The (Not) Satisfied Dragon - Colette Rhodes Page 0,56
semi-circle around the ground-level stage. Enough to seat the ten flights of five males that made up the Council of Dragons.
Enforcers and spectators stood dotted around the rocks above the benches. My flight and I stood on the uppermost ledge of the outcrop. It was the landing space — the only part wide enough to accommodate multiple full-sized dragons. To see up this far, those below had to crane their necks and squint their eyes against the blinding sunlight behind us.
But crane and squint they did.
Because I was pretty sure mine was the first vagina to ever journey to this piece of rock.
“Well, son? Are you going to stay up there all day?” One of Seff’s fathers called up to us jovially. We hadn’t told Ilia I’d be joining in today, but none of Seff’s fathers looked surprised to see me.
The journey down from the landing ledge involved jumping from rock to rock, which honestly was intimidating enough, plus I was working with about two-feet less leg length than the males were. And I was wearing a stupid, impractical dress. Levi and Seff both shot me alarmed looks, like they wanted to scoop me up and carry me down. Oren shook his head discreetly at the same time Ezra’s voice echoed through our minds.
//Don’t. She has to be seen doing this on her own.//
Ezra jumped lightly off the ledge onto a flat boulder below. Gritting my teeth against my nerves, I followed him, aiming to land wherever Ezra did. Levi was at my back and I knew he would catch me if I fell, but distressed damsel wasn’t the image I was planning to project today.
With every pair of eyes on me, it felt like the journey to the “floor” as Seff had called it took hours. The muscles in my hands hurt from the effort of keeping them steady, and my breathing sounded unnaturally even to my own ears. Don’t let them see your fear.
We lined up at the edge of the floor and I held my head high as I stood between Levi and Ezra, annoyed that the top of my head only came up to Levi’s shoulder.
//You’re doing good,// Oren projected. His gruff, to-the-point support was exactly what I needed. If any of them said something sweet and mushy right now, I’d probably cry.
“Shall we begin?” Ilia called, capturing everyone’s attention with barely any effort. His gaze was trained intently on us, but he looked more curious than anything.
“We shall.” The speaker was so old, he could have been a fae. His skin looked as leathery as a dragon hide, and his beady eyes were narrowed suspiciously on me.
//That’s Nerio. My father, Ilia, and Uri are Assembly members, but Nerio is the Speaker, so he’s technically the highest ranking Councilor on session,// Seff explained quickly.
All of this information would have been very useful to know before we got here, I thought snarkily, knowing they probably didn't hear it. I couldn't spare enough focus from my surroundings to project at the same time.
“Ezra of Flight…” Nerio trailed off.
“Flight Galon,” Ezra replied confidently.
“An excellent name!” one of Seff’s fathers called as the others hollered. I bit down on my cheeks to stop myself smiling.
“Indeed,” Nerio drawled disapprovingly. “Come to the floor, then. You’ve certainly got our attention.”
The six of us filed onto the round stage area of the floor, with jagged rocks and crashing waves at our backs, and row upon row of ancient Councilors and young Enforcers in front of us. The icy sea looked more inviting.
“Ezra, Alpha of Flight Galon, please tell the Council why you have brought your gold here today. I know you are young, but you must realize that such behavior is highly unusual.”
“Our flight is here to nominate ourselves for the vacant Council position,” Ezra replied calmly. Despite being at least a generation younger than most of the surrounding alphas, Ezra commanded just as much attention as they did. There was an undeniable presence about him.
Best not to think too much about that or I’d end up climbing him like a tree in front of all these stuffy old males.
“That doesn’t explain why your gold is here.”
“Our whole flight is running for Council,” Ezra amended.
“That’s… that’s not possible,” the old man spluttered, looking between Ezra and I. “Females are not permitted on the Council.”
“With all due respect, Councilor, that is a convention, not a rule. There is nothing in our laws that prohibits female dragons from partaking in politics,” Ezra replied smoothly.