from
1
Mate Test
Amber Kell
leaving this plane for the next. He couldn't leave his little
girl and two boys. Although his broken heart remained
tattered and bruised, he loved them.
Tor sighed. Pressing his face into his hands, he
discreetly wiped away the moisture he felt leak from his
eyes despite his best efforts. The cold glass of the window
cooled his heated skin as he released another sigh. Even
though he couldn't see the star field outside the window, he
knew it was still there.
Dragon-bonded as a child, Tor's vision relied solely
on what the dragon allowed him to see. Subsequently, his
ability to see flashed in and out like a poor intergalactic
transmission. Sometimes it was excruciatingly clear, but
normally, it was complete blackness only broken by the
brilliant sparkle of stars. When Baroy flew through the
cosmos at night, Tor saw everything the creature saw. With
his eyes always locked with the dragon's in space, he was
blind to the everyday world around him. Some days he
wished he'd never touched the baby dragon when he was a
young boy.
"Did you say something, my lord?"
"Nothing important, Pietro. I was thinking of how
Larien would've loved visiting the dragons."
The elderly man grunted in agreement. "Mr. Jall
2
Mate Test
Amber Kell
always dreamed of dragons. He would've loved coming on
this trip."
Speechless from the tears clogging his throat, the
duke nodded.
Pietro made a soft disapproving sound. "He also
would've wanted you to move on with your life."
Tor smiled through his tears, "Very subtle, Pietro."
He took a sip from his coffee cup and waved the servant
away. "You may retire for the night. Thank you."
He could feel Pietro glaring at him as if the other
man could force Tor to see with the sheer power of his
stare. Larien always said Pietro's frigid gray eyes must be
chipped from polar glaciers in order to achieve their chill.
One of the benefits of being mostly blind was that he could
ignore icy stares.
"Remember what I said, Master. Mr. Jall lived for
your smile. Don't disappoint his memory by forgetting how
to."
With that parting shot, Tor heard the door close
softly.
"You are sad this evening."
Baroy's voice echoed through Tor's head in a soft
whisper like a stray word carried on a breeze. The soft
buzzing of the space dragon's voice was both comforting
3
Mate Test
Amber Kell
and abrasive. Tor's life had changed forever when he'd
bonded with a baby space dragon at the tender age of five.
As far as he knew, he was the youngest being, human or
not, to survive a matching with the rare breed.
"I am missing my mate," he mentally sent back to
the dragon.
"You are missing your lover ," the dragon corrected.
" You have yet to meet your mate."
"That doesn't make it less painful."
"No, it doesn't."
A burst of bitter laughter ripped through him.
"If it hurts this much to lose a lover, I don't want a
mate."
"It isn't a matter of want. It is a matter of fate. You
will meet your mate soon. I have foreseen it."
Chills shivered up and down Tor's spine.
The dragon was never wrong. The creature was
even more accurate than Tor's daughter, Alexandra, who
was a born seer.
"I don't want a mate," he repeated. Tor wondered if
saying it enough times would make the nebulous mate
vanish from his future.
His heart still cried for Larien. Tor wasn't ready to
risk it again.
4
Mate Test
Amber Kell
"All things happen in their own time."
Great. Just what he needed, more sage sayings from
a cryptic dragon. Tor felt Baroy leave his mind.
"I'm surrounded by beings with great parting lines."
Sighing, Tor took another drink of coffee. In times like
these he could almost feel Larien, as if his lover were still
beside him. He whispered to the empty room, "I will never
forget you, my love."
He didn't care what the court thought a 'natural'
mourning period was. In his heart, two years were
simultaneously a blink in the cosmos and a crawling
eternity
1
Mate Test
Amber Kell
leaving this plane for the next. He couldn't leave his little
girl and two boys. Although his broken heart remained
tattered and bruised, he loved them.
Tor sighed. Pressing his face into his hands, he
discreetly wiped away the moisture he felt leak from his
eyes despite his best efforts. The cold glass of the window
cooled his heated skin as he released another sigh. Even
though he couldn't see the star field outside the window, he
knew it was still there.
Dragon-bonded as a child, Tor's vision relied solely
on what the dragon allowed him to see. Subsequently, his
ability to see flashed in and out like a poor intergalactic
transmission. Sometimes it was excruciatingly clear, but
normally, it was complete blackness only broken by the
brilliant sparkle of stars. When Baroy flew through the
cosmos at night, Tor saw everything the creature saw. With
his eyes always locked with the dragon's in space, he was
blind to the everyday world around him. Some days he
wished he'd never touched the baby dragon when he was a
young boy.
"Did you say something, my lord?"
"Nothing important, Pietro. I was thinking of how
Larien would've loved visiting the dragons."
The elderly man grunted in agreement. "Mr. Jall
2
Mate Test
Amber Kell
always dreamed of dragons. He would've loved coming on
this trip."
Speechless from the tears clogging his throat, the
duke nodded.
Pietro made a soft disapproving sound. "He also
would've wanted you to move on with your life."
Tor smiled through his tears, "Very subtle, Pietro."
He took a sip from his coffee cup and waved the servant
away. "You may retire for the night. Thank you."
He could feel Pietro glaring at him as if the other
man could force Tor to see with the sheer power of his
stare. Larien always said Pietro's frigid gray eyes must be
chipped from polar glaciers in order to achieve their chill.
One of the benefits of being mostly blind was that he could
ignore icy stares.
"Remember what I said, Master. Mr. Jall lived for
your smile. Don't disappoint his memory by forgetting how
to."
With that parting shot, Tor heard the door close
softly.
"You are sad this evening."
Baroy's voice echoed through Tor's head in a soft
whisper like a stray word carried on a breeze. The soft
buzzing of the space dragon's voice was both comforting
3
Mate Test
Amber Kell
and abrasive. Tor's life had changed forever when he'd
bonded with a baby space dragon at the tender age of five.
As far as he knew, he was the youngest being, human or
not, to survive a matching with the rare breed.
"I am missing my mate," he mentally sent back to
the dragon.
"You are missing your lover ," the dragon corrected.
" You have yet to meet your mate."
"That doesn't make it less painful."
"No, it doesn't."
A burst of bitter laughter ripped through him.
"If it hurts this much to lose a lover, I don't want a
mate."
"It isn't a matter of want. It is a matter of fate. You
will meet your mate soon. I have foreseen it."
Chills shivered up and down Tor's spine.
The dragon was never wrong. The creature was
even more accurate than Tor's daughter, Alexandra, who
was a born seer.
"I don't want a mate," he repeated. Tor wondered if
saying it enough times would make the nebulous mate
vanish from his future.
His heart still cried for Larien. Tor wasn't ready to
risk it again.
4
Mate Test
Amber Kell
"All things happen in their own time."
Great. Just what he needed, more sage sayings from
a cryptic dragon. Tor felt Baroy leave his mind.
"I'm surrounded by beings with great parting lines."
Sighing, Tor took another drink of coffee. In times like
these he could almost feel Larien, as if his lover were still
beside him. He whispered to the empty room, "I will never
forget you, my love."
He didn't care what the court thought a 'natural'
mourning period was. In his heart, two years were
simultaneously a blink in the cosmos and a crawling
eternity
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