Staking their claim

Today marked the fourth night that she had camped out with Tiamat and his men but somehow tonight felt different.

Maybe it was in the way that Tiamat was looking at her now, he had not spoken for the past hour just sat there glaring at her and brooding in silence.

They both huddled near the fire for warmth from the cold night air.

Earlier Tiamat had tossed one of his wolf fur pelts around her shoulders when he heard her teeth chattering from the cold.

At twenty one years old Fiona already felt she'd gained enough wisdom about the world to speak her mind, and the fact that this grown man was hesitating perplexed her soul.

The bright flames from the fire flickered across his face, making him look dark and more mysterious with the interplay between light and shadow.

His dark amethyst eyes all but glowed with savage intelligence as he continued to stare, making her nervous about what he planned to do next.

Tiamat was relentless in his gaze, facing her was a man who would stop at nothing to get his own way. It was not hard to see why his enemies feared him as the Black Flame.

As she anticipated his next move a chill went through her body.

"Fiona," he said slowly.

"Yes, my Lord." Finally, he broke the silence, so she rewarded him with her most winsome smile.

He remarked, "I confess that I'm on the road often and it's dangerous and no place for a woman."

As he sat there thinking about her future as if it was a philosophical problem her smile slowly faded. The whole time he had been contemplating getting rid of her, she flinched.

"I see," she was furious.

"Do you know why I saved you from the ocean?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head.

"It was because of the ring you wore on your finger, it called to me from a distance, even way up in the sky as I was. It is a fragment from the chasm orb, and it is very dangerous to have for someone as ignorant as you are about our world," he said steadily.

A million questions ran through her mind, she couldn't give away the ring even if she wanted to, was he going to take it from her by force?

The Tiamat whose company she had enjoyed by the pond was long gone; she didn't like this stone-cold dragon that sat across from her right now.

"I will never part with this family heirloom for it has sentimental value to me," she said carefully, not wanting to say or do anything that would anger Tiamat.

Tiamat drew closer to her and said softly, "Just ask any of my men about the cursed chasm orb and they will be sure to tell you that those who are found in possession of even a splinter of the chaos orb have been found to die from unnatural causes."

She had no reason to doubt what he was saying he had been forthright with her so far so why would Tiamat lie to her now.

"I don't doubt for a second that you are telling the truth."

If he was trying to scare her, he was succeeding at an alarming rate as she couldn't even swallow her saliva the way her throat felt dry with fear at his words.

"Speaking of the truth, if you weren't more bewitching than that ring, I fear I may have been consumed with a burning need to take it from you. I've observed that the ring had no ill effects on you therefore I will allow you to continue to hold on to it for a while."

"How generous of you," she murmured, then a puzzling notion came to mind, "are you absolutely, positively sure that those untimely deaths were linked to the fragments of the chaos orb Lord Tiamat?"

Shots were fired but Tiamat didn't back down with his tail between his legs instead he just stared at her incredulously.

After a terse moment he spoke, "Do you not understand the words that are coming out of my mouth."

Fiona ignored him and continued pondering aloud, "It just occurred to me that I do not see a correlation between the fragments and the murder of its owners. For all I know those deaths could be purely coincidental. Just like how I happen to own a fragment that had been embedded in a ring and I'm perfectly fine and healthy. It's reasonable to think that only those who suffered misfortune have been brought to light. Which is most unfortunate but perhaps the rest of the fragments are either undiscovered or the owners are just living their daily lives unbothered or in ignorance by this so-called curse of the chaos orb."

He was dumbfounded, this human defied the boundaries of reason. Tiamat felt like he had to be firm with his dealings with her as he had never encountered such a beautifully obstinate woman in his life.

"There may be some logic to the contrary but that is moot. The chaos orb does not belong in the hands of humans, it is a symbol of the people who once worshiped dragons. In fact, the land that I'm going to claim the people there believe the chaos orb is their birthright and until the pieces are fully recovered, they will not accept a new dragon lord easily. It is my intention to recover all the pieces then seal it away. Many believe that whoever owns all the pieces of the chaos orb will obtain immeasurable power. So many kill for even a fraction of the orb, all I ask is to take what I say seriously and be careful."

"Understood. I do not mean to be a nuisance or go against your decisions but where I come from women speak their minds freely," she replied.

Tiamat scowled at her, "I have seldom met your type before, the ones that question everything but soon you will come to understand. Though I am a reasonable man, my patience is not infinite. I am a leader first and foremost and my word is absolute hopefully in time you will come to understand."

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