The Dragon's Kiss

The Dragon's Kiss - Chapter 8 - EIGHT: The Emperor's Bath Time

Kel should have withdrawn her gaze immediately, but curiosity got the better of her. Though his muscles were well defined, without the thick armor and bulky mantle, the emperor was unexpectedly wiry.

The way he stood in the water left his bare back entirely exposed to Kel. A large tattoo on his right side climbed from his lower back to his shoulder blade. It was identical to the marking on his armor—a black dragon.

That mark had become a symbol of fear for the western kingdoms in recent years, but the Serin Empire hadn’t always been represented by a dragon.

From history classes in the palace, Kel had learned that leadership in the empire was highly volatile, and most of the emperors declared a new national symbol when they took the throne. As a result, a variety of flags, seals and uniforms all historically denoted Serin citizenship.

Like previous emperors, the Dragon Emperor issued his own national symbol when he came to power. However, he also gave the order that all other symbols must be burned under the threat of treason. Only a year after his coronation, arrests and trials began for anybody caught with a banned mark..

How befitting of the Dragon Emperor, Kel thought to herself, to so ruthlessly establish the mark of his rule, and a mark that represented his own title at that. He was probably the continent’s first ruler to make himself the national symbol.

But now wasn’t the time to be having a history review. Kel refocused her attention on the matter at hand. She needed to sneak away before the man in the water noticed her presence.

Just as she was preparing to sneak farther downstream to continue the hunt for medicinal herbs, the emperor suddenly turned her direction. With a muffled gasp, she dived down into the bushes, hoping to have avoided his sight. How would she be able to explain herself if she was caught?

After several noiseless seconds passed, Kel bravely peeked over the top of the leaves covering her face.

The stream was empty, babbling happily along its undisturbed path. It was as if the man bathing had never been there at all.

“Did he… drown?” Kel whispered to herself.

It was a ridiculous thought, but she could think of no reasonable explanation for his silent disappearance. There was no way he could have slipped out of the water without so much as a splash.

She raised her head a little higher to increase her range of vision and pivoted on her heels, doing a full sweep of the area. As she came to face the trees, she carefully searched for some trace of the emperor’s figure.

“You’re much bolder than I thought.”

Kel started at the low-toned voice behind her. She whirled around to face the source of the voice, crashing awkwardly through the brush as she did so.

The Dragon Emperor stood waist-deep in the stream directly in front of her, glowering.

Kel was at a loss for words. She felt like a criminal caught in the act. She really hadn’t intended to spy on the emperor, but no excuse could justify this situation.

“I suppose I did take away your wedding night,” the emperor grinned slyly, slowly moving toward her. “Is this your way of asking me to take responsibility?”

More bare skin slowly became visible above the rippling water as he strode.

“Don’t come near me!” Kel shrieked, holding her hands out to block the view of everything below the man’s incredibly sculpted abs.

“I should be the one saying that,” he snorted, heedlessly continuing his advance.

Kel’s face flushed behind her upheld hands. It was true that she had spent more time than necessary admiring his body earlier, but this was too much.