Chapter 165: Reject Aria

Rhydian Drakhar intentionally returned early that morning, choosing an hour when most of House Aetheris would still be asleep. There was no doubt the patrol had spotted him somewhere along the way, but information moved through the House in stages. By the time anyone important heard that the dragon prince had returned, Rhydian intended to have his thoughts in order and, more importantly, his temper under control.

He entered through the balcony, landing silently before stepping into his room. The moment he crossed the threshold, however, he stopped. Someone was here. Rhydian sensed the presence before his eyes found her, his awareness heightening as Sargon stirred faintly beneath his skin.

Tamara.

"You’re back," Tamara said, rising from the chair near the far side of the room.

Rhydian could see her perfectly well without the lights. Dragon eyes were made for darkness, and every movement she made was clear to him, from the way she straightened to the tension gathered across her shoulders. Tamara crossed toward the wall anyway and switched on the light.

Brightness flooded the room, and Rhydian blinked as his eyes adjusted before turning fully toward her.

"What are you doing here?"

Tamara studied him instead of answering immediately. It was obvious she had been sitting there for quite some time, waiting with the sort of patience that usually meant trouble. She folded her arms over her chest, and Rhydian already knew from the set of her mouth exactly what had brought her into his room before sunrise and that he wasn’t going to enjoy the conversation.

"I could ask you the same thing," she replied. "You disappeared yesterday without telling anyone where you were going."

"I wasn’t aware I needed permission to leave."

"You don’t."

"Good. Then we’re done here."

Rhydian started farther into the room, intending to walk straight past her, but Tamara stepped directly into his path.

"No, we’re not."

His eyes dropped briefly to where she stood between him and the rest of his room before slowly lifting back to her face. Most dragons knew better than to deliberately block Rhydian Drakhar’s path. Tamara had known him long enough to understand the warning in his silence, but apparently she was too angry to care.

"What happened in that dining hall yesterday?"

The question immediately dragged back the scattered memories of Sargon taking control. Gold clutched in massive claws and Aria standing beneath him while his dragon adorned her with pieces of their hoard.

Mate.

Rhydian’s jaw tightened, and Tamara noticed.

Her eyes narrowed. "What is going on with you, Rhydian?"

"It is nothing," he said stubbornly.

"This is about that human, isn’t it? Aria Aspen?"

The instant Aria’s name left Tamara’s mouth, Rhydian’s body went rigid. Something dangerous flashed through his eyes before he could suppress it, accompanied by one instinctive thought that disturbed him almost as much as everything Sargon had done yesterday. If Tamara dared touch a single hair on Aria’s head, Rhydian wasn’t entirely sure what he would do to her.

That realization gave him pause.

Had Sargon become so consumed by Aria that he would genuinely turn against Tamara for her? He had known Tamara for years. She had stood beside him through battles, disputes and every responsibility that came with being the Drakhar heir. Aria had been in his life for what amounted to mere moments by comparison, yet the idea of anyone threatening her stirred something vicious inside him that reason couldn’t seem to control.

Unaware of the war taking place inside his head, Tamara continued, her voice rising. "Perhaps you’d like to explain why you lost control yesterday, which is unlike you, or why I found pieces of your hoard buried beneath the rubble."

Tamara lifted a small leather satchel in one hand, and for the first time since entering the room, Rhydian’s attention snapped entirely toward it. His eyes narrowed with such intensity that Tamara instinctively tightened her grip.

"Treasure."

The word came from Rhydian’s mouth, but the voice belonged to Sargon. Deep, possessive and unmistakably hostile.

Rhydian moved toward the satchel, but Tamara immediately pulled it out of his reach.

Big mistake.

Sargon surged forward so violently that Rhydian barely had time to fight him. One moment Tamara was standing before him, clutching the satchel against her chest, and the next Rhydian’s hand was wrapped around her throat.

Tamara’s eyes widened, not from fear

fear, but disbelief.

Sargon stared at her through Rhydian’s eyes, his grip firm enough to warn without crushing. "Belongs to Mate. Not you."

Then he tore the satchel from Tamara’s grasp and shoved her away.

