Daughter Of The Dragon Princess(36)

She could hear the finality in his voice. "I'm sorry. I know how much  you wanted to go home." Then she reached up and kissed him. "But we're  alive and together."

He pulled her against him, held her tight, then released her. "My life is forfeit."

"I don't understand. What are you saying?"

"I broke a sacred law. My life is forfeit. I can't stay with you. That's my one regret."

Lily gritted her teeth. After all that had happened, this was  unbelievable. Something stirred deep inside her. She recognized it as  rage and fought it down. She had to think this through. There had to be a  way out. "So what happens now?" she asked. "We just sit around here and  wait for you to spontaneously combust or something?"

"I don't know. I've never broken a sacred law before."

Lily pulled away and scrambled to her feet. "I need clothes," she said.  "I can't wait around for impending doom, naked. It just doesn't feel  right." It also didn't feel real. The relief from fear, followed by  Mal's revelation-she just couldn't take it in. She searched the circle,  her gaze flicking over the huge bulk of the dead dragon. Then to the man  who lay dead where Mal had killed him. The other guard had disappeared.  She walked over, and crouched down, but the clothes were unsalvageable,  the shirt ripped by dragon talons and saturated with blood. She  grimaced and turned away, walked back towards the altar and picked up  the blanket, wrapping it around herself.

"Come and sit with me while we wait for whatever is to come," Mal said.

"We can't just wait. We have to get out of here. Find somewhere to hide."

Mal smiled ruefully. "It's impossible to hide from the Goddess. I accepted this when I made the decision to change."

She sat beside him, laid her head across Mal's chest, breathing in his  hot musky scent. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she wiped them away  with the heel of her hand. "For the first time in my life, I feel like I  belong, and you're telling me it's over, and I've just got to accept it  because some freaking ‘Goddess' says that's the way things are."

"There has to be laws, or the world would descend into chaos."

"I'd prefer chaos with you than anything else alone."

He reached for her then, cupped her face in his large hands, and kissed  her. Lily closed her eyes and just allowed herself to feel, to forget.  She parted her lips and the scalding heat of his tongue thrust into her  mouth. His hands slipped beneath the blanket and stroked her bare skin,  over the soft swell of her breasts so her nipples tightened under his  palms. She groaned, and his hands slid down the smooth curve of her  waist to slip behind and cup her bottom, pulling her against him. Lily  melted, then a slow fire flickered to life low down in her body. She  thrust against Mal, her hands twining in his long silky hair, loving the  heat.

She became still in his arms as she realized the heat was not all  internal. Behind them the archway was glowing once more. She tugged on  his hair. "Look."

As they turned, the glow erupted into a mass of white flames. Lily  caught a brief glimpse of a silver dragon silhouetted against the light,  then a woman stepped through the portal. Small, dressed in a long white  gown embroidered with silver thread and with silver hair that cascaded  around her shoulders.         

     



 

Mal rose to his feet before going down on one knee before her. "My lady,  Tannith, I accept the consequences of my actions and await your  wishes."

This had to be the Goddess.

Mal glanced back at her. "Lily, you must kneel before the Goddess."

Lily frowned then got to her feet. "I'm not kneeling to anyone if there's a chance she's going to kill you."

"Lily."

"No," Lily said. She examined the woman through narrowed eyes. "This is  all her fault. She's the one who gave me all the good advice. ‘Wait,'  she said. ‘All will be well.' she said." Lily stalked toward her and  stared down, she was almost a foot taller than the other woman. She  hugged the blanket around her. She might be at a distinct disadvantage  in the clothes stakes, but she won on the size angle. "So I waited and  did she materialize and help us? No, she let things come to this. It's  her fault. And I'm not going to stand around and let her demand your  death when she could have prevented this from happening."

Tannith peered up, lips pursed. Was that annoyance flickering across her  beautiful features? Then resignation, and finally, she smiled. Ignoring  Lily, she stepped over to Mal, reached out a hand, and stroked his  face.

Lily bristled. "Get your hands off him."

Mal flashed her a look of warning, but Lily didn't want to be warned.

Tannith laughed. "She's fierce, your Princess, is she not, Malachite?"

Mal nodded with resignation.

"She would fight to protect you, I think."

"Too right," Lily said, "And I'm bigger than you."

Mal winced but Tannith laughed again. She turned towards the bulk of the  dead dragon and held out a hand. Silver flames shot forward and the  body erupted into a ball of fire. Lily swallowed. "Okay, maybe I won't  win, but I'll still fight."

Tannith turned towards her and stretched out her hand. Mal gasped, and  she knew she was going to die. Tannith muttered a few words, but no  flames appeared and Lily glanced down. Her blanket was gone in its place  was a golden gown. It skimmed her body and reached the ground, a slit  up the right side exposing her leg to the thigh, and narrow straps  revealed the mark. Lily smoothed her hands over the silk. "Wow," she  said. "Now that is magic worth doing."

"Maybe I'll teach you. If you don't anger me too much. Now stand,  Malachite. I don't desire your death just yet, your Princess can relax."

Malachite rose to his feet, then came to stand beside Lily and she slipped her hand into his.

Tannith looked uncomfortable. She strolled around for a minute then turned back to them and stiffened her shoulders.

"It is not in our nature to explain ourselves. It's also not in our  nature to admit we're wrong. I'm going to do both. But I warn you, make  the most of this as it won't be repeated." She sighed. "Long ago, I made  the dragons in my image and they were beautiful. I wanted them to  myself and I had no wish to share their devotion so they were all male.  When they saw what men had, and prayed to me for mates of their own, I  gave them the Dragon Princesses, daughters of my blood. Still I was  jealous, and still, I didn't want to share, so the Dragon Princesses  were never true dragons and they were never worthy mates. The dragons  never honored them as they should; they saw them as something less, and  in the end that led to tragedy. I should have stepped in but … " She  frowned and shrugged. "I should have stepped in, but I was busy at the  time." She glared at them defensively. "We do have other worlds to  monitor, you know. Anyway, I didn't realize how far things had gone  until only Cara remained. Her desperate prayers brought me back. I took a  good look at the dragons and saw what they had become. So, I was  wrong." She gave a huge sigh. "That was difficult," she murmured. "I  should have realized that it's dragon nature to take advantage of  anything weaker than themselves. They required a lesson, perhaps even to  learn some humanity. They also needed mates worthy of them. So I went  to Cara and we planned how that could come about."

"You sent her to Draegar?" Mal asked.

"I know you think I was wrong to send her to the sorcerer, but  apparently he was a darling compared to Vortigen. And she needed someone  with backbone, strength and maybe a little ruthlessness."

"There was me."

Tannith shook her head in exasperation. "Oh, Cara wanted to come to you  for help, but I forbade her. Cara's time was over and I had other  long-term plans for you." She looked at Mal and Lily standing together.  "Do you think the two of you came together by chance? In exchange for  her cooperation I promised Cara that her daughter would have a better  life."         

     



 

"Well, you've done a really good job of that so far," Lily said.

Tannith ignored the comment. "I made sure she gave new blood to the  Dragon Princesses, I transported Lily safely through time, and I ensured  that many of the dragons were stuck with humanity for a few thousand  years. Objectives achieved."

A wave of hatred rose up in Lily as she stared at the Goddess. She  thought about the bargain her mother had made, what Cara had done to  ensure her daughter's safety. Her mother hadn't abandoned her after all.  She had loved her enough to give up everything so that Lily might have a  chance. "Did she have to die?"

"What?"

"My mother? Couldn't you have saved her?"

Tannith frowned. "I told you her time was over. She had served her purpose. Do not presume to understand the ways of the gods."