Perhaps accosting her grandparents in the bath had not been her smartest idea, but if Quinn got to marry a commoner, Brittany got to marry an elf, and Frannie got to marry Joe who had more hair than Frannie did, then she could marry a beastkin. And she couldn't abide by hypocrites, her grandfather was a hypocrite. Dragons were just magical beastkin who thought that they were better than everyone else.

"Keep rubbing," Artemis insisted to Lawrence who at least had the decency to look mortified by this intrusion, her pupils constrict as she turns her attention back to her precocious granddaughter. The only one of her grandchildren who actively used her core. She had once hoped that a brush with death and danger would cause her to finally shed her silly human form and turn into a dragon. Her granddaughter had simply plummeted to the ground. It had all been rather disappointing. "I don't understand why you're upset. I'm simply pointing out that a beastkin is not a life partner, you'll outlive her—most likely. It'll be sad, but you'll get over it."

"Then what's grandpa?"

Artemis tilted her head, "A pet, just like your father is your mother's pet. You'd be better off marrying another dragonkin."

Lawrence frowned, "What do you mean I'm your pet?"

Artemis smiled at him, "You're my favorite pet."

"Favorite—"

"Grandpa, if you want to talk to grandma about her numerous lovers then wait till I leave."

"We're in the bath's if anyone should be leaving it's you," Lawrence snapped at his youngest grandchild.

"Santana is the one that I want—"

"Don't be daft," Lawrence said standing up with a bit of effort immediately his granddaughter averted her eyes. "You've known this woman for a few days at most, which means you don't know her at all, you haven't courted her properly, if anything you've barely spent any time around her. Not to mention that you can't properly mate, which suggests—"

"That's not completely true." Artemis interrupts. "A long time ago we used to rule over them, at least that's what my father used to tell me. And some of our kind mated with them, our core is desirable to the beastkin, especially prime's it calls out to them. And we can have multiple mates, unlike them who are bound by one. I don't actually care if you choose to mate with her. You're from my blood—"

"Quinn has concubines, Rachel is unhappy. She gets jealous, she plots against her, she rejects Quinn all the time especially if she smells another woman on her. I mean now it's probably because she smells like drake dung."

"A dragon's greed is like nothing you've ever seen. Your sisters make excellent dragons, Frannie with her horde, it's rather impressive. Brittany with her thirst for knowledge and Quinn well she's like me, all her dolls and sparrows. You don't have the same hunger that they do, you get happy with whatever it is that you have and whatever it is that you earn, and I hear you let children steal your coin purse!"

"Who says I'm not greedy enough to be a dragon?" Charlie scowls at her grandmother. She hadn't even known she was a dragon until earlier that day and now she was being accused of being a shitty dragon.

"You let children take your coin purse," Artemis repeated flatly. "Any child that dares would burn."

Charlie narrowed her eyes, "The people of this kingdom are the lifeblood, the children are guilty of nothing except poor circumstances. But letting them steal from me isn't exactly a solution to a problem that plagues this kingdom. Even though I don't want the responsibility, as the heir the kingdom is my birthright and to me it's a jewel that I will fight to the death for. I don't care if it's you—" Charlie turned to look at her grandfather, "—or you. I will fight you to protect my kingdom and that includes the people in the kingdom. The better the kingdom is doing, the more precious my treasure is."

Artemis eyes flicker for a moment from human to dragon just as Judy pulls her daughter back and steps in front of her, "Mother."

"Such disrespect, but at least she has the will of a dragon, I imagine that's something. She can—"

"I've already noted your opposition to this union, however the more pressing issue is that the Emperor is aware of your union. I imagine by tomorrow we'll receive word, and a demand from the Emperor to have you returned to him to face trial. And while I'm tempted to send you back and force the Draconic kingdom to actually deal with the Empire, you are my father and I love you dearly. But our current situation is quite frankly your fault. This is due to your decisions, and the secrets that we have kept, perhaps at a time they were for good reason, but now that it's out—we're inching towards a war that will engulf all the kingdom and territories."

"The Draconic kingdom will not be participating in any such thing—we have more pressing concerns," Artemis said dismissively.

"Magic is being corrupted," Charlie states, "Aunt Cassandra told me while I was in the draconic kingdom."

Judy paused and turned to her youngest, "You survived a meeting with your aunt?"

Charlie grimaced as the pain in her head, "It makes sense that she was the dragon that attacked me, I survived, but I think that's only because she healed me and muttered something about grandma killing her." She glances at her grandma for a moment who shrugs. "If there is something going on with magic, then it has to be the elves. The dwarves practice runecraft which isn't the same as magic, dragons are basically pure magic—"

"Charlie, the fact that you tolerate Mike's existence doesn't take away from the fact that you and Kara have a nasty habit of blaming the elves for every little thing that goes wrong," Judy sighs.

"Elven magic smells like the forest, and all I smell is rot. Magic is being corrupted, and it smells like decay and death. Necromancy perhaps, forbidden dark magic—all of which is forbidden by the Elves. They respect nature, they are one with nature. It's not the elves."

"Then who else could it be? The Empire frowns upon magic use, and only a select few know how to use magic in our kingdom and they are closely monitored. Only Prime Beastkin can use magic, and even then it's limited. The dwarves use runecraft as I mentioned before which, while a type of magic it's also limited in use. There are no forbidden runes, which leaves the elves. You may think that this is just some prejudice but given which family rules the elven kingdom and the inbreeding that occurs in the royal family, it's the elves. I don't know how, I don't have any proof, but it's the elves." Charlie insists.