Tamara stumbled several steps before catching herself, one hand immediately rising to her throat. For several seconds, she simply stared at him. She couldn’t decide which revelation hurt more: that Rhydian, who had always respected her strength and trusted her more than nearly anyone else, had just put his hands on her over another female, or that the female in question was Aria Aspen.

His mate.

At the same moment, Rhydian violently wrestled control back from Sargon. He blinked, disoriented by the sudden shift, before his eyes dropped to the satchel clutched in his hand. Then he looked at Tamara.

The devastation on her face told him everything.

"No..." Tamara whispered.

Rhydian said nothing.

"No, that cannot be." Her voice cracked as tears filled her eyes. "She cannot be your mate."

"Tamara—"

"You cannot accept that, Rhydian!" she shouted, the first tear spilling down her cheek. "You cannot seriously stand there and tell me that a human is going to become the mate of the Drakhar heir."

Rhydian’s temper snapped.

"You think I have any control over it?" he demanded. "You think that of every female I could possibly choose, I would deliberately choose a human? Am I that fucking stupid?"

Tamara flinched, but Rhydian was too angry to stop.

"You think I wanted to wake up and discover that my dragon had selected the one female our kind would reject before she ever had the opportunity to prove herself?"

His fingers tightened around the satchel. "You think I wanted Sargon losing his mind over her, giving away pieces of my hoard and attacking anyone who comes too close to what he now considers his?"

Tamara’s tears continued to fall, though her expression hardened beneath them. "Then reject her."

Rhydian went still. Inside him, Sargon roared. The sound existed only in Rhydian’s mind, but the force of it was so violent that pain lanced through his skull.

Tamara took his silence as hesitation and stepped closer. "If you don’t want this, reject the bond. Refuse her. Whatever Sargon thinks she is, you are still the one in control."

Rhydian looked at her for a long moment, saying nothing.

"You just said it yourself. Dragonkind would never accept her." Tamara’s voice softened. "Rhydian..." She rarely called him by his name like that when they were discussing matters concerning the clans. "Bringing Aria into our world would be suicide. They would tear her apart. Look at the way some of our kind already treat humans, then imagine what they would do to one expected to stand beside the future head of the Drakhar Clan. Do you really want that fate for your mate?"

And Rhydian did imagine it. No matter how confidently Sargon insisted they would protect Aria, Rhydian couldn’t possibly be around her every second of the day. There were too many ways someone could get to her, too many enemies who would see her as an opportunity the moment they discovered what she meant to him.

Even Maximus Drakhar concerned him. His father wasn’t unnecessarily cruel, but when something threatened the future of his heir or the continuation of their bloodline, Rhydian couldn’t predict how far the man would be willing to go.

Aria was human. Fragile. Breakable in ways dragon females simply weren’t. There were so many ways she could die in his world that Rhydian could probably spend the entire morning listing them, and the thought made Sargon restless beneath his skin.

Tamara continued, sensing that she was finally getting through to him. "Thamas is already vying for your position. Imagine what happens if he discovers you’re mated to a human. He’ll use it against you. The Draco Clan will use it against you. You’d become a laughingstock." She stepped closer until there was barely any distance left between them. "Rhydian... you need a strong female who can fight beside you. Someone the dragon clans would respect. Someone they wouldn’t dare question."

She swallowed before continuing, and this time, her voice carried an emotion she could no longer completely hide.

"Dragon births are difficult enough, and our population is already declining. The next Lady Drakhar will be expected to give you strong heirs capable of continuing your bloodline." Tamara murmured the words as she slowly reached for him, her fingers moving toward his chest.

She almost succeeded in touching him before Rhydian caught her wrist at the last second.

"I didn’t realize you were suddenly so maternal, Tamara." His eyes dropped pointedly to her hand before returning to her face. "What happened to dedicating your life to making a name for yourself instead of staying home and popping out hatchlings?"

Tamara’s face fell instantly.

Rhydian knew exactly what he’d done. Those were the same expectations Tamara had spent years fighting against. Her parents had repeatedly tried to convince her to step down as his second-in-command, settle with a suitable dragon and embrace what they considered her proper role as a female.

Rhydian had always been one of the few people who respected her refusal to do so. He had supported her ambition, trusted her abilities and never once treated her as though her greatest contribution to dragonkind would be the children she could produce.

Hearing him throw that same expectation back at her now felt like a betrayal on an entirely different level.