The Dragon Prince's Consort

Nineteen

Valen made a face. "You can get anything with enough kai."

"Material things, yes. And as you've seen, you can even buy a person's life – that's essentially what a woman's bride-price amounts to, the value of her life – but just because you can afford a woman's bride-price doesn't mean she has to love you."

Valen's throat tightened. Could Fang... love me? Me? The thought was as terrifying as it was exciting. He remembered what he'd told her in the first hours after his brother's terrible prank had been exposed, I don't expect you to love me... Perhaps that was why it hurt so much. No one loved him, not the dwarf Drassian, the Dragon Emperor's disappointment. Valen had no reason to believe Fang would be any different.

Yena pitched her voice low so it wouldn't carry. "You deserve to be happy, Valen. Tias may hate you for being his brother, but nothing will change the fact that you are just as deserving of love as anyone else. And I don't mean the kind of love romance writers make their kai peddling – any flat-headed shorthorn can pay for that – I mean the kind that makes you understand why Empires are built and why books like The Red Castle are still in print over four hundred years after they were first published." Reaching across the table, Yen laid a hand on his balled-up fist. "I've known you since you were fourteen, Valen. You're a good man, an amazing uncle and a fine Dragon Prince, no matter what Tias says. I would hate to see you squander the chance to finally get what you deserve by sending that girl away because that's what you think she wants."

Valen looked down at Yena's hand, noting that she still wore the ring Aeden had given her when he asked her bride-price. It was a spectacular piece, wrought gold in the shape of a sprig of teaflower with white crystal pieces embedded in the petals and emeralds in the leaves, commissioned by Aeden for her hand alone. It was hard to ignore the similarities between the ring and Fang's wholly custom-made wardrobe – the thought that years from now Fang might still own those robes and wear them brought another spasm to his hearts, and a realization: I want her to stay. I want her to want to stay. Even if she doesn't love me, if she wanted to stay... I could live with that. He looked up and met Yena's warm, sympathetic yellow eyes. "What do I do?"

"If you want Fang to stay with you after you free her, you 'll have to show her – short of telling her outright – that staying with you is the most appealing option. You can't make the choice for her, but you might be able to nudge her in that direction."

Nudge her? For a moment Valen envisioned the forehead-touch he'd so wanted to experience, but he understood what Yen meant. "But how do I do that?"

"You do everything you're already doing. You work on your colony, you teach Fang how to read and write and behave like a Drassian. You show her you trust her, and you do whatever it takes to show her she can trust you. You might not get what you want in the end, but you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you tried."

Valen felt as though he was sinking. True, it would be better than doing nothing. It's early yet, but if there's any chance that Fang might feel the same way... "Yen... when my brother asked for your bride-price, how did you feel?"

The Lady Consort chuckled. "I'd been waiting for him to ask for so long that when he finally said something, I threw my shoe at him! I told him if he'd went another week I'd go set myself on the auction stage. Of course, I only said that to light a fire under him and get him to finally make his bid."

"When did you know you wanted him to ask?" Valen wanted to ask when Yena knew she loved his brother Aeden, but his courage failed him.

Yen tossed her hair, smiling at memories. "When I wanted him to ask? Eyah, probably the year after I started my internship under the former Secretary. Aeden was just starting out in his new Minister role, and he was so worried about getting it right he started to confide in me. I thought it was silly, a Dragon Prince confiding in an intern – if anyone should've been worried about making mistakes, it was me! But I realized that he trusted me because I spoke to him like an equal – in my mind we were equals, both new in our roles and worried we'd make a mess of it." Yen cocked her head. "That should sound familiar."