Drach Nassau stomped his foot on the accelerator of his 1962 250 GTO Ferrari. The prancing horse with a V12 engine roared and protested as he pushed it to its limit: a measly one hundred seventy-four miles per hour. For the first time, driving this vintage sports car didn't distract him. His blood bubbled like molten lava within his veins.

 The columns of his castle's outer gate were a blur as he raced past them. He slowed down, yet the tires screeched as he swung the steering wheel to circle the driveway. The stench of burning rubber greeted him as he braked to a halt.

He kicked the door open and unfolded his cramped legs before hefting himself out of the bucket seat. The car, always too compact for him, was his pride and joy. Though a gift for his father, he'd sold it when they fell into penury. After he restored Ignissaxum to its former glory, to celebrate, he repurchased this car.

"I might as well upgrade," he mumbled, glowering at the sleek gray hood.

Drach should've transformed and flown. Except Attor, when upset, might've scorched everything in his path to blow off steam.

As he lifted his arms and stretched, the staff vanished in the hedges. Best they stayed out of his way. The flapping banners on the soaring walls of his family's ancestral lair danced in the rising wind. He studied the crimson dragon against a field of midnight black and huffed. 

Plumes of smoke escaped his flared nostrils. Livid, the humiliation of the afternoon chafed. Despite everything he'd built, he was still under the thumb of a weak, inferior creature.

The impending storm mimicked his current mood. He snapped his fingers, emitting sparks before he tossed the keys. Krev, his valet, caught them before ducking behind the ornate balusters of the porte-cochère.

The hidden hydraulic hinges whooshed as the portcullises lifted. He leapt over the marble stairs leading to the raised portico. The gigantic oak doors, enforced with brass filigree sheets, had opened as he reached them.

As he stepped into his cold drachenhaus, the stillness welcomed  him like an old friend.

The flickering fire formed dancing specters on the limestone walls. Moonlight, piercing the clouds, streamed in through the large stained glass windows and domed roof. The play of light and shadow added an ominous ambience to the entrance. As did the wide pillars carved with intricate ancient runes that were holding up the vaulted ceiling. He had chosen not to alter this hall, designed to intimidate visitors.

But he had added the centerpiece—a fifteen feet long jade statue of a Chinese dragon, studded with pearls and diamonds. It paid homage to an extinctline from the east. Instead of being destroyed or displayed to entertain humans, it sat on a plinth of almost translucent statuario marble of carrara. It belonged in the largest dragon hold in the world. Yet the sculpture's beauty did little to soften the starkness of the cavernous reception.

A couple of dim torches set into sconces guarded the grand formal hall. He marched up to the heavy Damascus iron doors that'd endured the pillaging of his familial seat. Even his muscles strained as he opened them. At the other end was a colossal stone hearth of painite. Carved above, it was the motto of his ancestors—hic sunt dracones.

A hearty fire illuminated the bare room. It was always lit... he'd have the castellans' head if it wasn't.

Drach stroked the simple high-backed oak throne, the seat of power he'd reclaimed against all odds. He ought to be proud, but his solemn father's portrait soured his mood further.

"Tell me, father, what else should I have done?" His weary question echoed but the dead offered no advice. "You're home. So am I. Why isn't that enough for now?"

He tore his cutaway tailcoat,  and ripped off the collar chain with the crest of his house, the blood ruby brooch, cravat, and waistcoats followed by his shoes. It didn't help. Drach continued to suffocate.

"Superstes ero," he repeated under his breath. Repeating his personal adage, that 'he'd survive', he stalked the empty corridors lined with shining but damaged suits of armor of various ages. They all belonged to fools who'd tried to smite his kind.

Drach winced at the muted illumination from the hidden LED strips and bulbs lining the edges of the stone floor that still irked him. He preferred any live flame, but the restorers deemed it a hazard and soot ruined the limestone wash on the roof.

In his study, the skulls of ascendents' beasts watched him enter. Cedar logs fed the roaring flames in the fireplace. Many a trophy of past conquests adorned the mantle. An array of weapons, ancient and modern from all over the globe graced the walls. Each was a testament to their lengthy reign.

A pile of correspondence and files lay on the massive table. Instead of working, he'd wasted the whole day at the court of fools.

He groaned when he caught sight of the intruder.

Calek lounged on his armchair, holding a ballooned crystal glass, guzzling down his favorite brandy as if it were water. His brother's languid posture and sprawled limbs embodied insolence. His bent arm propped his chin in his cupped palm. "I divine you failed to dissuade the mutt from going through with his latest folly?" Without waiting for an answer, he commented, "What else can one expect from the False King?"

Despite the festering discontent of many an aristocrat, including Drach, Félix Ashkenazic Saxe-Coburg occupied Europa's throne. He hadn't won it; its rightful claimant was his late brother Fernand, the beloved leader of the Werewolf Rebellion.

Drach pulled off his socks and tossed them aside while wiggling his toes. His talons emerged and clicked at the floor until he reached the carpet to sit down facing Calek. 

"Any news of the Romulus heirs?" he asked, rolling his stiff shoulders.

The Lycan Queen's bloodthirsty elder son had whelped a female pup. The other's mate was expecting. Both were a verified fact. Each was a direct descendant. Allegedly the new generation had also inherited the fiery hair that rivaled the red of the Eternal Flame. A plague had wiped out the most powerful of the Old World Shifter dynasty, but the seeds survived. The heirs of the sole leader who had ruled Europa's shifters for five centuries could reunite them to overthrow Félix Ashkenazic but the dastardly architect of the new world had stolen them.

