The Last Silvermaw Hunter

Chapter 23

"You cannot seriously be thinking about this." He stops me before I can walk past him, he backs me up as he says to me, "If you kill the king they will kill you."

"I don't care," jab my finger in his chest, "He hurt Vashak, he hurt a beast that means so much more for me than what anyone could ever know, attacking a dragon is an act of war here, is it not?"

"Yes but there are loopholes, it says in the law that it is illegal to kill a dragon not wound it." He counters, "It doesn't do much of anything to go stomping in there without a stitch of evidence. Unless..." His voice fades as his eyes go to some far away place, "Unless...you have me to stand by you and act as a backup."

"I don't understand what you're saying."

"I'm saying if worse comes to worse, and you need to be—how do I say this without insulting you—under someone's...jurisdiction, be under mine. Accept our engagement and marry me."

Everything is silent for a minute and then it gets loud. Too loud to fast, I stumble and nearly fall into the field, Zhoron moves to fast for me to see and pulls me back against his chest but not before I feel the brush of rye.

And nothing happened.

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The mist from the waterfall floats around me and I look out at the landscape. I see a silhouette of a dragon flying over the castle. There's a pack of wolves hunting a herd of deer in Dryad Forest.

I left Zhoron not soon after his proposition, I don't know what to do. I don't want to marry someone yet, and I don't want anyone's help.

But I have to accept that I can't take down the king on my own. "What do I do?"

"You find out what the best option is."

I look over my shoulder, "You know that I can't do that. There's not really an option for me, Dad. I have to marry Zhoron."

He walks to my side and looks out at the island. He places his hand on my shoulder. "If you know that's what you must do, then do it. You do not need anyone's approval. If you think that marrying the Prince of Fae will help you in the long run then do it."

"Okay," I say, I turn to my father as he watches the Field of Sorrow, "okay, I'll do it. I just have to find the right time so it's not unbelievable. You have any ideas?"

He thinks for a moment before looking at me. He smirks as he responds, "I might have a few."

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"June 13th."

Zhoron nods, "Alright, that just gives us 3 months to plan, it's gonna be rushed."

I shrug, "It doesn't really matter to me. I've been forced to get things done in a week when they really needed almost a month to get done. I think I'm gonna be fine." I cross my arms and walk over to the window, his view is the complete opposite from mine, all I could see was row after row of trees, he pretty much has the whole view of the island, he can see all the way to Dragons Island from here.

"There's another thing you should know," I look over at him, he's standing in front of the fireplace mantle with his lips pressed into a thin line, "You go through with the marriage, then there will be no turning back from it. There is no divorce, or annulment, nothing. In my people's culture once you're married you are married for life, only death can free you."

I turn and lean against the window frame, "You can have lovers can you not?"

Zhoron walks over to me, I fight the urge to move as he gets closer, my body tenses when he stops in front of me. "I could," he whispers, "but I won't, and before you think about it neither can you, if you would you would be killed, and I would be forced to do nothing."

"I'll take that risk."

He hums and leans forward, his hand lands on the wall by my head. "I don't think you will."

"You don't know me."

"I think you'd be surprised at what I know." He whispers, I swear his voice got husky. Osiris strike me down. His voice. My eyes lock with his and my heart flutters.

"I doubt that." I whisper.

His eyes darken, and his eyes flick down. "I'll take my chances."

He leans down and his eyes widen slightly as my palm slams over his mouth. "We can't."

He closes his eyes at my whisper. "I know," His head goes down and rests on mine, his hand grabbing mine and lowering it but not letting it go, "I know, but I want to—so, so bad."

My breath leaves me, I need to get myself out of this now. I step back and remove my hand from his, he closes his eyes, almost like he's in pain. A knock sounds at the door and I flinch, Zhoron opens his eyes and looks at me for a second, it feels like he's seeing too far down into my soul.

The knocks turn more desperate as a female voice shouts through the door, "Zhoron Solomon Iarwarin, open this door before I break it down."

He walks—well ran— before opening the door. "Saphira."