Chapter 117: Accepted His Courtship
The room went silent.
Brittney’s mouth twitched. "Well, that suddenly sounds a lot less cute than it did when we were children."
Aria rubbed the side of her temple, where a headache was beginning to form.
"I still don’t get it," she said. "I didn’t steal this from him. He gave it to me. There’s no way he’s coming to attack me for something he clearly gifted me."
It simply didn’t make sense.
Alek scratched the back of her head, visibly uncomfortable now. "I mean, you’re human, so perhaps it doesn’t apply to you."
"Alek."
"I’m serious. These are draconic customs. Some are very old and might not even be practiced anymore."
"Just say it already!" Aria finally lost her patience.
"Fine!" Alek sighed. "Dragons sometimes give pieces from their hoard to a female they’ve chosen."
Aria became very still. "Chosen for what?"
Alek looked at Trisha, who suddenly found the ceiling fascinating. Left with no other choice, she returned her attention to Aria.
"A mate."
Aria blinked in confusion.
"A what?"
"A mate," Alek repeated cautiously. "In draconic traditions, giving a female something from the dragon’s personal hoard was part of courtship. Dragons are extremely possessive of their treasure, so offering something from the hoard was supposed to demonstrate that the female was more valuable to him than the treasure itself."
Aria slowly looked down at the ruby resting against her chest. Suddenly, it felt much heavier than it had minutes ago.
"And when the female accepts it?" she asked nervously.
Alek visibly swallowed. "Well... she accepts the courtship."
Aria’s head shot up. "I accepted what?"
"Technically," Alek rushed to explain, "there are other stages involved. It isn’t simply jewelry and suddenly you’re mated for life. But accepting treasure from a courting dragon is considered a very significant step. Especially if the pieces came directly from his personal hoard."
Aria stared at her in horror. Her hand had gone unconsciously to the necklace.
When Rhydian had stood before her with his pockets overflowing with jewelry, she had thought the entire situation ridiculous. A dragon behaving like some overgrown child, shoving jewelry at her until she picked something just to make him stop.
Now another memory returned.
The way he had watched her choose. How his attention had fixed on the ruby the moment she put it on. She could never forget the satisfaction in his eyes.
Her stomach did a double flip.
"What happens after his mate accepts?" Aria couldn’t help but ask.
Alek hesitated.
Aria’s eyes narrowed. "What happens, Alek?"
"Well, historically, the dragon would take his chosen mate back to his lair."
Aria felt something cold crawl down her spine.
"And?"
Alek looked deeply apologetic. "And they would complete the mating process."
"What do you mean by complete the mating process?" Aria asked, even though she already knew what it meant. Her brain simply didn’t want to acknowledge it.
Trisha answered with brutal dryness. "They fuck and have children."
"Oh, shit," Brittney muttered.
Aria stopped breathing. For several seconds, she simply stood there, staring at nothing. The room suddenly felt too warm.
It was at that moment that another horrifying thought struck her. What if Maverick hadn’t come in when he did? Would Rhydian have taken her and flown her to wherever his lair was? Probably somewhere she could never escape even if she tried.
She had accepted the jewelry out of ignorance. She probably wouldn’t have understood what was happening until it was too late. And if she refused to mate with him once they got there, what then? Would Rhydian have forced himself on her? She hadn’t come to this academy to mate with anyone, much less a dragon. And she certainly hadn’t come here to give birth to one’s children—if that was even possible.
"Oh my God." Aria began to panic.
"Aria?" Brittney sat forward.
"Oh my God."
"Don’t panic," Alek said quickly.
Aria looked at her as though she had lost her mind. "You just told me I accidentally accepted some dragon mating ritual. How exactly am I supposed to not panic?"
"No, no, no. That isn’t what I said."
"That is exactly what you said!"
"I said it could have been part of a courtship ritual."
"That is not better!"
Aria suddenly felt dizzy. She took one step backward, but her legs betrayed her. Brittney shot out of her seat and caught her by the arm before she could stumble.
"Whoa. Sit down before you crack your head open and die before marrying your dragon prince."
"Brittney," Aria growled, her voice low and dangerous. This was not the time for jokes.
"Fine. Mouth shut." Brittney pursed her lips together.
Alek hurried over as Brittney guided Aria into the nearest seat.
"But don’t be afraid, Aria," Alek said quickly. "You’re here while Rhydian is gone. He gave you the jewelry and left. He didn’t take you anywhere."
Only because Maverick provoked him.
Aria wanted to say it aloud, but she didn’t have the strength. She simply closed her eyes and took a moment to breathe.
Perhaps Alek was right and it was simply a gift. A strange gift from an even stranger dragon, but still a gift.
But deep down, there was still a voice telling her she was living in her own little world of delusion.
Aria suddenly stood, startling the girls who had gathered closely around her.
"Alright," she said. "This is what we’re going to do. I’ll take off these goddamned pieces of jewelry and send them back to him. That should be the perfect rejection message, right?" she asked Alek.
"Well..." Alek started. "It’s up to the dragon to—"
"Case closed." Aria didn’t want to hear the rest of her words.
She took a deep breath. Then she said, "Now, I’m going to walk to my room, take a bath and wash all this bad luck and misfortune off my skin, have a good sleep so I can think better, and then I’ll figure out a way to send these gifts back to their owner. Right?"
She looked between the three girls, waiting for confirmation.
"Right," all three of them said, although none of them sounded remotely convinced.
Nonetheless, Aria ignored their uncertainty and forced a smile. "See you guys."
She walked over to her room and, without looking back, stepped inside and shut the door behind her.
For a moment, Alek, Brittney, and Trisha remained in silence.
Then Brittney muttered, "She’s living in delusion, right?"
"One hundred percent," Alek and Trisha said in chorus.