The Dragon and the Queen of Ice

Prologue

Queen Kyra of Icragon ignored the whispers of her servants and courtiers as the doors of the great hall slammed shut behind her last suitor. The young man who had been her only hope to break her curse was leaving her bound in chains. Destined for a room in her dungeons.

Last summer, during a training exercise with her army, a magical shard of ice lodged in her eye, taking her sight. Its power continued to spread through her body. The freezing cold lived under her skin and when it reached her heart, it would kill her.

The palace physicians said she had a year. Two at the most.

Only falling in love might break the shard's spell. But though she tried, she could not open her heart to any of the princes or nobles who courted her.

Thomas had come the closest. He seemed to be very gentle and kind and her maids told her he was also very handsome. She accepted his proposal and expected that what she felt for him would be enough.

Not to break the enchantment, but to do the next best thing: produce an heir.

When he tried to take her hand during the betrothal ceremony, her bare skin nearly gave him frostbite. Only the quick response of the palace physicians saved him from permanent damage. Knowing what now did of him, she almost regretted their competence.

But at the time, she worried it would mean the end of their engagement. Thomas told her they would work through it. That they would find a way to get around her limitations.

All lies.

He never intended to keep his word about touching her. He didn’t intend to try.

Instead, he planned to wait out their marriage until her inevitable death, then take the throne for himself. Several noble families already pledged their allegiance to him.

Pure chance uncovered his conspiracy. They were scheduled to marry in two days, with his coronation following immediately afterward so he could rule as king by her side.

Denied his chance at power, his kind facade disappeared, and he’d shouted all manner of insults at her when the guards dragged him away. Most had not hurt at all, except for the one that had come the closest to the truth.

That no man in his right mind would want a wife he couldn’t touch.

Outside the palace, the winds howled. The rising of the winter storm was too sudden to be natural, and she realized what it meant. The ice dragon is coming, she said, tightening her grip upon her scepter. It now doubled as a cane to help her find her way around. Prepare the throne room for his arrival.

Yes, Your Majesty.

The thunder of many feet running about on the stone floors nearly matched the din of the storm outside. Everyone and everything moving around her. Without her. She tapped the end of her staff with every step she took, silently counting each one to match her movements with the map of the palace inside her head.

It had taken her a long time to learn to walk without her eyesight. Fortunately, her servants now cleared the floors of potential obstacles, like rugs that would not lie flat.

She made her way in good time and was just mounting the stairs to her throne when the outer doors to the chamber were thrown open. Kyra whirled and used the scepter to keep from falling as she dipped into a less than graceful bow. Your Excellency. It has been a very long time since you graced us with your presence.

A strong, icy wind blew into the room. Though it was likely close to freezing, she no longer experienced the cold in the way others did. She conjured up the image of the dragon in her mind. He had two shapes. One was a giant winged reptile with ice-blue eyes and silver-white scales. The other was of an older man with hair the same color as the scales.

Judging by the strength of the gust that preceded his entrance, she expected it to be the former. So the sound of his deep voice booming off the walls of the room rather than inside her head through what the dragons called ‘mind-speak,’ caught her off-guard. Your Majesty. I understand you are in distress.

Not distress, Excellency. Pride would not let her admit to that. But very discouraged.

You could not find a human to wed.

No. She wondered how the latest news reached him so quickly, but the dragons always seemed to know everything. And it is not good news for my people, I fear.

Her father and her twin brother died within two years of each other. She had been busy adjusting to her new duties when the shard struck her. Also, Kyra had not yet been of marriageable age. She only turned eighteen six months ago. One month before being cursed and two years after she ascended to the throne.

Her fears of following in her family’s fate might have played a part in her acceptance of Thomas. Something about him never seemed quite right, even though he appeared to be a perfect suitor on the surface. Being of high enough birth to have a minor claim to the throne in his own right, but not so great that he would have been a threat.

Or so she thought.

And she desperately needed to solidify her family line.

If Kyra died without an heir, several factions with almost equal claims would fight for the throne of Icragon and throw the kingdom into chaos.

With the way Thomas so easily gained support for his plot, they might not wait for her death. Her blindness considered another weakness to be taken advantage of.

I may have a solution for you, Your Majesty.

