Polar Opposites

Was this what being a royal was? Dropping everything and being unable to tell someone to fuck off? Myranda had honestly never been so angry in her entire life. Her wedding night was ruined, the romantic atmosphere was ruined, and worst of all - she was still going to have terrible nightmares now that she and Metas had yet to be able to have sex .....again.

To add insult to injury, she had been called a whore, and completely terrified by a beast she had never seen before in all of her life.

Was that what dragons looked like - terrifying flying lizard-like creatures? She hated them now.

True, they needed the assistance of Vincent, but she wanted to cry with how mad she was that for the third time now, she had been denied the chance to feel Metas fully. She stared at the two males speak, but she wasn't absorbing any of it. She was too busy being focused on the fact she couldn't have another night of privacy.

At least Lara shared her sentiment. She detested Vincent as well. As an upper lady of the court, she went to royal parties and attended sometimes as Metas' plus one when she hadn't been invited. Every time she saw that brooding man, he'd not only turn down a dance with her, but every one who'd approach him. His presence always seemed to irk her.

...and this was not a magical moment where that did not apply.

"I hate that guy," Lara sniffed through her nose so that the dragon couldn't hear her.

"Metas can love him all day long, but I never will. He ruined my night. I'm so mad I want to cry," Myranda confessed to her budding lady-in-waiting. Lara was quickly proving to be loyal, trustworthy, kind - and the one female outside of Syrana she bonded with.

"Agreed. What a dick." Myranda replied as they both watched on.

"Are you sure you don't want to go up there and speak to him? You can tell him off as the Queen," Lara insisted, because seeing that jerk get chewed out would be grand.

"If I say something right now, it wouldn't be pleasant. Metas' image and honor come before my smoldering hatred for that tall, thin, broody pencil of a man.

Lara snickered and regained focus when Metas looked over his shoulder and cleared his throat towards the two.

"So how long were you planning on hiding the fact you house human weapons?" Vincent asked as he and Metas sat across from one another on a little group of logs the pack had gathered for meeting and eating.

Metas looked at his friend with truth in his eyes to match his words, "not long. I was waiting until we were both kings, but now that you know it's a huge relief. We were meant to keep them safe, not use them. Everything has kind of spun out of control here. What I believed was once petty politics has turned into an all-out problem. Harbinger is hell-bent on keeping our society divided in order to keep 'order' - but his order is nothing but controlled chaos."

"Well, human weapons are certainly unwanted. Especially what they have... I know many didn't keep human history books, but our nation did since we're unfortunately the most related to humankind," Vincent said with a bit of distaste.

"No one holds it against you. You're as magical as the rest of us, and when it came time to the war, your kind fought back against them - so stop bringing it up. What were you going to say about their history, though?" Metas replied with a measured voice and interest.

"Right. The books say that where your kingdom is used to be a big mountain where a big group of humans kept their massive weapons and defense systems. That is literally ancient history, though. I figured you'd have gotten rid of the weapons by now. Why do you still have them?" Vincent asked with a raised eyebrow.

"They're not easy to get rid of. Joss can explain more when he returns from putting his foster son to bed. We have a pair of orphans, and the younger boy has taken to Joss and Jyriah warmly. Being that they lost their parents, home, and endured such a great trauma, I want to make sure the child is cared for," Metas replied and offered Vincent a stone cup filled with water.

The leader took it, but looked between the stone cup and his friend with pity in his eyes. It was sad to see what a great male had become in a short amount of time.

"Understandable. I'm not offended. You know how I feel about society," Vincent replied easily, and then tacked on, "Metas, you can come stay at my castle if you need to while we figure a plan out."

"Unneeded. It's a long trip for us, unless you can carry my entire pack on your back. I am fond of you, but I do not feel your size can carry all of us at once. I have to protect the forest, and I have to protect my pack. I know what you're going to say, so stop," Metas said as he watched Vincent's mouth opened to speak. "Myranda and I stay here with our kind. We are all the same here."

"I'm just worried, that's all. Would you prefer I stay here? Or do you want me to return home?" Vincent asked in respect.

"Please stay. To contact you would take far too long. I don't have a conversation stone, clearly. I also have no carriers. I have a cave, a tiny tunnel system, and a group of great wolves at my side and to watch over. It's not much - but we're making it work." Metas replied as though they were sitting inside his castle within the mountain.

"You're a strong man--er-- male, Metas. May no one ever say otherwise," Vincent returned warmly.

"I am only as strong as I am right now because of her," Metas said with pride and nodded towards Myranda who was still 'talking shit' with Lara about Vincent.

The Luna merely smiled and waved once when Vincent turned to her as though she were totally fine with the prince's intrusion, but as soon as his back turned, she flung her middle finger up.

"You have the advantage of marrying someone you love, though. For me, marriage is pointless unless Kalinda is my bride," Vincent commented. Love wasn't possible for him outside of his missing princess.

"You, my brother, need to realize that she is taken by the Demon Lord, and she herself has sided against us. It would do you good to at least look at some pretty ladies of your court," Metas advised.

"Pfft. I look at plenty of beautiful women below me in my bed. None of them are as beautiful or as alluring as Kalinda," Vincent rejected his friend's words of wisdom bitterly.

"Fine, fine - but you're missing out. A valuable partner who you trust completely is the best feeling a leader can have when they sleep at night. Even if you never love another female - you could still find one you can trust and take comfort in knowing she won't slit your throat in your sleep, and when the times are tough, doesn't abandon you," Metas refuted.

"Those women don't exist, Metas. You're all lucky enough to have assigned mates and that earthly magic that grounds you so well, the rest of us have to guess at who is meant to be at our side," Vincent argued.

"You do have a point there, my friend. We are quite lucky in that regard. I forget your lineage comes from the sea. I do wish you were blessed with such a gift. It is, indeed comforting. Not all of us have mates, though. Some of us never find our other- which I hope to change," Metas tried with all his might to help his friend see reason, but Vincent's eyes were as cold and unchanging as ever when approaching the subject of marriage.

"Metas, I truly apologize to you and Myranda for encroaching on your wedding night - and I see how special it is for you both, I do. However, I found my one - and she belongs to a demon who doesn't deserve her. So while I appreciate your sagely advice, it does not apply to me. How about we focus on the problem at hand? You have a mountain full of human weapons that can wipe out everyone, and we need to figure out how to get rid of them," Vincent sighed a little. No two people could be such polar opposites as Vincent and Metas -- but they had always gotten along, and Metas was Vincent's only friend in the entire world, for his heart was not easily accessed.

He was about to say more, but Joss came towards the clearing where the two leaders were talking and gave a bow to Vincent with respect, "your highness."

Metas cringed inwardly having seen Joss bow, but Vincent looked as pleased as pie, for respect went a very long way with a dragon.