Dragon Tamer

Plum came into view an hour after the sun peeked over the mountains. We managed to fly much faster now that Camden’s enormous weight didn’t slow Zellar down; not a single creature dared to interrupt our flight all night. I peered up at the dragon flying above us, worried how people would take his transformation. It was unheard of, foreign, for someone to turn into a dragon. Would people outcast him out of fear, even if he was one of the most beautiful dragons I’d ever seen? He didn’t have the same rugged exterior other dragons had, his scales were in neat, silky lines, not haggard. The leather of his wings seemed softer, not as hard and crackly as Zellar’s.

We landed in my backyard. My family rushed out to greet me, ignoring the extra dragon I’d brought back. Dad plucked me out of the saddle before I could think about dismounting and pulled me into a tight hug.

“You’re okay,” he breathed, more so telling himself than asking me if I was all right, because if he hadn’t been so relieved to see me, he would have seen all the bruises and scrapes and torn open shirt.

“Where’s Camden?” Kaden asked, peering up at the empty saddle.

Giles eyed the new dragon cautiously. “I think she found a substitute.”

Wriggling out of Dad’s arms, I gave my brother a push then turned to Casper who had the closest build to Cam. “Can you go grab a pair of pants? Don’t look at me like that, just do it.”

He stuck his tongue out at me then came back with some pants.

Following Cam’s request to stay away from him, I only took a few steps before leaving the pants on the ground some feet away from him. In a swift motion of flexing muscles and bending bones, he stood on two feet as Prince Camden Acker. Naked.

“Kali,” Dad barked, “turn around. Don’t look at the man’s junk.”

“I’m not looking.” Except I was. I tried not to, but it wasn’t my fault he was interesting to look at.

To appease my father, I turned around to face my gaping brothers. Giles was the first to react, throwing his hands in the air. “Well, that’s just the coolest shit I’ve ever seen.”

Casper furrowed his brow at the prince. “How?”

Camden shrugged, coming to my side. I shifted away from him, doing my part to keep a good distance, though he could at least make it a little easier and not stand so close. “I’ll explain it while Kali gets looked at by a healer. We ran into dragon scavengers over there. . . . She saved my life.” He offered the sort of smile that would have melted my heart if his eyes didn’t look so sad.

Why did he look so sad? What did he care for a few scratches?

“I’m fine,” I said, jerking my eyes away. “I’ll get looked at later.”

“Now works for me,” Dad rebuked, giving me a hard look.

“Amelia’s inside,” Giles added with a smile. “Come on. If you’re really fine, it won’t take long.”

Grumbling, I followed them into the house. A smile sprang on Amelia’s lips when she saw me. She took me upstairs while Camden told my brothers what happened. She blathered on about how happy she was to see me, how brave she thought I was to take Camden to the dragon lands by myself. She said that Amber had told everyone I’d completely lost it, afraid for the man I was hopelessly in love with, and I went and got him killed.

Well, she wasn’t wrong about one thing: I was hopelessly in love with the wrong man. It wasn’t fair. Why did he have to be a prince who lived on the other side of the continent? Why did he have to end up having a part of the creature I held so dearly to my heart? Couldn’t he just be a nobody villager like me? Be someone who might possibly return the feelings I had?

I hadn’t realised I’d fallen asleep while Amelia healed me until she shook me awake gently. She smiled at me, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Dinner’s ready.”

“Dinner?” Had I slept all day? The moon peering into my window suggested I had.

Groggily, I followed her downstairs. Everyone but Kaden was at the table; he was in the kitchen making the final touches on dinner. I sat between Tallinn and Casper, on the opposite end of the table from Camden; he’d cleaned up while I was sleeping, his hair shiny, a speck of silver glistening in the thick strands that hadn’t been there before.

Must be part of his transformation. It definitely made him inhumanly handsome, more mystical and exotic. His clothes barely fit him, clinging on to him with everything they had as his new bulging muscles threatened to tear them apart. The features on his face seemed sharper, somehow, though he still looked the same to me.

