Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Every dragon in Solea was looking forward to the Solstice celebrations—except for Jaron.

For Jaron, the festive holiday meant that he couldn't wiggle out of spending time with his family. His parents would never have let him get away with excuses on such an important date.

Normally, Jaron wasn't concerned about pleasing his parents—hell, if he was, he wouldn't dress himself in baggy clothes and dedicate all his time to working with the Mortal Rights Taskforce. That wasn't proper for a dragon of his status.

Jaron didn't care about being proper.

He did care that he would lose access to his younger brothers if his parents disowned him, so he showed up to the Solstice dinner.

At least he got good food out of it. Tonight, he was served roasted pheasant and creamy mashed potatoes infused with truffles and aged parmesan. None of it had been cooked by his parents, of course. They had staff for that.

"I hope everything is going well with you?" his mother asked, addressing him. She was dressed up as usual. Not in fabric, but in jewelry. Shiny gems adorned her fingers and her long, curly hair, and a necklace with a huge emerald hung around her neck. Her breasts were covered by glittering strands of gold.

Every piece of her outfit was highly magical and would have cost more than most people earned in a month.

"I'm doing fine," Jaron made himself say, pretending to ignore the critical look his mother shot his outfit. His hoodie was neither expensive nor pretty to look at.

That was why he liked it.

"I don't understand why you insist on dressing like a slob," she said.

"Leave it be, darling," his father said. "It's his rebellious phase."

"He's too old for that." She shook her head. "And think of the poor example this is setting for Fei and Casca."

Jaron bit back the urge to tell his mother he wasn't the one setting a poor example for his little brothers. "I'm doing fine," he repeated, picking at his food. "And I'm not rebelling. I'm simply choosing to live my life a little differently than you live yours."

His youngest brother, Fei, who was only nine years old, frowned and tilted his head. He looked at Jaron curiously. "Why do you hide your skin?" he asked.

Jaron chuckled. "I'm not hiding anything. I just think this is comfortable."

His mother huffed. "That can't possibly be comfortable."

"Darling," his father said again, with emphasis. Clearly, he wanted to keep up the pretense of a harmonious family dinner. Flicking his wrist at the air above the table, he called a large holo screen to life. It broadcast the evening news.

Jaron was glad that his dad wanted to focus on TV rather than him, until the newscaster started talking about King Nevin's latest speech regarding the reintegration of mortals into their society.

Inwardly, Jaron cringed. Of all the things the news could have chosen as their main story today.

"King Nevin has only been reigning for a few short years, and in that time he's brought great change to our nation." The blond dragon on TV smiled. "We celebrated the success of our new trade relationship with the ice kingdom only last night. A lot of people have criticized our king for marrying an ice dragon prince, but the marriage has been nothing but fruitful. In his solstice speech today, King Nevin asked us to remember that while we're celebrating his union with King Earnan, he has another husband who is mortal, and much more needs to be improved in our country for mortals to live their happiest lives. He asked us to think critically about the ways we treat others who are different from us."

"Not this again," Jaron's mother said. "It's been nothing but mortals this, mortals that since King Nevin married."

"What can you expect from a half-breed?" Jaron's father asked gruffly.

It wasn't a statement he would ever make in public, but Jaron knew in certain circles, the fact that King Nevin's mother had not been a dragon still rankled some of the nobility.

"Why is it bad that he's a half-breed?" Twelve-year-old Casca asked. He was just starting to think for himself, which Jaron both celebrated and dreaded. Life in this family was hard when one didn't blindly follow the status quo.

"You know why, darling," his mother said. "Interbreeding makes us weak."

Jaron caught his mother's gaze. That was such an awful thing to teach her children. "Are you saying that our king is weak?" he challenged.

"Of course not," his mother replied immediately. "But he could have been stronger."

"I would say he's the strongest ruler we've had in a while," Jaron pressed on. "He can shift into his full dragon form. None of us can do that." It was a rare power for a dragon-shifter to possess these days. Some said that interbreeding had diluted their powers to a degree they could not shift anymore. King Nevin however was living proof that this theory was bullshit.

"It's because he found his fated mate," Casca said. "Miss Jaynara said so."

Their father grunted. "As if a mortal could be a dragon's fated mate. You'd do best not to listen to those rumors. If King Nevin and Prince Curren can shift, it is because their father's blood runs strong in them."

"Their father couldn't shift," Jaron pointed out.

"You know, Jaron." His father fixed him with a long look as if he'd finally had enough of Jaron's insolence. "I've been very indulgent with you. Allowing you to do as you please, but I think it's well past time you stopped acting like a child."

Jaron bristled. "How am I acting like a child, Father? Because I have a mind of my own?"

"You're twenty-one years old and your littlest brother understands the world better than you do." He pointed at Fei. "Why are we better than mortals?"

Fei perked up, eager to prove that he did in fact know the answer. "They don't have magic!"

"Exactly," Jaron's father said. "They hid away from the world and missed out on the gift of magic because of their cowardice. They stopped evolving. It should not be our responsibility to protect them from the consequences of their decisions."

Jaron's mouth tightened. "So you think it's fine when witches harvest them for organs or vampires keep them as blood slaves?"

"Jaron!" his mother scolded him. "Not in front of the children!"

"Oh, I forgot you don't want Fei and Casca to know what's really going on out there." He pushed away his plate. "Maybe they'd grow up to be decent people instead of spoiled assholes who can't think for themselves." Jaron got up from his seat, ignoring his parents' protests, and walked out of the dining room.

He'd had enough.

"Jaron Krotfric Tymera!" his father's booming voice chased him all the way to the door, where Jaron slammed it shut behind himself.

Then he spread his wings and launched himself into the sky, flying high over the city of Solea.

In the darkness, the city's lights sparkled below him like the diamonds his family valued above all else.

How silly when there were so many more valuable things.

Like spending time with your friends. Jaron glanced in the direction of the fairgrounds. His friends had gone to see the Solstice fireworks tonight.

Maybe he could still make it in time to join them.