Go on.

My cousin, Lord Grieghern of the Fire Dragons of the South, has more sons than he knows what to do with them. One could be your husband if you wish. He would be immune to the ice running through your veins.

If I wed, it will be for the sake of an heir. How would marrying a dragon help in that?

Humans and dragons have interbred before. Surely you’re aware that you must have a touch of dragon's blood in you, or else the shard would have killed you much quicker.

That was a rumor. She had heard the tales, of course, but never believed them. They were most often mentioned by her family's enemies, as a way of proving that they were not pure enough to sit upon the throne. An outlandish tale and nothing more.

Is it?

She took a deep breath. Why are you offering this? What do you get out of such an arrangement?

A balm to my conscience, Your Majesty. When I fought a group of dread-trolls last summer, one of them struck me over the head with a magic ice spear. A shard from that broken weapon lodged in your eye.

She recalled the roars that shook the ground on that day. Loud but distant. Engrossed in training with her men, she ignored what was surely not a human affair. Oh? Then why wait so long to offer help?

It is a very uncomfortable thing for a dragon to interfere in human affairs.

Yet one of your kind would marry a human?

The dragons of the south are odd. Not as... dignified as they should be. They would not find it as awkward.

Hardly reassuring, but what choice did Kyra have? She needed an heir and no human male could fulfill the duties of a husband.

She owed it to her people to make one last effort to avert chaos. A dragon from such a distant land would have no claim on her family’s throne. Her people would not stand for him to be their king, so he would have to be her consort instead. Very well. And since this is your idea, I hope you would be willing to help with making the arrangements for the match?

Of course, Your Majesty.

Chapter One

I don’t know why they won’t allow you to meet your bride before the ceremony, his brother complained.

Jodan Grieghern tightened his coat around his waist and pulled the collar more tightly against his neck as a chill wind blew into his bedchamber. He was so far from home and the weather was so foreign, he wondered how he would ever adjust to the change. Seems fair to me. The queen requested it that way, so she wouldn’t be only one marrying someone she’s never seen before.

Rergyn sighed. You’re remarkably calm about this.

We’ve lived our entire lives knowing that we would end up in arranged matches. Why should this be any different?

At least your bride-to-be has some dragon blood in her. Or so it is said.

That doesn’t matter. He wasn’t the first fire-dragon, or even the first from their family, to be engaged to a human. Their elder brother Dirkan was promised to a princess from a neighboring land, though it would be several months more before that union took place, since the female was not yet of age.

I guess we should be grateful that we can mate with these humans, so our kind doesn’t die out completely.

Still worried about who Mother and Father are planning to choose for your bride?

The rumors are not… good.

I’m sorry. Jodan had heard the talk as well. The proposed bride possessed a most formidable reputation, having outlived two other husbands. But there’s still a chance that they will not finalize the match.

I cannot hope to be as fortunate as you, brother. Queen Kyra sounds like she might be quite exceptional. Regardless of whether or not she has dragon blood.

True. Which partially eased his nerves about his pending wedding.

A group of human servants entered the room. The scent of their fear was strong and bitter, making his nose twitch.

If we were not about to start the ceremony, I might consider changing into my dragon form right now. Rergyn spoke directly into his mind. A guaranteed way to ensure the privacy of their discussion. The corner of his mouth twitched in a faint smile. That would give them something to be afraid of.

Stop it, Rergyn. You can hardly blame them for being uneasy. Though he would not be crowned king, he would still be the queen’s consort. That was enough to make the humans uncomfortable.

One of the older men in the group stepped forward. Her Majesty asked us to present you with this wedding gift.

A ceremonial belt and sword. Jodan bit back a laugh. Dragons had been on the wrong end of the humans’ blades and now…

He assumed it was meant for the human she originally intended to marry. The rush to make their arrangements would have left little time for changes.

He drew it around his waist, then he and Rergyn followed the servants down to the courtyard. They were ushered into a carriage for the ride to the cathedral. The structure at the other end of the town was already quite full. Mostly with humans. The only other dragon besides himself and his brother was their distant cousin. Ozeir, king of the ice dragons.

Jodan and his brother took their place near the altar. Despite everything he told his twin earlier, a twinge of nervousness