Trinket (Reverse Harem)

My Kingdom For A... Horn?

"There's what?" I exclaimed. Dragon rulers be damned, manners be damned. I spun around to face Ormiss. "Tell me you're wrong."

"I am not wrong," Ormiss said, tone grave. "There is a unicorn horn wedged into the stones deep in the mine shaft, with a partial fragment of the skull at the base."

Asund gasped and Itek made a small noise, and in that moment, Ormiss spun around on Korr and brandished his lantern staff at the ice dragon. "Did you know about that?"

Korr backed up a step, hands upstretched. "No! No one has been down that shaft for hundreds of years. Dragon's can't access it. It collapsed long ago and flooded and all attempts to regain access have failed."

Dragons scattered around to gather up the fallen blue gems and arrange them more perfectly. Ormiss sent a bolt of lightening through the hall and roared, "Leave them!"

The dragons bolted for the safety of the shadows. Ormiss spun his attention back to Korr.

"Are you sure?" Ormiss' lightening snaked all over the hall. "Because that would explain why the dragons have such a pristine supply of drinking water."

"I swear," Korr said, trying to regain his composure as Asund and Itek turned on a terrified Ethat. Korr tried to move towards his brother but Ormiss met him pace for pace as Asund backed Ethat across the gallery. Itek stayed close to me, one arm protectively around my waist. Korr told Ormiss, "I swear, Ormiss, I had no idea. The taint hasn't reached the mountain tops, but the lower reaches are unlivable. Theia, I swear, I had no idea."

"Do not speak to her," Ormiss hissed. "You fucking scavenger!"

"I have a trinket the same as you, horse-fish," Korr bit back.

"And it didn't occur to you to question why water from far underground is that pure?" Ormiss demanded.

Korr said, simply, "No. I have no idea how far under ground that water comes from, but I know how deep you have to plunge into the crevices. No dragon can reach it. That's not a public well, either. Do you think I would have advised you to swim in our drinking water?"

Ormiss spun on the shocked dragon rulers. He smashed his staff into the stone, causing a bell-like thunder to shake the walls. "Explain. And do not tell me no one ever draws water from that blue pool to drink."

"It's not customary to do so," the Lady-Dragon said, holding up one tenative hand to stop Ormiss. "We don't ban it, but it's a viewing pool, not practical."

"Because it tastes of a unicorn's death?" Ormiss demanded.

"What do you care about a unicorn that died long ago?" the Lady-Dragon bit back.

Ormiss inhaled and magic raced to him. The Lord-Dragon snarled in return.

I grabbed Ormiss' wrist while Itek kept a hold of me. "Stop. Wait."

I was shaking.

Korr moved towards me. Ormiss shoved his staff towards Korr. "Just stand over there, dragon. And you," Ormiss snarled at Ethat, who cowered obediently behind Asund. "Stay right there before I pop every scale off you when we see which one of us is the more depraved."

"Ormiss, stop." My voice shook. "Stop. That unicorn has been dead for--"

"Is that how they keep their water pure, Theia? The last unicorn herd was not far from here. They dwelled in torment on the northern shores, hearts broken and lost. Was that how the last herd died?"

"No!" the Lady-Dragon exclaimed. "Of course not! We didn't butcher the last herd!"

Lightening coiled around ormiss' wrist and thunder cracked overhead. "Considering what I've seen so far, Dragon, I would believe you did. And you condemned this world to die."