Free Legend of the Inero Dragon by JF Jenkins

wife. Someday he'll
forgive me for my mistakes and return to me." She paused, looking
Kat over. "You are wed to his son Matthias, yes?"
    "Yes, how did you know? We haven't met
before."
    "I pay attention to the lives of those
important to me. I'm Lenora," she said, grabbing Kat's hand,
pulling her close for a hug. "It is a pleasure."
    "Katarina. It's good to meet you too."
    "You poor thing," Lenora said, tilting her
head. "You must be so confused and lonely. You'd think your
sister-in-law would befriend you. Or the stepmother who loves them
so. Although, she doesn't care for them like I do. They may not be
my sons, but I love them as if they were. I see why Lynx is so
enamored with them. Still, it's sad and shameful of her. Do they
care about your feelings at all?"
    Kat wondered if Lenora could read her mind.
She had said everything Kat was feeling on the inside. She didn't
understand why Navi and Gwen wouldn't be her friends.
    "I don't know. I think so?"
    Lenora laughed. She closed her eyes,
clutching her stomach. "You are so adorable. No wonder he likes you
the most. Tell me how you're doing. Tell me everything."
    And so she did. Kat poured out everything,
from her joys over becoming an Elite, to her feelings for Matt, to
how she felt from her transition. It felt so nice to be able to
finally unload everything and get her thoughts together. Especially
because she felt like Lenora actually listened to her.
    "You poor thing," She stroked a few strands
of Kat's hair. "Stay close to me. I will teach you everything you
need to know."

Chapter Sixteen
     
    "I am in need of your assistance with my
nation. Our resources are low, poisoned even. As you will see when
we go over the reports, things are not well." Lynx addressed the
Dragon Council calmly. He didn't show any distress. It amazed Jason
because anyone else would be a mess.
    "Things have been like this for some time,"
Lynx continued. "For so long, I have been trying to deal with the
problem on my own. I am ashamed to admit this disaster, this plague
that is causing my people to suffer. My pride did not want me to
call upon your help today. Still, I know it would be unwise of me
continue to live in denial. My nation is suffering.
    "It started with the food. We are not growing
enough to meet the demands of our population. The farms have been
working five times as hard to feed the people. We do not have
enough livestock to go around. To make matters worse, the water is
unclean. The humans especially are becoming ill, and the vegetation
is not growing into healthy produce. As you know, my country is
mostly made up of desert. The plant life is especially valuable to
my people."
    He stopped, and the council hall resonated
with complete silence. Jason had noticed an abundance of side
chatter coming from the stadium chairs behind him earlier. In that
moment, he barely heard anyone breathing. He glanced to Matt, who
sat on his left and on their father's right side. Matt did not look
shocked in the slightest.
    Lynx let his words settle on everyone in the
room before continuing. "I ask you to please do the right thing and
help me care for my people."
    Jason couldn't listen to his father beg. He
leaned forward, resting his head on his hand, and frowned. How did
he have no idea any of this was happening? He couldn't believe it,
nor did he want to. He'd never seen any evidence before of such a
problem even existing.
    Everyone who lived in the city seemed well
cared for. No one was starving or suffering, not in the ways his
father claimed. There were the occasional poor toward the
outskirts, but they were only struggling to pay bills, not dying.
Could he be referring to the countryside?
    Gwen didn't look like she had been starving
when he first met her. Thin, yes, but not deathly so. Unless she
hid it from him under her loose jeans and comfortably sized
T-shirts. She refused to wear anything formfitting and trendy like
the rest of the women. He certainly had never seen her naked, so