Page 64 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

Maybe fire flowed through his veins after all.

“If your mom was a princess of the dragon kingdom, how did your parents meet?” I asked, the curiosity to know more buzzing in my skull.

He faced ahead and entwined our fingers. “King Ryu of the dragon kingdom traveled to the Shadow Realm to request aid in dealing with the elves.”

“The elves?” I felt my eyes bulge. Rowan had mentioned them before, but it was still surreal to know all the magical beings I’d once read about in fantasy novels were actually real in this world.

“Elves and dragons are at war and have been for as long as I can recall,” he explained, brow becoming heavier. “My father accepted the request for aid and sent an army to aid the dragons. He even fought in the war himself. After the battle was won, King Ryu invited him to the castle for a celebration feast. That’s when fate intervened.”

Fate.

“He found your mom?” I guessed.

“More like she found him.” Onyx’s breath held a subtle shake. “My mother claimed that a path of red lilies appeared and led her straight to my father. And from what I hear, all it took was one glimpse of her to have my father enraptured. When he sailed back here to the Shadow Realm, she came with him.”

“Have you ever visited the dragon kingdom?” I asked.

A shadow passed over his face. “No. King Ryu banished my mother when she chose my father as her husband.”

“What?” I stopped in the middle of the path. “Why?”

“Dragons and demons were allies for many centuries but never united through marriage,” he explained. “The dragons are proud creatures and didn’t wish for demons to taint their royal bloodlines. So, as you can imagine, having their princess wed a demon lord was quite the scandal. Even more so when a child was born from that union.”

I frowned. “So they cast out your mom because of who she loved? That’s shitty.”

“That’s life,” he said. “It can be cruel.”

“What about when the human and demon war started? King Ryu was surely pissed off when his daughter was killed, right?”

“Yes, he was.” Onyx nodded. “However, his anger was directed at my father. King Ryu blamed him for her death and refused to send aid when we needed it most, thus ending the alliance.”

He kept an indifferent expression as he spoke, but I caught the slight ache in his voice. I clung tighter to his arm and continued with him down the path.

A few paces later, light came through the trees up ahead. The sound of rushing water reached my ears too, growing louder with each step forward. We reached the opening and passed through it, leaving behind whatever horrible irritant in the air that’d tortured me and turned our romantic stroll through the forest into a snot-infested one.

The grudge didn’t last long though.

“Holy crap,” I said, awed by the sight in front of me.

A waterfall cascaded down a rocky overhang, the crystalline water gathering in a sort of grotto surrounded by soft grass and colorful wildflowers. Willows stood like sentinels on either side of the pool, their long branches rustling in the spring breeze.

“Worth the snotty nose?” Onyx smiled at me. There was something boyish about it that draped over my chest like a heated blanket.

“Yep.” I stepped closer to the waterfall, still holding his hand. “It’s breathtaking. Like a little slice of paradise.”

“I used it as inspiration for areas of the greenhouse,” he said, keeping pace beside me as I explored the perimeter around the grotto. “An oasis I can visit without ever having to leave the castle.”

I looked over at him. “Wouldn’t you want to leave it though? Being cooped up inside all the time would make me stir crazy.”

Onyx stared at the waterfall, almost wistfully. “Staying in my lonely tower is for the best.”

“Well, not anymore.” I took him along with me as I spotted vines with some kind of blue flower growing up the rocky cliff. “I refuse to let you stay there. No more hiding, from me or the world.”

“Is that an order?” He softly smiled. “I should have you know, I’m not as easily swayed as your other mates. Nor am I as pleasant.”

“You think Maddox is pleasant?” I asked with a snort. “Or Rowan? I have plenty of experience with stubborn, snarky men. You don’t scare me.”

His smile turned lopsided. As I knelt down to closer examine the vines, he rested his palm on the top of my hair, the touch so light it tickled. Gave me butterflies too.