“How are you feeling, Kal?” Harry asked, tapping my foot under the table with a cheeky grin. Dear gods, had he caught me staring?

Embarrassed, I kept my head down while Kaden brought out the food. Couldn’t a girl check out her apprentice’s new hot body without judgment? “I’m fine. Feeling lazy for sleeping all day. Why didn’t anyone wake me?”

Dad smiled sympathetically. “We tried to, but you seemed like you really needed the rest. After what Camden told us, I’m surprised you didn’t sleep longer.”

“Do you feel rested enough to leave tomorrow?” Giles asked, munching on his potatoes.

“Tomorrow? Leave for what?”

“Camden’s going home, of course,” he said simply. “You should probably drop him off so they don’t think he ran away from you.”

“Oh.” After how the prince had acted when we left Acker Castle, it was likely they’d think he ran away as soon as he had the chance. Still, that didn’t stop the overwhelming disappointment filling my chest.

You knew this would happen. It’s time for you to say goodbye to him and get on with your life. He’ll move on and forget about you.

“Yeah, I guess we can leave tomorrow,” I responded thickly.

I didn’t have the heart to look at anyone. The scar on my hand that bound me to my oath to guide Camden was gone without a trace. My part had been fulfilled. Now it was time for the prince to leave and fulfill his end of the oath: protect the people of his kingdom.

My brothers and Camden talked about all the possibilities of the prince’s new abilities and how he was going to use them while he fought with his brothers. They all seemed excited for him to leave, explore the world with fresh eyes. All I could do was nod and agree numbly. I should be excited for him too; I was the first woman to guide a prince through the Rite of Passage and he was the first in his family to transform rather than Bond with a dragon (Camden had declared himself a “shifter;” he thought it sounded much cooler than “transformer,” which Giles had called him.) Camden was going to do great things, save many lives, and enjoy all kinds of adventures with his brothers, while I went back to training the dragonlings. It was one of the most important jobs in the village--training the future generation of dragons--but after everything I’d done with Camden it paled in comparison.