"None. Our spies have found no trace of them. They will soon come of age by their rules. After that, the blind schemer can't prevent them from seeking their destiny," an over confident Calek said, dismissing his concerns.

"What if they know nothing of their lineage? If only Fredrik's descendent escaped the inferno," Drach grumbled. A fire had killed the real claimant and his entire line. Other contenders bent a knee or went into exile.

Anyone who stood in the way of Félix Saxe-Coburg's ambitions had mysteriously died or disappeared in the past five decades.

"It wouldn't alter Félix would've been regent. Massimo—" Calek suggested.

Drach cut him off. "Massimo's claim is diluted. The fool mated with a commoner who produced no heirs. He's happy growing grapes and brewing mead in the hills."

"Anyone with a royal lineage can replace the mutt... even you if you can wrestle control of the council. Do we leviathans have the numbers, brother dear?" Calek drawled.

Drach had other priorities. Only two weyrs endured by the end of the civil war. He commanded the largest flock of dragons, fifty adults, nineteen younglings, twenty hatchlings, most orphans, and just as many maimed ones. Thirty homeless and displaced exiles accepted his invitation. Yet their last cache of eggs had hatched nearly a decade ago.

"We are not risking our species' future. Karl would agree."

"Of course he would," Calek scoffed.

Unwilling to resume discussing Calek's proposal of - ousting Karl Bastiel and merging the weyrs, Drach added, "I'd settle for a Romanov—"

"You know they've lost their claim. No olden house or guild will support them, even Craven Karl would take a stance—against the Romanovs. Do not forget most of them work for the Usurper. Same for the Remus. They'll stand with the mutt and turn in their family for dissenting. There is no honor to be found in their ranks," Calek reminded him, sounding bored.

Drach half-heartedly suggested, "The Rasputin Ursas, then." He unbuttoned his shirt and fanned himself with the edge. His heated skin emitted steam. Unless he calmed down, he'd end up ruining another item from his constantly dwindling wardrobe with singes and burn. Dressed in just his dress pants, Drach took the glass of brandy. The bottom half was frozen water. Grateful his brother had prepared the drink for him, he swirled the d'Ussé Cognac to chill it. Proofed a hundred percent for shifters, it stung as he swallowed a draught.

"Rasputins are too radical. They're reformists." Calek spat the word out as if it tasted bad.

Attor beamed with pride. Their wastrel brother had a knack for reading the pulse of the continent. Except he didn't get involved in running their business or take over Drach's court duties. Calek was content to sit on the sidelines. Hearing him analyze their volatile political landscape gave Drach hope. Someday Calek might have to bear the burden of keeping their legacy and species alive if anything happened to him. 

As Drach fished an ice cube from his goblet to chew, Calek announced, "enough of your balderdash. Quit brooding. We have sworn fealty to Europa's Union. This is treason, and we've accepted it as the lesser evil. The Emperor protects the aristocracy. And he favors you. Imagine if he decided we too should become a democratic republic." He shuddered.

"We cannot sit by and do nothing," Drach whinged. 

"Yes, we can. And we will. Let me remind you, dear brother, you have much to do. Europa cannot afford a coup or political unrest, let alone a war."

His brother sighed. "Either overthrow the mutt or let it rest. Are you willing to risk the extinction of our bloodline? No, you aren't. So we wait and watch. The Romulus Sun will rise again, and with it, the Olden Order. From the ashes, the Nassau, led by you will reemerge to smite the rebels." Calek leaned forward to grip his knees. His icy touch cooled Drach's flesh through the fabric of his pants. "We have a bigger purpose. Humans will self-destruct sooner than later. We're destined to play a pivotal role in controlling the cleansed world. Also, for all his flaws, Félix pays your agency handsomely to monitor the nuclear threat worldwide, and manage a bulk of his investment portfolio." He hesitated before adding, "For now, pray for another crutch. Mate. You need heirs."

"Don't you?" Drach asked, arching a brow.

Calek hesitated. His azure irises spread into the whites as he got up to grip Drach's shoulders. His breath came out as puffs of fog.

The air around Drach froze, and his blood stopped simmering. He was born of fire, his brother of ice.

"No. I am not. Listen frater, our pater stood up for what was right... rather, what he believed in with all his heart and all his might. He died for his principles. We paid the price, ended up homeless orphans, living on the streets, hunted by those who deflected. The fall of the Romulus almost ended our line, too. You pulled us from the brink, meus seigneur. You reclaimed the glory of the Nassau name. For those who follow you, trust you blindly, and for everything you rebuilt, guard your tongue. If not, do it for me. It doesn't matter who sits on the throne. You finally have it all, Drach. Why isn't it enough?"

Drach Nassau finally had it all. He'd reclaimed everything their family lost. His fortune rivalled the Emperor's, and he'd even restored their honor,  yet he wanted more.

Translations:

drachenhaus: (German) Dragon house/ lair.

Superstes ero: (Latin) I will survive.

meus seigneur: (Latin) my lord.

hic sunt dracones: (Latin) here lie dragons.

 frater: (Latin) brother.

pather (Latin) father.

Author's Note:

So, I finally did an alternate POV. It's something I refrained from doing in The Feral Mate and The Wolves of Echo Mountains Series.

What do you think of it? is it needed? Did you like it? Or would you prefer only Asena's POV?

Did you get a lay of Europa's political landscape in this chapter? Or was it confusing?

Also next chapter's been posted! It's a double update!!! Have a great weekend, guys!