"First will be that your mate must stay in his male form at all times within the city. He may only shift into his beast form if you are in danger." The king stated. "Second, you'll stay within the palace walls for both your safety and my city's safety. A room will be provided for you and your mate to stay in.
"Trips into the city will be allowed, however you must be escorted by a guardsman. Since you're close to Xavier, taking him with you into the city works fine. Otherwise, you can ask for a guardsman to go with you."
The king paused for a moment, allowing me to take in his words. And for the most part, these conditions were pretty reasonable. I did have some questions.
"Will staying in the palace be a permanent arrangement or will we be allowed to move into a place in the city after some time?" I asked.
While staying in the palace was fine, I also didn't want to stay there for however long I was going to live here. Having my own home would be much better. Not to mention it'd be easier to keep away from some prying eyes.
Living in the palace should be a short term thing.
"I suppose we can discuss you moving into the city once you have a few mates and others get used to your mate." The king mused.
"Fair enough." I nodded my head in understanding.
I did come here to get more mates, so I guess that works out. The city also did need time to be okay with Ahi's presence. That way we wouldn't have random beastmen attacking him out of fear.
Then again, no matter what, that still might happen. But there wasn't much we could do about irrational fear and hate of ferals.
Shaking my head at those thoughts, I turned my attention back to the conversation at hand and asked, "Do you have any other conditions we need to agree to?"
"There is one more…" The king paused, as if contemplating whether to say it or not. Finally he sighed, "I want you to court Lord Altas."
"What?!" I exclaimed in shock, anger rising in me. "That bastard causes trouble with me and you want me to court him?! Are you out of your damn mind?!"
I knew I probably shouldn't have said the last part by the way the king's eyes glinted at my words, but I didn't care. There was no way in hell I was agreeing to some crazy condition like that.
"I'm not crazy if that's what you're saying." The king huffed. "There's a reason why I asked you to court him."
"And what would that reason be?!" I growled.
"How much do you know about dragons?" The king asked instead of answering my question.
It annoyed me, but I still replied, "Not much really…"
"I see… Well, dragons are typically bound to one mate chosen by the Beast God." The king said. "Their mate will normally get a marking and scent that only the dragon will sense to show that's their mate. And Lord Altas believes you are his chosen mate."
"Is…" Lord Altas grumbled.
Ahi and I, meanwhile, both stiffened at the king's words. My mind immediately went to the dragon tattoo on my back, making me wonder if they had confused it for some kind of mate marking like Ahi had.
But none of them had seen it. At least I didn't think so. My shoulder was covered by my dress strap, but when Altas picked me up he could've seen it by accident. Whatever the case was, something wasn't right.
There was no way this was true.
[Hidden Quest Triggered]
[Hidden Quest: Fated Mate]
[You've met a dragon destined to be your mate as written by the stars. Court the dragon, learning what you can about him. Bonus rewards for becoming mates within three months.]
[Reward: 2x Standard Skills] [Penalty: Death of a mate]
The screen suddenly popped up in front of me and when I read the notice, I also blew a fuse. This system was playing games again with me, forcing my hand.
Talking nonsense about it being written in the stars. It was just messing with me, wanting to control the path I'd take. Not to mention threatening Ahi's life just to control me. I wanted to throttle the hell out of it.
"Elisa?" Xavier's voice rang out with a hint of concern, pulling me out of my spiral.
"Sorry… I just don't believe this." I muttered, not bothering to hide my annoyance. I gazed at the king and declared, "I'll agree to the condition only if Altas agree to some of my rules I have for being courted. Additionally, if things don't work out between us, I don't want this to affect our stay here."
The king kept a blank expression at my words, glancing at Altas for a moment before turning back to me and nodding his head in agreement. "That's fine and since we've come to an agreement, I think it's time we all get some rest… I'll leave you to Rowan to show you your rooms."
The king got up as he said the last part, adding, "Oh and Xavier, make sure to go visit your mother. I'm sure she's been wanting to see you for some time now."
With that he left the room, leaving the rest of us in a tense room. I could cut though it like butter and no longer wished to stick around. Besides, Ahi, Xavier and I needed to chat.
I could practically feel the questions Ahi was holding down.
"Could you take us to our rooms, please?" I asked, turning to Rowan. "It's been a long day and I wish to rest."
Rowan just nodded before getting up. Everyone else moved to get up, Ahi holding onto my right hand tightly. Not enough to hurt me, but as if he was scared I'd disappeared.
I gently lay my head on my arm and murmured softly, "We'll talk once we get to the room."
He glanced down at me for a moment, nodding his head in understanding. I then turned my gaze to Altas and the sulking lizard and said, "We can meet sometime tomorrow to discuss this courting arrangement."
Altas just quietly nodded before heading out with the lizard trailing behind him. Once they disappeared the four of us made our way to the rooms we'd be staying in.