Red spent the last few days testing the limits of Zoltan's slave collar. The man begrudgingly obeyed him but completely listened to Merin.

Merin thought he was still spending time working over the genteel man, but Red had bigger fish to fry. To be exact, he had a supposed dragon to roast over the fire.

Merin seemed too ill-equipped for what was to come. Mordecai hadn't stopped by to only drop off a hand mirror and leave his pet behind; Mordecai knew something before either of them could.

The first night that they spent together was when Merin conceived. He didn't know until he lost his mind to blood lust. When she spoke to him, he might have done something inexplicable if she hadn't been carrying his growing blood.

Merin was being watched by a God who wanted her to have children. Neither knew why that was, and he couldn't get answers from Mordecai. Red couldn't take the chance that his future blood would be kidnapped.

So this was how Red found himself in Reu's smithery, trying to test the limits of the lizard.

Red dangled it over the spit; it was slowly turning as he attempted to roast it. The lizard looked back at him with bored eyes, unimpressed with the heat.

Red could feel his lips pull back in an ironic smile. Interestingly, the lizard remained unharmed after a full day and night on the spit.

"The Russus has started to worry about it," Bellare said.

Red ignored the man who'd been overstepping his bounds more and more. Red had managed to distract Merin with tasks that bought him time with the creature. He went to great lengths to test out multiple attacks. He'd taken knives to it and tried smashing it with multiple heavy things. And now even fire couldn't harm it.

Red used fireproof gloves to pick up the spit and then dropped the spit and the lizard into the waiting water. The water sizzled as the collision of heat and cold met.

Red watched the lizard as he waited to see how long the thing could go without air. He counted in his head and saw the lizard didn't struggle or look upset. A normal animal in this situation would fight for life and try to escape. This lizard looked like it was enjoying the deep dive like a bath. It was well over an hour, and the lizard rested peacefully at the bottom of the water tank. Red knew it was alive because it was still blinking. Tiny bubbles floated to the top like it could breathe underwater.

Red stuck his hand in the water to untie the lizard, and it bobbled up to the water's surface. The lizard then started moving his legs and began paddling around leisurely. There were no gasps for air or stress in the creature. Each movement the lizard created was slow and peaceful.

"What is that thing?" Bellare said with less composure. "How is it possible?"

"It's a dragon," Red said. This had to be the only valid explanation for what it was.

The lizard blandly gazed up at him. It was blowing bubbles in the water now.

If Red were a betting man, he'd wager that the damn beast was laughing at him.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Aram."

Red should have known he couldn't return to his quarters without being spotted by someone in the main palace.

The tone that spoke his name was melodious and collected. There was only one brother who spoke as if he were always performing. That brother was Cem. He was the second eldest after Akkad and the more dangerous of the two. One could guess what Akkad would do because of his hot-headed nature. Cem was controlled and always watching for an advantage during the chaos of Akkad's fits.

Red spun on his heels to look at Cem. The other man wore only red on his robes. The only black was his slicked-back hair, which looked like the other man had painstakingly tried to lighten the color.

It was one of many attempts by sons of the royal family to show they were not serious about the throne. It never saved a single one of them from the slaughter of ascension.

"We need you at the meeting this afternoon," Cem said. "There's talk of war starting in the northern provinces. The remnants of their original countries have gathered and haven't paid their taxes in the past six months."

"Isn't your province up north? Is yours one of them?" Red said.

Cem gave a jerky nod. "It is." He said.

"Then you should solve it," Red said. "That has nothing to do with me."

"Aram, I can't handle it alone. Please attend the meeting." Cem said. The other man didn't wait for a response and took off.

"So the dissolution of the Empire has begun," Red said with a grim smile. It was within his plans to keep his brothers distracted while he lured out their father.

Soon, all of his brothers will have worries drawing them away from the capital.

Red had taken advantage of Merin's healing in the marketplace. Rumors of the curse being undone were spreading like wildfire. If she gave birth to a daughter, then Red could plan for that to align with the decaying of the Habrin Empire's influence. If Habrin showed that it could undo even one of the curses inflicted upon them, there would be worldwide consequences. People will either wait for Habrin to come back to its full power or buckle under its control and stop it from making a comeback.

Red was still determining which direction he wanted it to go. He desired the total destruction of his other half, but his foster father had made valid points about what fallout could create.

Either way, once people no longer had to bow to Habrin, there would be rebellions too numerous to contain.

Merin nearly spat out her chewing mint when Red returned to their quarters. He had Aczuio looking at home in his dark locks.

"So that's where you went!" She said, standing up on her tiptoes to reclaim her favorite dragon.

He looked hungry, so she immediately fed and fussed over him.

"Merin, what is that?" Red said.

Merin blinked rapidly as she tried remembering the lines she practiced when she found her new companion.

"I was looking for Acuzio, and I found this poor baby during my search."

The poor baby looked properly bereft as it looked up at Red. Red was staring down at it with unkind eyes but the poor baby persisted in looking needy.

"That is not a baby," Red said.

Merin put Acuzio down on the platter of food and scooped up the fluffy baby, who was looking balefully up at her. "It needs a new family. The poor thing was covered in blood and being attacked by the shitty children of this family."

"Who did you steal him from?" Red said.

"Defne, Akkad's Russus, and their horrid children had already killed its mother."

"Did you leave them untouched?" Red said.

Merin made a noise at how Red seemed to know her so well. "I trapped them in the cage they kept this poor baby in."

"It's going to get huge," Red said. "It's not safe to keep something that can kill you with one hit." He seemed to cut himself off, and Merin watched as he looked at Acuzio and then at her pangolin.

"Look how well-behaved he is! He won't be a hassle!" Merin said as she turned up, her eyes pleading, willing to beg.

Before Red could say anything, the baby she held up to plead used his faculties to pee.

There was a long moment where the only noise in the room was the gush of pee falling to the floor.

"He's such a good boy," Merin said, reiterating her point. "If we let him out in the wild he'll be killed by predators. He can't hide with a white coat. Or poachers will capture him for sport again."

Red rubbed his face, and she couldn't tell if he was fighting laughter or annoyance.

"Jaguars get really big," Red said, but there was a tone of defeat, and Merin knew he would let her keep the cat. She sat down the said cat, sidestepped the pee, and ran to hug him.