The Dragon's Match

III

He grunted, outwardly vexed. It was inevitable, Dellanae had told him, that once the dragon reached his prime age the need for a mate would begin to take precedence over his actions. But Aëghan wasn't interested in acquiring something so... permanent. And the dragon merged with his soul was growing impatient.

He made to tug his cloak tighter across his shoulders, a chill blasting across his limbs as the wind picked up, only to discover that he had ventured from the estate without one. He cursed again- both the weather and the dragon. He loathed the cold, and he was some distance from the manor house. The pitiful amount of fire magic the beastkeeper had given him once in exchange for a service did not extend to keeping his limbs shielded from the ice and it only served to darken his mood further.

Turning on his heel, he began a purposeful and hasty march back. Snowflakes caught in his hair, the wind whipping the long strands before his eyes and he brushed them away with agitated motions, endeavouring to recall what he had been doing before the instinct had taken over.

It had succeeded his meeting with the matchmaker- probably the only woman in existence to make him feel concerned with her steadfast doggedness. There was something persistent about her he could respect- from a distance, of course. Yet he needed her services. He needed to make a match, a very particular match, and Mrs Holt was the key.

It was the only option available to him in any event, if he wanted to make the acquaintance of Lillian Adams, the eldest sister of the Ravensfield daughters. But he'd be damned if the youngest wasn't the most vexing female to have ever lived... Mildred Adams had issued a ban- Aëghan was never to be in the same room as Lillian, or even the same wing, and the house was large enough to ensure that their activities were kept strictly separate. He doubted Lillian even knew of his existence thanks to the bull-headed Draëllians that guarded her every movement and blocked his entrance or exit to any chamber, hallway, passage, or blasted privy if they believed Lillian was nearby.

It grated on every last nerve in his being knowing that the woman he needed to see above all others was so very close within his reach, but entirely unattainable.

Aëghan could have forced the matter, though he needed to remain in good standing with the youngest- her agreement to grant him access to her lands and properties without the constant threat of persecution was the closest thing to freedom his kind had received, and he may be a lot of things but depriving his people of that was something he couldn't stomach.

So he did something he never did- exercised patience. He waited for an opportunity to present itself for two weeks and it had been an effort in futility with the Draëllians always nearby, but then three pretty things had been dropped in his lap quite by accident that day.

Aëghan did not have an honourable intention in his body with regards to the three ladies he had met by chance in the same drawing room where Mrs Addilyn Holt was meeting with them to ascertain their prospects as her clients, yet they provided him with the opening he so desperately needed. He had been charming and flirtatious, and the ladies were quick to become enamoured with him- something Aëghan was no stranger to, should he wish it- and it was at their insistence that Mrs Holt had agreed to consider his application to join her service. He had left those chambers with a cocksure swing to his step, almost about ready to whistle a jaunty tune so sure was he that the matchmaker would not deny the cajoling voices of the pretty human ladies vouching for his patronage, and that was when his memory seemed to darken and the dragon took over.

He had no desire to actually make a match- the notion made him recoil in distaste- but it was public knowledge that Lady Lillian Adams was just one of Mrs Holt's esteemed clients- and seeking a husband, possibly soon if the family's unfortunate past was anything to go by. But Aëghan didn't need to marry the woman, he merely needed to see her and meet with her, to convince her of one outing- and therein lay the real challenge, but he had to at least have a means to meet with her first.