Dragon Witch ✔️

53 - Competition

"I'm not-" I swallowed. I was supposed to be buying time. "You're saying we're sister and brother?"

"We share the same father, but your mother died years before I hatched. You and I are both legitimate, born of the Dark One and his official mate." He raised his hands at his sides. "You would've been the assured heir, but your mother was a weakling. It's a wonder she ever fledged."

If I would just fledge already, I wouldn't need to make a deal with Drakius for dragon's blood. "What do you mean? How do you fledge?"

"You have to kill a fairy. More than one, usually. The bloodlust of killing brings out the dragon in us. Your mother lacked that bloodlust."

Good for her, Eva said with a chirp.

"Is that so?" My heart sunk. I would never fledge, and I couldn't get dragon's blood that way.

Shaking his head, Drakius dropped his hands. "She freed several livestock, and she and all her offspring were killed. Somehow, you escaped. That's problematic for me. You see, the only dragon with the authority to kill you is on his deathbed. Once he dies, you and I will be expected to fight to the death to see which of us replaces him. I could do that, and I would win. After all, you're no killer."

He paced from side to side. "However, your glamour abilities are formidable. You might get in a few lucky blows. Any injuries you dealt me would make me seem weaker in the eyes of the people. I might be challenged, perhaps even defeated by an older male. To avoid that all, I have a proposal. A simple agreement."

Stopping, he turned to face me. "Sign over all your rights to the throne, and I'll give you the opportunity to win the blood you seek."

"To win it?" I shook my head. "What kind of deal is that? I'm not giving you rights to a throne so I can compete in some contest and lose."

He pressed his lips into a thin smile. "I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice. You are off limits to me, but they aren't. Not the fairies, this human, or any of the humans in that house of yours."

No. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't get to my family if Grandma changed the estate barrier enchantment. "The barrier-"

"-won't last long against a healthy dragon. Clastor was wingless and weak. The dragons I send will not be." He crossed his arms and drummed his claws against his scales. "I want your decision now. Sentence your family and friends to death, or hand over your claim to the throne. For handing over your claim, I'll throw in the opportunity to win fairy dragon blood. The real question is this: do you value these beings or the throne more?"

His smirked told me everything I needed to know. He'd watched me for long enough to know that I cared about my adopted family and friends much more than I cared about some throne I'd never seen. I didn't care about Draconian politics. He could have the throne, for all I cared.

But I hated the idea of possibly risking my life in some competition, just for the chance of getting dragon's blood. If only there was more of it around here. Kyton's family had been researching dragon's blood for months. It was worth ten times its weight in gold, and whoever tried to steal some would be on the run for the rest of their life.

As much as I hated it, winning a no-doubt bloodthirsty draconic competition would probably be easier than breaking into the equivalence of Fort Knox to steal dragon blood.

"What's the competition?" I asked.

"It's a simple survival competition. Whoever survives four days in a difficult environment earns a favor from the Dark One. Since you haven't fledged, I'm sure you could bring as many humanoid friends as you want, and you would only count as one dragon in total."