Claimed By A Dragon Prince

Lily let go of Dimitri’s arm, walking through the storage building, she knew had been empty two days ago. There were various kinds of food, some of which Lily didn’t realize she had grown. With the amount she saw there, this would last well into next year. She was curious why he showed her the largest farm the other day, or so it looked, when they got to the hill.

At least now the food would go to the right people, she hoped. Turning back she saw Dimitri staring down his brother as Dran walked over to Lily at the end of the stack. "This was everything harvested from that one farm you grew, Thank you. My people won’t have to suffer this winter. I know we haven’t talked about everything yet, but don’t shut me out. Please."

Lily’s heart did a little flip hearing this, wondering how his words would affect her so. She had a mate, he was feet away, but all she wanted to do in that moment was wrap her arms around this man who felt more connected to her than she thought possible. Lily wanted to answer him, but Dimitri walked up to them as Dran dropped her hand, having reached for it moments before.

"Is everything alright?" Dimitri could tell something was going on with Lily and his brother. Lily wasn’t looking at him, but at the stock in front of her, a small smile on her lips. Dran didn’t look Lily’s way to long, otherwise he might spook his brother’s jealousy. Things with Lily were unfinished, but they were far from done.

"Thank you for showing me this. I am glad my efforts will help the people here. From what I have seen, they needed a good boost of food, and I enriched all the foods grown as well as releasing an energy boost. The people here look more active and are working collectively. I did what I could within my power. I am glad it was enough." Lily had only been able to help small groups, but with the expedition, she has been able to step out and do more good for the people who really needed it.

Children were playing in the open fields next to the sheds, and some of the adults were chasing them around in some game they liked to play. Lily found the sight charming, glad to have had the chance to see and experience it. Dimitri watched her confused what abot what could be going through her mind. He still couldn’t reach for her through their bond which felt like it was there, but not.

He wasn’t sure what that meant, but things couldn’t change in a weeks time. She would come to him and tell him whatever was bothering her. He gave her space but stayed close to hear her thoughts about the settlement. She pointed out how to city itself was divided into sections for specific jobs.

"This was being built when Dran was brought here, but he kept bringing in people and they started pitching in to make the place more sustainable. No one is telling them to do it, just the right people doing the job they know how to do." Dimitri could see that no one was directly giving orders for people to work, but people moved between jobs so others could go home or take over for the last person working.

This level of peace he never thought to see in his lifetime, let alone in an underground settlement. Dimitri was curious to see more, but was a bit envious that his brother was one of the frontiersmen heading this operation. It just goes to show that things were more complicated back when they were born than he first thought.

His mother never talked about the day of his birth because she had also lost a son. Or so he thought until seeing all this, and the man in question was covered mostly with a black shadow. Other than that, he was a fit, healthy-looking dragon. He looked like the darklings when he was in dragon form, but Dran didn’t have toxic slugs on him.

Thinking about what his mother would think about Dran being alive concerned him because if she was like him and simply wanted Dran dead, that may put a darker stain on Dran’s thoughts of family. Or she might be surprised and welcome him, but she was a goddess herself, and there might be things going on that he wasn’t aware of. His conflicting thoughts were put on hold when they reached the field and saw the children slide down the hills with big leaves.

Lily wanted to try but felt it was more for the kids then for the adults. Dran could see she was holding back and grabbed her hand, taking her to the top of the hill. "Hey, what are you...?" He grabbed a leaf and set it on the ground for her. "Come on, I know you want to." She really did so she sat down, grabbing the big stem and leaning back as she went soaring downhill really fast, the excitement bubbling up inside her.

Lily giggled out loud all the way down than ran up the hill again with an idea. She was about to go down again when Dran sat down next to her on a leaf as well, ready to race her down the hill. "Ready?" Lily gave him a cheeky smile, knowing what she was about to do next. Gathering the wind, she sweeps it under her leaf, soaring down the hill then doing flips and loops in the air after launching off a small rise at the bottom of the hill.

Dran watched her almost running into a tree at the bottom. The ground felt more lush with her joy being so infectious. The kids were giggling at cheering for her as she came down, and the group rushed her.

"Can you do that for us? Please? Please?!" Several kids asked her before she could say yes or no to their requests. "Whoa, one at a time. You want to fly around like me. Well, that’s a little hard for me, but I’ll do this. Step back." Lily started to gather energy pushing her hands into the ground, causing rises to appear over the hillside. Just a couple and at the end of them, or their target area, a soft bed of wheat grew so people could have a soft landing.

The kids gasped seeing her do this, then grabbed their leaves and tried the rises out. Some land right in the wheat beds others try to do flips or poses making everyone laugh at their antics. Dimitri could see how she would be attracted to a place like this, having been an outcast herself. He promised never to control her, but that didn’t mean he wanted to simply give up on her either. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

She came running over to him after going down the hill for the 8th time. Her smile warmed his heart as she held him looking up at him. "I thought I lost you there for moment. I am glad you are alright." She smiled up at him her hands linked behind his neck. she leaned in setting her head on his shoulder glad that he was alive and their with her.

She still felt in the back of her mind the pull to Dran as well and tried not to pull on that too much. "I have a couple things to tell you lets sit under the tree and I’ll explain." Dimitri nodded walking with her to the nearest willow tree the branches waving in the sun and giving them shade, with the suns at the highest peak.

She told him how the his brother was not the source having tested that herself to be sure and the source wasn’t in this settlement, but it was close by. It seemed the deeper you went into the mountains of the northern region the more life that dies since nothing grew going beyond a certain point of the settlement. "So we need to go beyond here to see what the real problem is. If it like this hear it will get worse before it gets better if unattended. We should look at leaving tomorrow morning, if not tonight."

Dimitri could see she didn’t want to leave, but she knew they were on a mission and personal feelings couldn’t take priority. "Your right. I know this is important to all Clans as everyone is effected by the toxin. Very well, I’ll let Dran know so we can resupply before we move on."

"I would like to talk with him myself. Why don’t you head back to your room and get some more rest. You still look very tired." Dimitri had a couple things to discuss with his brother before he left. The brother’s were trying to take a more diplomatic approach to the fact that the people covered in the black shadow were not deranged or mindless.

Dimitri wanted to know the extent, and it seemed that the citizens there highly respected him. He approached Dran wanting to hear what he had to say. "Where is Lily going?" Dimitri knew Dran had probably been looking after her and wanted to know out of concern. "She was looking tired after playing and using her power. I know she doesn’t always see when she needs to rest."

Dran nodded wanting to walk her back to the room, but realizing he needed Sunflower to take her back to her original room not that it had been cleaned up. "One moment brother." Dran sees Sunflowers’ cousin who bows immediately. "Find Sunflower make sure she leads Lady Lily back to HER rooms, please." The girl nods, understanding his meaning, then runs off to find her cousin.