Dragon Days MxM (Staten Krown)

12

"You want me to betray my family and take over the throne because you feel like my son doesn't have what it takes to lead the country through the battle that's to come."

"Yes," Natalia states, "Your Grace, your son is not qualified to rule."

"This is treason, you understand?"

"Yes."

"Punishable by the death sentence for all those involved. Death by fire. Could you imagine? Lined up against a wall as dragons unleash flames hot enough to melt stone on you until there is nothing but a memory."

I see Maxim shiver at the thought. I place my hand on his shoulder. He's afraid. Even Natasha is afraid. I have to have confidence for both of them.

Silence takes over.

"I'll take on the flames."

She glares at me specifically as though I'm the only one in the room, "Paramour Silva says that this is your idea, young squire."

I nod, "It is. And if we burn. I'll burn first."

We are with the Empress Dowager. I gaze at the old woman before me. At her age, she should have one foot in the grave. Her demeanor should be wonky with arthritic joints and eyesight failing faster than my expectations of the men I trust in my life. Were it not for the lines in her face I'd think her sixty at the most given her sharp mind and easy motion, but they are so deep and saggy – like the skin no longer has a connection to the skull underneath. Truth is she was much older.

It's her regal demeanor and articulate speech that get you, an echo of youth in someone so old. Sometimes I want to pull away the mask of age to see the person inside, the girl she was all those years ago. Then I remember I don't have to, if I listen to her words and pay attention to her smile, to her eyes, she's still in there as much as she ever was.

"Good. I agree."

She's not too old. She is the leader that the Dragonov Empire needed. She was the leader that the Empire deserved. And it's clear from her tone in these moments that she has what it takes to get the job done.

Just like that, a coo began.

Just like that, a rebellion began.

"I can have 5,000 men take the capital and secure the palace by nightfall," Paramour Silva instructs us.

The Empress Dowager sighs, "That was quick."

"We can't wait. Word spreads fast and the moment that the Emperor gets words of what's going on he'll be able to kill it in a moment. There are many who are afraid and believe the Emperor is too stubborn to rule," Silva explains, "It wasn't hard to gather support. You were the last piece of the puzzle."

"I have two conditions. One: The Emperor nor his sons are harmed. Once the threat is over, my son resumes his control of the empire."

"No one will be harmed," Paramour Silva states, "You have my word."

"The 2nd condition. He leads the charge when the time comes to fight Nikoletta..."

"Who?"

"Him."

The room looks at me. There is this brisk silence that falls. Silence gnawed at my insides. Silence hung in the air like the suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground. The silence was like a gaping void, needing to be filled with sounds, words, anything.

My friends knew the truth and the truth was that I couldn't lead anything.

I had no dragon.

"He's not ready," Maxim states, "He's not yet a knight."