At some point I couldn’t stand the thoughts in my head and I excused myself from dinner, saying I was still tired from our trip. They let me go easily enough, their booming laughter loud enough to hear from my bedroom. I didn’t get the chance to dwell too much on anything; as soon as my head hit the pillow, I passed out.

~~~

We woke up early, just as the sun began to cast its light over Plum. I grabbed a fresh loaf of bread from Sammy’s cart, broke it in half and tossed the other piece to Camden.

He frowned, inspecting it like it was a bowl of worms instead of bread. He wore only loose pants as we walked through the town to meet Elesor in the meadow. Not a single goosebump revealed itself on his skin on this chilly morning. I remained cozy in my jacket and riding pants, appreciating that the leather skirt hanging at knee-length behind me didn’t get in my way.

Camden handed the piece of bread back to me. “It appears I have adopted a more carnivorous appetite.”

“Do you want some jerky?” I offered. The jerky stall was coming up.

After my dreamless sleep last night, I woke up in a better mood. Just as I’d decided when these feelings first started to develop, it was better for everyone if I ignored them and acted as if everything was okay.

He laughed, shaking his head at me. “I’m not a dragon all the time.”

“Yeah, but I bet your dragon wants jerky. I’ve yet met a dragon that could resist dried sheep, spiced with a hint of pepper.”

He bit his lip down. His eyes flashed gold, a sign I’d learned meant his dragon wanted out or was trying to influence him in some way.

“Jerky it is.”

We stopped by the butchers and cleaned him out of the batch of jerky he’d prepared for today--at Camden’s dragon’s insistence. It didn’t go to waste. As soon as we left the store, he started chowing down on it.

He hummed with closed eyes, a red hue filling his cheeks. “I can’t believe I’m eating dragon food.”

Snorting, I stole a chunk from him and nibbled on it. “It’s not. Chester makes the jerky for the people of Plum--only I give jerky to dragons. Even if you were, so what? You’re part dragon, Cam. Embrace that scaly skin of yours. I’d never leave the sky if I was as lucky as you are.”

Man, if I thought I was envious of the Acker line for being able to talk to their dragons and share a soul with them, it was nothing compared to the envy I felt for Camden being able to shift into a dragon. What would I give to fly in the sky beside Elesor instead of on her, to communicate with her and all of my dragons. . .

“You really don’t think any differently of me?” the prince asked almost shyly. I didn’t know why, of all people, he would care how I thought of him.

“You’re much cooler now. If I had known you were so short tempered because you had a dragon rolling around inside of you, I might have been more lenient towards you.”

“And not knee my balls.”

“Let’s not go that far. You had it coming, dragon or not.”

A smile tugged at the end of his lips, but he kept his eyes forward; they were on the healing hut.

We passed the hut but his eyes stayed on it and his grip tightened on the bag of jerky. I stopped walking, ignoring the stone in my stomach. “If you want to say goodbye to anyone in there, you can.”

He turned to me, surprised I’d noticed him looking at it; his eyes were gold and slited. It was kinda hard to ignore him practically itching to go inside. Amber and Cadence were probably inside and they’d treated him far more fairly--and had been a lot friendlier to him--than I had. I didn’t blame him for wanting to say goodbye to them. I’m sure they wanted to give him a goodbye he’d never forget.

He swallowed. “No, I’m fine.” He sounded strained. “There’s no one in there I want to see.”

“Are you sure?” I asked doubtfully. “Your dragon says otherwise.”

With a sigh that sounded a lot more like a grunt, he kept walking for the meadow. I had to readjust the saddle in my arms to hurry after his long stride; my backpack bounced against my shoulder blades as I went. “My dragon smells the females in the hut, that’s all,” he relented once I caught up to him.

Ah. He’d said his dragon made him think more primally. Females equaled passing on his genes. That was as primal as it got. Except, you know, when he looked at me, a female, his dragon clearly didn’t try to convince him to pass on his genes with me.

Thanks, dragon.

I sighed, unable to help myself. “Well, is there anyone else you want to say goodbye to?”

“No,” was all he said before tearing into a piece of jerky.

Elesor was already in the meadow waiting for us. She hopped over to me, brushing her muzzle in my chest. I stroked along her jaw, glad I could take her to Histero with me this time. She would love the ocean as much I did.

“Are you ready to go, Elli?”

She nodded enthusiastically, fluttering her wings.

“Okay, calm down, or I can’t get the saddle on.”

She laid down, body abuzz, eager to take to the skies with me once again. At least when the prince was gone, one thing would never change: my relationship with Elesor.

Camden stepped aside, striping out of his pants and handing them to me to put in his backpack. “You know, until this whole thing happened to me, I never understood why the dragons here obeyed you and protected you. I get it now. You’re one of them. They look up to you. . . . You’re their queen.” He smiled at the idea.

I couldn’t stop the flush, so I kept myself busy finishing up the buckles on the saddle so he couldn’t see it. “Oh, I don’t know about being their queen. They’re my family. I’d do anything for them.”

“That’s why they’d do anything for you. They know you’d do the same.”

He stepped back again and shifted, stretching his wings to their full expanse. Elesor jumped back, a shudder of hackles coming alive on her scales before she sniffed him and relaxed, recognising him as Camden. She peered to me then to the dark green dragon, wings flattening on her back, suddenly sad.

“I’m not riding on him. You’re the one with the saddle on, aren’t you? Don’t get jealous. No one can replace you, Elli.”

She perked up and angled around so I could swing onto her back. With all our stuff secured tightly in the saddle, Elesor spread her wings then leapt into the sky.

