The Dragon's Distrust by Eva Weston Read Free Book Online

care of a country. Brynt, on the
other hand, had been groomed to take the throne. He was in good
health and of sound mind…sound enough to claim the throne for his
own and make the Kingdom the envy of surrounding realms.
    Brynt did not consider, however, who
the woman was nor what her intentions were. He was of the sole mind
to reclaim glory. He did not even know her name and there was
always power in a name.
    The mystery woman
knew his name…and
she knew a great deal more than he would even know or
expect.

Chapter 7

    Tania spent the past several hours
either stroking Patryck’s limp body or snuggling close to Aristo’s
bruised and battered form. They both needed looked after and she
was more than willing to nurse them back to health. However, she
could not search for food because Aristo would not allow her out of
his sight so the dragons were growing weaker with each passing
moment. So was she.
    She had been exposed to the elements
and hadn’t eaten in days. Her last bit of food had been the
strawberry Stephan had given her so long ago. Her belly continued
to growl more loudly than any wild beast. She rubbed her tummy and
realized she had become a bit thinner. She sighed. She wished to
have feminine curves not become a stick thin woman. She may be
frumpy, but skinny was a sign of poverty and illness. It was looked
down upon. She frowned. Perfect. Now the townspeople would look at
her as if she was unclean. Perhaps she should just escape to the
leper colony and live out her days with the rest of the outcasts.
Perhaps then she could avoid the mockery and scorn from the
townspeople.
    Tania frowned but immediately her
attention was drawn elsewhere. Patryck moaned. He hadn’t uttered a
sound for what seemed like ages. Tania ran toward him and stroked
his cheek. The dragon stirred. It was the first time she had
realized just how immense Patryck was. The other dragons referred
to him as the youngest and therefore the smallest, but he was huge.
The tip of his snout down to the tip of his tail was at least
twenty feet wide and the tip of his tallest spine measured the same
as his length. He was a dragon and she wasn’t sure why she never
saw it before. His size slightly frightened her but the most
frightening thought was that she loved him. Even though Aristo had
said her love for other dragons was acceptable, she still couldn’t
accept it.
    There was only one dragon for her. What
would she tell Patryck when he woke? She couldn’t bear to hurt him
further.
    Tania glanced back at Aristo. He was
napping. When he slept, he was so peaceful. She could watch him
sleep for hours but then she missed his touch when he would
wake.
    Tania turned her focus back to Patryck
who stirred again. As she looked down his liquid body, she noticed
that many of the leaks had gone. He was healing quickly. Within a
matter of minutes she knew he would wake and that he would be fine.
Sore, but fine.
    A part of her rejoiced that he was
returning to her and the other part grimaced. She was completely
torn between the two dragons in her life. Her thoughts went back
and forth. If only she wasn’t so fickle…
    As Patryck blinked his eyes open, she
realized it immediately—she loved them both. She needed them both.
She never wanted to be without either of them. They belonged to her
and she to them. She had claimed both of them as mates and they had
claimed her.
    “Patryck,” she whispered.
    His large, bright blue dragon eye
stared up at her. She could swear he smiled. He turned his snout to
nuzzle low in her belly. She giggled. His whiskers tickled. Even
though his scales were sharp, he managed not to scrape her. In
fact, he was soft. He was water and he caressed her just as gently
as the morning mist.
    “I am glad you are feeling better,” she
said. The only response from the dragon was more nuzzling. She
laughed as he pressed his snout all over her chest. He was happy to
see her and she was very happy to see him alive and
playful.
    Tania wished to