I am Dragon (Dragon Fires Rising Book 2)

“May we offer counsel, brother?”
“To a King fighting for his kingdom’s very survival? I will need all the counsel I can get, my brothers,” N’chala said, heavy of voice. “However, I will remind you both that this is our younger sister. Azania has always been one moved by her heart. As amply proven in these last few days, the heart of a woman is a force far more powerful than any of us imagined – both in spite and ambition, in the matter of Nahritu-N’shula, and in the power of a woman despised by her own father’s plotting. Yet Azania, if I hear her rightly, wishes to rise above the sorrow and mistakes of the past, and so the question comes to this elder brother’s mind, why? How far will she fly to pursue her dreams?”
He knew. Word must have reached him from Chakkix Camp.
Even as realisation set his hearts racing, Princess Azania said, “You are perceptive, King N’chala. I will admit, there is something special, exhilarating and perhaps, world-changing in the notion of being a Dragon Rider, and friend and companion to a Dragon as noble as he who holds me in his paw. However, it is as you say. My heart yearns farther – across the ocean.”
N’chala said, “Am I to understand –”
Again, Aragu burst out, “This is nonsense! Forgive that I must speak plainly, my King, but are we to believe that this disobedient and disgraced woman would fly all over the realms, spreading her seditious doctrine –”
“Still your tongue! I am your King! Have not enough died?”
The throne room rang with his fury.
After a pause as awkward as a Sea Dragon in the room, Dragon said, “May I give an answer?”
“Speak,” N’chala invited.
“First, we plan to consult with the Dragons of the Tamarine Mountains, finding one or a Clan who will speak for us. I believe that Dragon is Juggernaut the Grinder. We will ask the Clans to rise in power, wingtip to wingtip, and fly against the Skartun. In all honesty, o King, I cannot imagine such a brotherhood of Dragons coming to pass. We are famously clannish, hidebound and bearers of grudges in all five hearts, and that is my word as a Dragon. That some Clans will choose to fly is the best we can hope for.”
“After that, the Princess Azania and I plan to fly to the North, to the Vaylarn Archipelago. There, we have the promise of a Dragon army of warriors such as few have ever imagined. The Isles Dragons are masters of combat. Furthermore, as you may be aware, Azania and I had the chance to serve the young King of Vaylarn, Azerim, when his parents were struck down by treachery and poisoning. We hope to visit with him and see how they are faring. There is much trouble with Sea Serpents in their oceans. However, we also have it on the word of a Dragoness that Azerim still harbours great regard for Azania, despite the years which have passed since last they met.”
N’chala posed a query with a grim quirk of his lips.
He added, “We shall scent out the mettle of this young King’s heart, and his intentions toward the Princess Azania. If they are not worthy …”
He twizzled his neck and bared a few fangs expressively.
King N’chala grinned in return, baring his own teeth in a surprisingly Dragon-like statement of intent. “I believe we have an understanding, Dragon. Sister, is all this as you would have it?”
In a small voice, she said, “All that Dragon has said, is true.”
An eerie, scale-prickling silence pervaded the hall.
What would happen now? So many scents of discontent, outrage and distrust surrounded them. Dragon could not gain any clear sense of a future.
“Very good!” The King clapped his hands sharply, making more than a few people – and one Dragon – jump. “Citizens of T’nagru, I wish to make first official appointment as your King. I, N’chala N’gala of T’nagru, hereby appoint the Princess Azania N’gala as Roving Ambassador to the Dragons.”
Ah, how she leaped in his paw! Gasps arose from the crowd; he saw and scented naked fury in some. Dragon could not keep a grin from widening upon his lips.
“This is a new position in the realm, one carrying wide-ranging powers and authority. We shall speak about your duties and prepare letters of introduction to the Dragon Clans before your imminent departure,” he added. “Secondly, good citizens, hear my decree. I, N’chala N’gala of T’nagru, hereby decree that all citizens of our kingdom are to treat Dragons in a fitting and honourable manner, as creatures of intelligence and volition at least on par with Humans. If we are to survive this war, we must set aside old prejudices and forge a new path to freedom.”
With a grin that lit up his dark, bearded face, the young King paused to take in his sister’s utter bemusement and joy.
Heartily, N’chala said, “Ambassador, you and I need to discuss how we put a formerly rebellious Princess of the realm and her mighty Dragon to work. What say you?”
Azania voiced a wordless squeak.
Clearly bent upon ribbing her properly, he continued, “Sister, may I be the first to congratulate you upon your appointment to a position in which I believe you will add most immodestly to our Kingdom’s honour and renown? Furthermore, when you have recovered your tongue, may I humbly request the honour of receiving your vow?”
How his scales prickled! Never had he – nor the Princess, he was certain – imagined such an outcome. Traditions overturned. Nay, tossed out of the nearest window! Centuries of a woman’s so-called place in the Kingdom flouted, moreover, with full royal permission. Oh, N’chala was about to receive an earful from all his advisors and most especially his brothers, but this Dragon sensed something novel in the wind.
Was this the