Claimed By A Dragon Prince

Sitting down to eat, Lily wasn’t sure what to expect from this woman. Females usually didn’t get along with Lily unless they were strong-willed or independent. Having had to fend for herself most of her life, whereas other females had their parents to take care of them. It was probably the reason why she couldn’t trust very easily.

The guys loaded their plates as they hadn’t had very much to eat most of the day. Lily put a few things on her plate as Maylia spoke. "Now that you all are here, I can tell you what the council said about Dran’s leave of absence. It was decided that he could leave for the month. That’s the longest we would like to spare him." Lily figured this would happen since the council seemed to be the real rulers of this place.

"Is there a reason for the time frame? To my knowledge, there isn’t much for me to do since it’s a month before spring kicks in. Why the need to have me back?" Maylia sighed, having told the council who he really is. "I had to tell them who you really are. They just couldn’t believe that you would bring in outsiders and mate with one without at least my approval."

Lily had a feeling she knew where this was going, and frankly, she couldn’t care less who approves of her. She had bigger fish to fry than a mother-in-law with superiority issues. "They would have like to test her before you marked her. THat would have eased their minds a bit."

"And what? The growing of food for the settlers and purifying the whole cavern of the toxin and slugs wasn’t enough? Or did they just want to give me the order instead of me seeing the problem?" Lily was irritated that they thought they had the right to test her, let alone complain about it. She saved their settlement, and they still want to see if she’s worthy of their "Dragon Master"?

Maylia watched Lily after hearing her words, seeing if this strange female sitting across from her was as strong-willed and powerful as she thought. "You can do as many good deeds as you want, but if you can’t follow orders, why should you be mated to our best fighter? Dran has protected this place since he was a teenager who proved he was "The Dragon Master." That title wasn’t given to him lightly."

Lily knew Dran was strong, or he wouldn’t have beaten Dimitri like he did when he first took Lily. However, he had been leaving out just how important he was to his people and this place he calls home. Lily looked to Dran, who was still eating, having heard this kind of talk before. "Sounds to me like you’re more of a "prince" here than you knew. Has he always been this way?"

To hear Dimitri speak on the matter was interesting, as he hadn’t shown much interest in Dran until now. He wasn’t sure how to assess his younger brother, but if a councilwoman of another species is willing to vouch for him, then the man must have some decent qualities.

Maylia chuckled, remembering Dran as a young boy. "Yes, he never wanted to admit who he is. He was always running around protecting the little guys or stopping fights from happening. He’s always had very good diplomatic skills that were picked up as he grew older. I think he had them the whole time, and finding out he’s a god affirmed that."

Lily smirked, having a feeling that he would always be that way. Not trying to be the important one, but always there to save the day for someone small or weaker than him. *Definitely a redeeming quality.* Taking a bite of the meal on her plate, Lily was starting to understand just how much alike the two brothers are.

Maylia continued to ask them questions throughout the whole dinner, curious about every little thing about them. She asked about their childhoods and upbringings, which were different and more horrifying than she first thought. "Wait, you’re a prince, and they still treated you that way? My goddess, what is wrong with that dragon queen? It was your father who cheated, not you. Children don’t make those kinds of decisions, and she just took it out on you. This is why I left my Clan for the same reason. I know you can’t tell, but I am part wolf as well."

Hearing this came as a shock to Lily because she figured she was a purebred tiger. "How? I mean, I know how babies are born, but aren’t wolves and felines on opposing sides?" Maylia gave a small smile, picking at her food. "Yes, and most of the time it’s rare for a tiger to fall in love with a wolf, but it happens. When my mother became pregnant with me, it was strange because tigers and wolves usually have more than one cub, but my mother didn’t, just me."

This was strange to hear since most creatures had more than one baby at a time. If one had only one child, then it was usually a mixed breeding. To hear that there were others like her, even in this world, it gave her hope that things would change. Lily wanted children eventually and didn’t want them to go through the stigma’s of this realm like she and their possible father’s did.

"Like you, I was cursed before I was born. I didn’t have any special gifts or talents like most mixed breeds do, making my life that much harder. So I went into exile wanting to find a place where if someone did know where I came from, it wouldn’t matter. So I went as far north as I could travel without killing myself." The life-threatening mountain climb was the worst of it because she almost died from the cold.

Lily listened with great interest, but also wondering something as well. "Can you change into more them one creature?" Maylia was surprised she would ask this since most wouldn’t even think it possible. "Why do you ask?" She wasn’t about to admit something that was very personal and private for her to reveal without good reason.

"I have two beasts to change into, and I was wondering if there was a trick or skill that could be taught to change between them in a hurry if needed?" Lily wanted to know because her beasts didn’t always talk other or help her figure out the ins and outs of being a goddess. She was hoping to read some of the books her father gave her first, but if someone can show her that would be just as helpful.

Maylia, however, looked a bit offended by the question as if she knew the answer. "I may have more than one beast, but those secrets are usually found out by the person. Even if I could change into each beast, I doubt it’s the same way for everyone." It wasn’t the answer Lily expected, but it was the only one she was getting, it seemed. Maylia was a woman who kept her secrets well guarded. Her life’s story is something anyone could find out if they dug into it far enough.

"Now tell me a little more about these experiments your doing. Why do you have to be near the source to do them?" Lily explained that depending on how close one is to the source, the characteristics of the toxin change since they have had time to adapt and mutate over time. Lily had to conduct experiments in each area to see the severity and how much of whatever she either made or found would have to cover a wide area and in more condensed forms for maximum effect.

"Finding the source will tell me what the strength needs to be at that spot as well as allow me to purify it if I can. With my gifts, I can purify most evil, toxic parasites or microbes that live in the ground. The last two places Dimitri and I stopped at, I purified an area to see if it could be done with success. A friend of mine is heading there as we speak and hopefully can send a good report to me. I am very confident with the results. I just need to stop the source of the toxin so decontamination doesn’t happen."

Maylia was impressed she had gotten this far and with only so much equipment to do the work with. "Are you in need of resupplying? If so take this to any shop and they will give you full access to their stores. Even the back rooms some either don’t know about or can’t get in." She handed Lily what looked to be a seal of some kind. "What? Are you sure?"

Maylia was humbled by her uncertainty, but Lily needed to be more assertive to be taken more seriously. "Yes, if this will help everyone, even my people, then I want to help. Get everything you need to accomplish this task. For all our sakes."