Chapter 3 A New Responsibility

Elara

Before he could punish me for my insolence, the door creaked open, and a guard walked in with his head bowed. He stood before his king and trembled with fear.

“What’s wrong?” King Viktor sounded impatient, as if struggling to remain calm.

“Your Majesty, the incubator…” He could hardly complete his update when a deafening alarm shattered the silence of the castle.

The guard froze, and a sharp, metallic shriek echoed through the corridors, followed by a series of frantic voices speaking in Draconic. Their king’s entire expression changed. The coldness disappeared, and for the first time since I’d seen him, genuine fear flashed across his face.

A warrior came running toward us, nearly stumbling in his haste. “Your Majesty, the incubator! The temperature has dropped. The regulator isn’t responding.”

Something in Viktor’s face turned murderous. “Who tampered with the controls?” He stormed down the corridor, forgetting me totally.

This was the perfect opportunity for me to escape. Yet something held me back. Was it curiosity to know more about a threatened incubator? I followed them, and no one blocked me. We rushed through a series of heavily guarded corridors until we reached enormous steel doors.

I frowned at the cold, clinical room. Why would they need an incubator? Did they store an egg in such a deathly place? Didn’t a baby need a mother’s warmth to hatch?

The moment they opened the door, heat slammed into my face. The room beyond looked nothing like the rest of the castle. At its center stood a massive glass incubator, surrounded by glowing crystals, copper pipes, and intricate mechanisms. Flames burned beneath the chamber, while blue energy pulsed through the walls.

Inside lay a single enormous dragon egg, and my breath caught.

The egg was covered in deep crimson scales that shimmered beneath the artificial light. Fine golden veins ran across its shell, glowing faintly from within.

But something was wrong.

The temperature indicators were flashing red, and a warning alarm screamed overhead. Everyone panicked while Viktor Zohrran moved towards the incubator. “Open it!” he barked at the technician. Everyone panicked and scrambled to obey.

“Your Majesty, the temperature is falling. Opening the incubator is too dangerous. Shall we try the secondary heating crystals?” the nervous technician faltered.

But the king was adamant. “No, open the incubator and rescue my egg.” There was raw panic in his tone as he touched the incubator desperately.

His egg? Was it his baby in there? I blinked and stared at the massive egg through the glass cover.

Just then, the egg trembled a little, and gasps erupted from all around.

“It’s hatching, Your Majesty!” cried the technician. “It’s not ready for the temperature shock. A premature hatching will be fatal.”

Viktor Zohrran went berserk with worry. It was quite a natural reaction from a father. “We have to save the egg. Do anything you can.” The ruthless Dragon King, who had looked at me with nothing but hatred moments ago, suddenly looked utterly helpless.

“We’re trying, Your Majesty.” There was utter chaos in the room while I stood in silence, watching the egg tremble violently.

“It needs its mother’s warmth to survive,” I spoke in a trance, the only thing that came to my mind.

Viktor snapped out of his panicked state and stared at me. “Zara has abandoned her egg. Where will I find a mother?”

I gasped as realization struck me hard. What did he say? Did I hear him wrong? I looked from Viktor to the egg and back. It was no wonder he was staring at that tiny life as though the entire world depended on it. This was Zara and his baby! How could my sister abandon her baby?

Then he blinked, and his jaw tightened as he stared at me. “You can warm it. I want you to step in and take responsibility.”

Before I could protest, the technician panicked. “The temperature has dropped drastically. I’m taking it out, Your Majesty. Someone has tampered with the incubator tubes.”

Viktor gripped my wrist and dragged me towards the incubator. Just then, the alarm screamed louder, and for one heartbeat, the ruthless king disappeared. Instead, there was only a father terrified of losing his child. I felt something tighten painfully inside my chest. Despite everything he’d said to me, despite the hatred in his eyes, I couldn’t look away. The temperature alarm suddenly changed pitch, and the technician screamed.

“The incubator is failing!” The technician opened the incubator lid, and Viktor Zohrran scooped his egg with trembling hands and handed it to me.

Then the lights went out, and the chamber plunged into darkness. Panic surged through my body as I had no idea what they wanted me to do with a dragon egg. Instinctively, I held it against my chest under my coat and rubbed it soothingly.

“It’s okay, little one. I’ve got you,” I whispered to it.

“Go, check the circuits. Find out who has tampered with the system here,” barked Viktor, his voice murderous.

I turned away from them to calm the speck of life struggling inside the egg. It needed calm, quiet, and warmth. Was it too much to ask for? I swayed and rubbed the egg gently, cooing at it to calm it down. Soon it stopped trembling, and I relaxed. This was working. I had no experience in handling eggs or babies, especially of dragons. But maybe it wasn’t so difficult.

The lights came on, and Viktor looked at me and froze. His jaw dropped as his gaze swept across my chest, where I still cradled the egg. “What are you doing?”

My cheeks flushed, but I held his gaze. “Warming your egg. What else do you think?”

The others were as stunned as he was. Did they do it differently? I had no idea about dragon shifters and their world.

“Your Majesty, it’s working. Your egg has stopped trembling.” The technician wiped his forehead with relief.

I looked from one to the other. “This room isn’t right for the egg. It needs a warm, cozy place with the correct lighting and ambiance. A nursery or something.”

Something shifted in Viktor’s gaze as he stared hard at me. “You’re coming with me.”

Gasps erupted from all around. No one had ever seen this caring side of their ruthless ruler. I had heard all the rumors about him. He was a vicious Red Dragon, born to conquer, trained to kill, and bred only for the throne. Being the oldest heir among his half-brothers, he had never loved a woman. So, what was his equation with Zara?

He grabbed my elbow and strode towards the exit while I tumbled after him, cradling the egg against my chest. Why couldn’t he go slow? We rushed past the tall pillars and never-ending corridors, spiraling hallways across a sprawling courtyard full of radiant flowers and open-air bridges with clouds spilling through the railings. Dragon workers, either dressed in scaled armor or robes, paused and glanced at us.

King Viktor said nothing, but my stomach twisted with every step until we reached another wing of the castle. We reached a chamber with floor-to-ceiling glass, moonlight pouring through thick windows and floating orbs of light. The room felt warm, unlike all the other rooms in the castle.

“I like this room.” I released the breath I had been holding and relaxed. In front of me was a soft, inviting bed, and all I wanted was to rest my exhausted body.

“Good. Keep the egg safe, or you won’t survive the night.” With the threat hanging in the air, he whirled and strode out of the room as if a devil were chasing him.

I scoffed and reached for a warm duvet. Folding and rolling it, I created a warm cocoon on the bed for the egg. It was only after safely placing it there that I felt relieved.

My stomach grumbled, and I needed a change of clothes. But these basic needs seemed to have escaped the ruthless king’s mind. I opened the closet and found a couple of shirts hanging there, but they were too large for me. Did this room belong to a male dragon? I reached for one and walked into the en-suite for a quick shower. The shirt reached my knees, covering me adequately. When I emerged, there was a bowl of warm chicken soup waiting for me on the coffee table near the door. So, someone had been here in my absence.

I checked the egg and helped myself to the soup. It wasn’t bad at all.

Afterwards, I lay down on the bed beside the egg. It lay in its cocoon so peacefully, and I stroked it gently. “Hey, little shit! I’m your aunt.”

Then I froze as a realization struck me hard. My sister was human. How could she lay a dragon egg?