The Skin Thief

Chapter 68

Kiora

The emperor pauses. Silence hangs in the air and Kiora looks at him expectantly. Slowly, he stands. All the remorse is gone from his face. Instead, gracing his lips is a smile. He raises an eyebrow.

"Kiora," he sighs, shaking his head. Slowly he steps toward her. Kiora doesn't look away from his intense stare.

"I see what you're doing now."

She raises an eyebrow.

"I may have slighted you, but not enough to give you one of my dragons," he continues, coming to a stop right in front of her. Kiora shrugs.

"It was worth a try," she says, shrugging casually.

His smirk grows and he stares down at her with an intense hunger. His intoxicating scent overwhelms her, and she resists the urge to embrace him.

He reaches out, pulling at a strand of her hair. "You're learning how to play, I see. I have to admit, that was good. You really made me feel... guilty."

"You should feel guilty. My anger toward this situation is not fake. You abused my trust. You did hurt me, Athan."

"And you think it warrants me gifting to you one of my dragons?" he asks.

Kiora steps into him, her chest brushing against him.

"Not yet," she says, "but I expect one eventually."

"Expect?" he asked, his voice a mixture of shocked and amused.

Kiora nods her head.

"You owe me."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" he asks, still not breaking away from her stare.

Kiora starts laughing and once she starts, she can't stop. She can't even believe he asked the question.

"Do I really have to answer?" she finally says between her giggles. "Do I have to remind you how I came to even be here in the first place? How I pleaded for you to let me go? Not only do you force me to stay, but I have to deal with your shitty wives and their cruelty without any protection from you. I have been trapped behind these walls for months, alone, whilst your perfect High Lady plots against me to take away what little freedom I have. Well, I won't have it, Athan. If you want me to stay here, if you want me to be your wife, then I demand more."

He narrows his eyes at her, but she speaks again before he can interrupt.

"I want to fly, Athan," she says breathlessly, looking into his eyes dreamily. Something softens in his gaze. "Can you imagine it? Us, together, flying side by side."

"What makes you think I won't be able to have that with Lady Illyria?" he asks.

Kiora chuckles. "Her dragon is the size of a dog," Kiora replies. "I would be very impressed if it could carry anything more than a babe."

"It could grow," he argues.

Kiora raises an eyebrow at him. "I may never have seen a dragon up close before I came here. I still have yet to see any other dragon but Illyria's. But I've been around for a long time and travelled to this realm more than once. I know how dragons work, and how they grow. Keeping them caged up and on display like a status symbol will not encourage growth. Plus, I asked around, he is five years old. If he had grown up in the dragon nest, he'd be the size of a building by now. That dragon will never grow any bigger than he is, he's been chained up far too long."

He raises an eyebrow, impressed.

"And how can I be sure that if I gifted you a dragon, you wouldn't do the same?" he asks.