A Pet for the Dragons

34.

IVRET

I shouldn't have left Arika alone last night. I'd been thinking about it for the rest of the night, and I couldn't sleep knowing that she was in the Guard's room, completely unprotected while Radrox had been out prowling in the castle.

It was my fault. I should've taken some precautions to keep Radrox away from her, but I didn't. Had I done so, he could've accused me of trying to keep Arika all for myself, but... I should've listened to my instincts.

After I'd retired to my chambers and couldn't sleep thinking about Arika, I checked on her, and she was not in the guard's room. Not only that, but Radrox's scent was thick in the room, and my fear had come true.

I'd rushed to Radrox's dungeon to demand for Arika. He didn't want to give her to me, and that pissed me off. I usually avoided talking to Radrox because it ruined my mood every time. I could still tolerate his brother Zorge somehow, but Radrox always managed to get on my nerves and make me want to renounce our power triad. I'd hated it since the first day, but I'd somehow tolerated him because it benefited me immensely.

Since the benefits of the power triad far outweighed his nuisance, I used to tolerate him. But now, with Arika in the picture, I wasn't sure about this. I didn't want to share Arika, but I had to because of the power triad. Having a common mate or consort in a power triad helped to ground everyone's powers and make everyone even more powerful.

Sometimes, having a common consort or mate elevated one's powers to the Silge level or beyond. Apart from being born with enough magic to reach the Silge level, having a solid power bonding that included a common mate or a consort was another way to achieve the highest level in any power class. However, there wasn't a guarantee that every power grouping would accomplish that, and the possibilities always lingered.

It was one of the reasons why we dragons coveted mates and consorts very much. Arika wasn't my mate, but I wanted to make her my consort. I was sure about it after our bath together. I knew I wanted her with me.

However, I wasn't sure if I'd be allowed to have her as my consort since she wasn't a human. Dragons could have only other dragons as mates or consorts. Taking any other species as such was frowned upon. I didn't care what others thought of me. I'd left behind that life in the Cardinal House and retired in this part of the realm. I had no interest in going back there to indulge in useless politics and noble scheming. I'd always loathed it all from the beginning.

I didn't care what anyone would think of me for taking a human consort. However, Arika wouldn't be considered my consort in that sense because she wasn't a dragon. She'd be considered more of my pet.

I wouldn't say I liked the concept of pets, but if they gave us all the legal rights and benefits, then I didn't mind. I'd still treat her as my consort. But these were only minor problems.

The major problem was that the others in the triad wanted her as much. I was glad that Zorge was gone for a while. He wouldn't be a bother for me, but Radrox was here, and he was my major headache.

It took us going back and forth and sparring with our words before I managed to force Radrox to bring her back to the guard's room, which was her temporary room. Since Arika didn't consent to sleep in his filthy dungeon, he didn't have the right to keep her there.

I wanted to bring her to my chambers, but I couldn't because Radrox used the same excuse against me, souring my mood even more. It was a deadlock, and we were not ready to back down, so I waited for Arika to wake up.

She woke up and seemed unsettled, and then I saw her bleeding between her legs. That was the last straw for me. Even though I'd always been wary of Radrox, I'd have never imagined that he'd be so degenerate to hurt a female and that, too, a female of another species far weaker than us in physical strength.

"You're bleeding, Arika," I told her, enraged. "I'm going to kill Radrox," I growled, seeing red, but I was also mad at Arika for hiding this from me.

Did she think that I didn't care enough to protect her? Did she think I'd be upset with her for being hurt? I couldn't find a proper reason.

"Ivy, wait. That might be—" She tried to reason as if there could ever be a legitimate reason to hurt a female! I wondered why she was doing this. Was she trying to save Radrox from my wrath?

"You should've told me." I hissed, straightening up. "You shouldn't have hidden this from me—"

"Wait, Ivy. Listen. This is normal. He didn't—" I wouldn't listen to her any more. It might be normal for humans to hurt the female, but it wasn't normal here. Us dragons were honourable creatures. Hurting a female fetched a high penalty in our dragon code of conduct. No matter the female's species, this conduct was applicable to all.

I would ensure that Radrox's penalty for hurting sweet Arika was the highest. Before she could sprout more words to stop me, I stormed out of the guard's room to find Radrox. The rage coursing through my veins was of an intensity I'd never experienced before.

As a healer, I preferred to conserve my energy as much as possible. I was always mindful of my emotions because they dictated the flow of my energy and essence, but at that moment, my emotions were burning fiercer than the furnace in Radrox's dungeon.

I stormed down the winding hallways until I reached the centre of the Gallow castle, where the balcony from every floor hung over the indoor courtyard.

"RADROX!" I roared. My voice boomed through the caste. "COME OUT, YOU CURSED, RED-SCALED, SCARRED, UGLY, DERANGED BASTARD!"

I was expecting Radrox to come out, but Zorge appeared in the castle's indoor courtyard instead.

"What's going on? What happened?" He asked, confused.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed at Zorge. He was the last person I wanted to see at this moment. His brother was enough of a headache for me already.

"I came here to drop some fresh kill for Arika. Why are you screaming at Radrox? What did he do?" Zorge asked.

"WHAT DID HE DO?" I roared, unable to keep my calm anymore. "HE HURT ARIKA! HE MADE HER BLEED!" As soon as I said that, Zorge's eyes turned pitch black.

"RADROX! COME OUT!" He roared angrily. I wasn't anticipating this reaction from Zorge, but it satisfied me to know that he wasn't as deranged as his red-scaled brother. Zorge still had some honour left in him to confront his scoundrel brother for hurting a female.

"What's going on?" I finally heard Radrox's voice reverberating somewhere underneath the castle. As soon as he appeared in the courtyard, Zorge delivered a punch to his face, and I jumped down to the ground floor, ready to tear him to pieces.

"IVY!" I heard Arika behind me, but I wouldn't listen to her. 

~

Shit is about to go down with Radrox but don't worry Arika would pay for this larger ;)

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