are not known to travel this way. They stay among their own. Sandalphon didn’t want to reveal his true identity worried that the truth would hurt Mana. She has already gone through so much in her life he did not want to add to her pain.”

“What truth?” Sebastian asked, more curious than angry.

“Mana is my younger sister.” Sandalphon answered silencing both of myself and Sebastian. “Our elder brother was the one to toss her unhatched egg down from our home, unwilling to give up his right to the throne he made certain she’d never be born. Or at least he attempted to. When I had finally tracked down my sister she was hatched and alive, but her ability to fly had been stolen away from her and she had a father she loved dearly as though he were her own flesh and blood. I knew the truth would only harm her further. She cannot come to her homeland as she is and I worried even if she could that she’d feel obligated to and leave her father.”

“Y-You’re her brother…you look nothing alike.” Sebastian whispered in shock. “Why? Why did your brother do this to her?”

“We do not look alike which is common among dragons. As for his actions…” Sandalphon sighed shaking his head sadly. “The one to inherit the throne is the strongest, it does not go by age as with the kingdoms here. Our coloring determines our strength, the rarer the coloring of our scales the stronger we are. There has only been one record of a white dragon among my people, the strongest dragon to ever live. I am a blood dragon, my coloring while rare is not as much so as my brother’s or Mana’s. My elder brother is golden dragon which is rarer than me but not as rare as the winter dragon.”

I try to process this; my Frost was a princess and due to inherit the throne of the dragons. Her brother was standing right here in front of me and her other brother had attempted to kill her all for the right to inherit the throne.

“She needs to know the truth.” Sebastian’s words snapped me out of my shock.

“Sebastian’s right, she deserves to know the truth and she’s strong enough to handle it.

Sandalphon stares at us unblinking for an uncomfortably long time before he finally gives a firm nod.

“Yes, I believe it’s time to tell her the truth. She is strong, she always has been. But she is also far to kind for her own good and I fear she will offer her forgiveness to our brother, something I can assure you with complete certainty must not happen.”

The concern in his voice sent a shiver down my spine, something terrible would happen if Frost forgave her brother. It was obvious by the look of fear that Sandalphon attempted to hide.

“What will happen if she does?”

“Then his sins will be forgiven and forgotten by the throne. Our brother is…cruel and coldhearted. He believes all other species below our kind. I have no doubt if he’s allowed to ascend the throne that he will use that position to enslave the other species. As Mana cannot fly to our kingdom on her own she will not be welcome back and therefore cannot hold any claim to the throne. Therefore our brother will become king when our father grows to old or until our brother kills him. Something he is very close to being able to do as our father grows weak with his age and heartache over the loss of his youngest daughter.”

Before I could say what was on my mind Fern entered the room and bowed upon seeing the fae queen.

“Your majesty.” He greeted.

“Hello Fern, can we have a moment alone with Mana? I believe we can aid in allowing her to recover faster.”

He eagerly ushered the two into Frost’s room while Sebastian and I were left to process this news. How had things become so complicated and dangerous like this? If not for my feelings for Frost I’d wish things would return to before I had to worry about dragon invasions or witches with pet chimeras.