"The fact that you don't have any proof of your claims, is exactly why they aren't actionable. And given your distaste for elves—"

"The queen is married to her twin brother, how that is natural is beyond me. Don't get me started about that little pissant of a crown prince."

Judy stared at her daughter for a moment before shaking her head. She didn't have the energy to deal with Charlie ranting about the crown prince of the Elven kingdom. Instead she sighs, "Perhaps you should invite Santana to a private dinner so you two can get to know one another better. Also do something about that crystal scorpion that's in the yard, it's making the maids nervous. Both Frannie and Brittany are fighting over it."

"They shouldn't, I brought some back for the two of them," Charlie muttered. Food was a good idea, she hadn't really eaten much since she'd visited Santana's parents. "I'll give Brittany and Frannie their cut, when I see them." She immediately turns around and leaves, causing Judy to turn to her parents and narrow her eyes.

~ O ~

"You can come out now Matt, even if you are a member of the rabbit clan, hiding is undignified," Sansa insists as she glances up at the door as Santana enters the room. "So your mate is dragonkin. That actually explains most things. How she didn't know—"

"Her grandmother threw her from the roof of the castle, it seems to have disconnected her from her core, I don't think she's even aware of where it is," Santana interrupts, before transforming into her kitten form to chase Matt out from under the bed. There's a thump, before a large brown rabbit runs out from under the bed and freezes in front of Sansa.

Sansa waited for Santana to reappear looking rather smug, "I don't know why you look so pleased with yourself. Dragonkin do not have the same restraints as we do, and can mate with multiple beastkin. A dragon's greed is like their defining feature, what they find important they will defend to the death—"

"She went to ask my parents for permission to marry me," Santana interrupts. "As far as I'm concerned it's already been set, she chose me, I chose her. And she's already made it clear that there will be no concubines, she's the heir to the throne. She needs to think about succession and having a concubine confuses things and makes things more complicated. While it's not exactly a promise that I'm looking for, it does alleviate most of my concerns. The other concern is—"

"The Holy Empire," Matt spoke up as he shifted back still shivering, he could feel the danger even from inside the room, and he could feel his heart practically pounding.

Santana grunted, "I knew that they had connections to the Holy Empire, and we believed that it was possible that they were doing their bidding which was why that they managed to get their hands on a prime, but I didn't think that they were related to a Cardinal, but a Cardinal and a dragon produced a child, the Holy Empire has probably already heard about this. I think that we might have a chance to finally hit back against the Empire. A dragon and a Cardinal? It was kept secret, even my source about the Agron Kingdom didn't know about this union. Once it reaches the ears of the throne, he will start making demands, he might even launch an attack. We can rework our defensive pact with the Agron Kingdom, we'll have protection. She's my mate, and heir."

"Can they win a fight with the Holy Empire—where is Drogo?" Matt questions before realizing that the bear was nowhere to be seen.

"He's going to challenge your soon to be mate to a sparring match, he's never fought a dragon before, he wants a story for when we go back."

Santana blinked, this was why she hadn't wanted to take him at all. "Does he think that he stands a chance now that she's been poisoned? I mean she's hardly the most graceful person ever, but she is far studier than any of us could possibly imagine—" A sharp knock at the door causes all three beastkin to turn as a maid opens the door.

"The princess has requested that you join her for dinner."

Santana blinked, "No. Tell her no, she doesn't get to summon me," Santana huffed.

There was a pause and the maid looked surprised at her quick rejection but before she can turn and relay "She'll be going," Sansa interrupts and gives Santana a look. "We must lock this down before an alternative comes along. While things are unlikely to change, the Empire could demand that she marry one of their women. And right now the winds are in our favor, this is how they send messages to one another and it was a request, she didn't summon you."

Santana scowled at Sansa, prior to Charlie's return, Sansa had insisted that they try and get a firm deal on the table, but now Sansa was insisting that she mate with Charlie as quickly as possible, it would probably be for the best to do that before her parents arrived so that they wouldn't judge her. It had been a few weeks and she still hadn't managed to seal the deal. The last thing she wanted was for her parents to start questioning her decision. "Tell her we'll have dinner tomorrow." When Sansa looks at her she shrugs, "She's been poisoned, and she fell from several trees, the balcony and who knows what else today, she really should be resting and this can wait a day. Besides, she can't summon me. She can walk all the way over here and ask me," Santana huffed.

"They are royalty and if you mate with her, then you will become royalty—which means accepting their customs."

"No, I'm not going to accept their customs when they're silly. My mother and father would never send a maid or a servant to call for their partner, they would find each other. I mean perhaps if she was bed ridden, but she's not she's still as sturdy as ever. She managed to follow me here before, badly. She can make the walk over here and ask me to join her for dinner. I mean she really needs to start asking me things, she went on some silly quest to kill crystal scorpions. No one asked her to do that!"

"She was trying to impress you."

"Stupidity is a turn off," Santana grumbles. It was needless danger, she could understand Charlie heading off to the badlands to deal with the demons down there, it was her duty. But the Draconic kingdom was a harsh dessert, and the monsters there plus dragons who were incredibly territorial. Going there was stupid. Not treating her wounds and simply allowing the poison to build had also been stupid. Her mate was simply going to have to make better life decisions.