Page 103 of Firebird
“Aurelia was the last female golden dragon. She lived centuries ago. She was the only daughter, and only child, of the most prominent family in Rome. Because she was a gold dragon, the last childbearing female of her kind, the emperor wanted her as his wife.”
“Which emperor?”
“Crusus the Red was his name. The problem was that Aurelia was a defiant child. She was well-known for being hotheaded and reckless. Her father had raised her with the independent will of a son. Furthermore, Aurelia was in love with another. A lesser nobleman’s son. When her father told her she would marry the emperor, she refused.”
“I suppose that didn’t go over well with the emperor,” I said, turning back to her while I folded my old tunic and placed it in the trunk on top of my collar necklace.
“Not at all.” Rhea laughed. “She told her father she’d like to see them try to force her to marry the brute of an emperor. She said she’d die before she let him take her. When news of her refusal came to Crusus, he immediately gathered his praetorians and marched to her home, intent on dragging her back to the palace by force.”
I sat on the stiff mattress and Rhea sat beside me, her eyes alight with excitement in telling the tale.
“Sothen,” she said dramatically, “they stormed into her home and Aurelia fled into their outer courtyard, where she shifted into her golden dragon. She roared to the sky and took flight. Well, of course the praetorians and the emperor also shifted and chased after her.”
“And they caught her?”
Rhea grinned. “No. They did not. She was so fast that she’d made it over the lands of Hispania before they finally began to catch up to her.”
Rhea’s expression turned somewhat sad.
“Aurelia knew she wouldn’t be able to outfly them for long, and she refused to marry any other but her true love. She also knew the emperor would kill her lover the moment they dragged her back to Rome. So sheallowed them to draw close. One of the praetorians blew fire to warn her to stop. That was what Aurelia had wanted. She sucked up his fire into her mouth and swallowed it.”
“What?” I was confused. “But how?”
“She was agoldendragon.”
“What does that mean?”
“Golden dragons had the ability to amplify fire. Suck it into themselves and expel ten times more. They could create anexplosionof fire.”
“So she was able to burn them and get away?”
Rhea shook her head. “Only the one. The emperor held back and waited. So she did the only thing she could. She slowed her flight and bared her neck for him, showing she was submitting. And when the emperor took her bait, latching onto her with his claws and clasping his jaws at her throat in midair, she amplified all the fire burning inside her and burst her own body into flames.”
I flinched, not prepared for that ending.
“She fell to her death, but she took the emperor with her, clutched in her claws. So that’s where the term firebird comes from.”
“Well, I don’t have the ability to burn anyone to death. And I thank you for the compliment.” My mind wandered to Julian for the hundredth time since I’d arrived at this new home, remembering the first time he called me firebird back in Dacia. I smiled at the thought of being compared to Aurelia, the golden dragon.
Rhea laughed. “You’ve got that same bold spirit though. Only”—she paused, her brow pinched, and placed a hand on my arm—“be careful around master.”
I gestured toward the bruises on her wrists. “Does he hurt you often?”
“Oh, not really.” She laughed while tenderly touching a bruise. “Just hold still when he’s rutting on you. He usually only gets violent when you fight him.”
“You fight him?”
“Me? Gods, never.” She shook her head.
And yet she still had bruises from his rough handling. My heart sank into despair at this pit of hell I’d been dropped into. Ciprian truly was the epitome of cruelty and brutality, which made me even more determined to find a way to kill him.
“Rhea,” said a large, burly man also wearing one of Ciprian’s collars. “Dominus wants you and the new girl to serve him dinner tonight.”
Rhea sobered instantly, her smile vanishing. “Yes, Adriano.”
“Cook will have dinner ready in an hour.”
My stomach rolled with dread. As much courage as I’d had coming here, it seemed to all fly away at that foreboding summons. But I’d sworn to Julian that I’d take care of myself, and so I must.
