Free Captive Fire by Erin M. Leaf

dragon in
him. “I know,” he whispered, closing his eyes. What would Ryuu say if he
knew I could sense the same fire in him?
     

 
    Chapter Six
     
    Three weeks later, Drakon was so completely attuned to
Ryuu that he felt as though they’d known each other their entire lives. He
watched his mate dress for yet another interminable meeting with his father,
wondering if today were the day he’d finally force himself to do what he’d come
here for.
    You are a dragon, yet here you are, lolling around
with a lover instead of doing your duty, he told himself, smoothing a hand over the silk blanket on the sleeping
platform. The sun shone down on them, but he felt anything but bright and
cheerful. They only had one week left before the emperor would make his move.
    You should be infiltrating his citadel, not
fornicating with the prince, he
thought, looking at the glittering luxury of Ryuu’s chambers. He was surrounded
by comfort, yet it was nothing more than a gilded box. He was like a bird in a
cage, except the captivity was of his own making. You could have been done
and gone by now. Or dead.
    “You shouldn’t torment yourself like this,” Ryuu said,
strapping on his knives.
    Drakon smiled sadly. “Bearer of
Blades, how do you know what my heart feels?”
    Ryuu’s lips quirked. “I am bonded to you, my slave, as you are to me. Our
emotions are as one. I may not know your thoughts, but I know how you feel.” He
walked over to the bed and kissed Drakon softly. “Don’t fret. If it’s time for
you to go, just go. What must be, will be.” He smiled sadly. “And besides,
haven’t we vowed to find a way to be together? We’ve made plans.”
    As if it were that simple, Drakon thought. His heart hurt. “I don’t want to
leave you,” he whispered past the lump in his throat. “And you won’t leave your
people.”
    “We only have one week left, and then we shall see
what happens,” Ryuu said softly. “Perhaps it would be better for you to go
early than to—”
    The chamber door banged open. Whatever
Ryuu intended to say fell away from his lips like ash as the emperor stormed
into the room, enraged.
    “What is the meaning of this?” He threw a computer
tablet down on the bed.
    Drakon only had time to glance at it before the
emperor’s guards hauled him out of bed and shackled him. This time, the chains
were of plain steel with no finger-key locks. He clamped his lips shut, knowing
that now wasn’t the time for protests. He reached for his inner dragon and
calmed himself. He wouldn’t be in chains for long. The reckoning has come. He glanced at Ryuu and they shared a look
fraught with everything they’d come to feel for each other: love, strength, and
the sudden hopelessness of their situation.
    He doesn’t know I’m a dragon, Drakon reminded himself. My last
secret. I should have told him, but I never imagined it would
come to this! He cursed himself for falling prey to such stupidity. He knew
better. He knew the emperor couldn’t be trusted, but Drakon’s desire for Ryuu
seduced him into relaxing in the midst of the enemy’s fortress.
    “This is an outrage!” Ryuu said, glaring at his
father. “You dare barge in here—”
    “Your cousins are alive!” The emperor hit his son
across the face once, twice, and was drawing back his arm for a third time
before Ryuu grabbed his father’s wrist and twisted, preventing another blow.
The emperor growled in fury and his guards pulled Ryuu away. They locked onto
the prince, shoving him to his knees.
    “Stop!” The empress ran into the chamber, her red tunic
dragging. “What are you doing? Midian, no!”
    Drakon stared at Ryuu’s mother. Since the last time
he’d seen her, a few short weeks ago, she’d grown thin and drawn. Her face
looked like fine parchment. He’d known she was dying, but the reality of it was
so much more terrible than he’d imagined. He looked at Ryuu, heartsore, and his
mate looked back at him. For just an instant, misery