~~~

The flight to Histero was even better with my best friend. She dove for every river we flew over and skimmed her claws across the surface then she broke away and twirled in the air. She danced around Camden, who was still getting the hang of flying in a straight line, teasing him with her tail in his face. He playfully nipped at the end and she’d squeak, dropping low underneath him.

When we entered the beautiful city of Histero, the sun glistened brightly on the ocean. Elesor was so entranced by its beauty, she nearly forgot we had to land at the castle, flying straight for the sparkly endless blue. However, she was stopped by Camden’s uncles.

“Who goes there?” Lord Maverick demanded--hopefully this was Lord Maverick. They looked the same with their helmets on.

“It’s me again. Kali Dricino,” I added dryly when they said nothing.

“Where’s Prince Camden?” Lord Tyler asked, eyes slicing into his nephew’s dragon form, having no idea it was him.

“He’s here,” I told him, trying to be patient. You’d think after the last time Prince Eli told him off for disrespecting me he’d learn. “If you’d let us land, I can explain.”

Camden growled when Lord Maverick sneered at me. His dragon, however, jumped, and looked back at her rider. His face screwed up in confusion and narrowed his eyes on Camden.

“It seems you have a lot to explain.”

They glided down to the gravelly landing pad. Elesor landed near the edge of the cliff, claws poised to take off if the lords kept up with their attitude. I patted her neck as I slid off her back. “It’s okay, Elli.”

Nevertheless, she barred her teeth at the lords as they approached me. Ignoring them, I went into Camden’s backpack and grabbed a shirt and pants. As much as I appreciated the view, it wasn’t very princely for him to roam the castle with only pants on.

He shifted back to his human form, taking his clothes gratefully from me. His uncles staggered back, despite their dragons telling them that the green dragon they’d seen was in fact their nephew.

“What did she do to you, Cam?” Lord Tyler asked, breathless. He looked at me like I was a witch.

“Don’t give her that look, Uncle,” Cam snapped, surprisingly angry at his uncle. “She made me the strongest Dragon Prince the Acker line has yet to see, as promised by her father, and if you disrespect her one more time, I’ll have you removed from court faster than you can blink. Come on, Kali, let’s go find my more welcoming family members.” He didn’t give me a choice when he grabbed my arm and tugged me inside.

Servants rushed to greet him, forcing him to slow his pace and release me. They asked him all kinds of questions about his stay and his dragon. They laughed when he said he’d talk about his dragon later. By God, they lapped everything he said up. The adoration in both the men and women who served him was so evident, and it made him smile. He happily answered their questions, following them as they guided him to clean him up.

Just like that, I was forgotten in the hallway, left to stare after them. I knew it’d happen, but I didn’t think it would happen so quickly. One minute Camden was yelling at his uncle for disrespecting me, and then in the next his adoring servants swept him off his feet without a single glance in my direction. It hurt more than I thought it would.

“Well, I guess I’ve done my job.” There was still enough time to make it back home before the sun fully set--as long as Elesor didn’t play around. The sooner I got home and moved on, the better. For him, for me, for my heart.

Swallowing, I turned back for the door--but tiny Jessie was there, smiling at me. “News of your arrival travelled fast. How was the Rite of Passage? He didn’t give you too much trouble, did he?”

“I think it would have been better if Tallinn had trained him, after all,” I replied honestly. If Tallinn had trained him, I wouldn’t have spent so much time with Cam. I would have gone through my days happily training my dragonlings, never knowing how brave and kind the prince really was. I would have never found out how loyal and honest he was. I would have never fallen in love with the last person in this world who would love me.

Jessie winced. “Ooo. That bad, eh? Well, you didn’t just take it lying down, did you?”

“No, of course not.” I tried really hard not to love him, but it happened anyway. “I tame dragons for a living. I can handle a prince.”

She beamed. “I can’t wait to hear all about it at the ball. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

I froze. “Um, what?”