Too Late For Regret: My Dragon Lord

Florence POV:

The cold stone of the courtyard pressed against my cheek, the air thick with the smell of rust and fear. A dragon-hide whip, soaked in salt water, tore across the skin of my back. The pain was a white-hot explosion that nearly sent me into darkness. That was the ninth lash.

From a distance, I could hear the choked sobs of my maids, Mrs. Hayes and Poppy, pleading for me. Their cries were quickly muffled as guards roughly clamped hands over their mouths.

My mind splintered. I, Florence Wilkerson, once a top-tier emergency room physician, was now here, in this hell, being publicly shamed for an accusation of adultery I didn't commit. Fragments of my modern world-the sterile scent of a hospital, the frantic beep of a heart monitor-collided with the raw despair of the woman whose body I now inhabited.

Caelus Alvarez, my husband in name only, stood before me. The dragon lord, with his brilliant gold hair and amber dragon eyes, regarded me with nothing but pure disgust.

The clothes he wore were embroidered with intricate dragon scales in gold thread, glittering in the sun, while I was dressed in a roughspun prisoner's tunic. This was the difference between the Dragon-born and the Dragonless, power made visible.

His voice was as cold as ice. "The tenth lash. Let her remember the price of betraying the Alvarez name." He raised the whip, its tip drawing a cruel arc through the air.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the impact. But the searing pain never landed on my back.

Instead, a small, warm body threw itself over me with a muffled grunt. My eyes flew open. I twisted, my muscles screaming in protest, and saw my five-year-old son, Aethan. He had taken the blow for me, his thin back shielding mine.

His small face was pale, his lips trembling from the shock of pain, but his ice-blue eyes were fixed on Caelus with unnerving defiance. "Don't... Don't you hurt my mommy!"

Caelus's expression twisted at the interruption. "Get out of the way, you Dragonless bastard!" he roared.

Aethan's small frame trembled, but he didn't move. He just hugged me tighter.

In that instant, the last remnants of the original Florence's despair were consumed by a fire I hadn't felt since I'd arrived in this world. I was no longer the weak woman who begged for his love. I was a doctor. I was a mother.

A single thought burned through my mind: protect my child.

Caelus, apparently provoked by the defiance of a five-year-old, raised the whip again. This time, he aimed for Aethan.

"Caelus, my love, he's just a child," a voice as soft as silk drifted from the adjoining colonnade. Catharine Craig, dressed in a sky-blue silk gown embroidered with subtle, silver dragon-flame patterns, glided toward him. The dress was a statement of her favored status.

She walked to Caelus's side, placing a graceful hand on his arm. Her own blue eyes were filled with "concern." "Losing your temper over a child is beneath a Dragon Lord's dignity."

Her words were a balm, but the look she shot toward Aethan and me held a flicker of triumph. It was her. She had orchestrated all of this.

Caelus's rage subsided slightly under her touch, but his loathing for us remained.

He sneered down at Aethan. "As worthless as his mother. Drag him off. Continue the punishment."

Two guards moved forward, their hands reaching to pull Aethan away from me.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Aethan cried, his small hands clutching my tunic.

My son's cries were a blade twisting in my gut. No. I would not allow it.

The moment a guard's fingers brushed against Aethan, I used every ounce of strength I had left. I pulled Aethan under me, shielding him, and my voice, though hoarse and cold, cut through the air with absolute clarity. "Stop."

It wasn't loud, but the authority in that single word made everyone, including the two guards, freeze.

Caelus narrowed his dangerous dragon eyes, startled that I dared to speak.

I lifted my head, my gaze meeting his. The old Florence would have cringed and looked away. But I stared directly into his eyes, my own holding not fear, but a cold, rising fire.

"Caelus Alvarez," I said, each word a chip of ice. "If you dare touch my son again today, I promise you, you will regret it."

A dead silence fell over the courtyard. Everyone stared, stunned.

A Dragonless woman, a scorned wife on the verge of being whipped to death, was threatening a Dragon Lord.

The smile on Catharine's face froze. She looked at me in disbelief.

Caelus's shock morphed into a deeper, more profound fury. He felt his authority had been challenged in a way it never had before.

He shook off Catharine's hand and stalked toward me. The oppressive pressure of a dragon's presence radiated from him, so heavy the air itself felt thick and hard to breathe.

He crouched in front of me, his fingers seizing my chin. "What did you just say?" he ground out, his voice a low growl. "I didn't hear you. Say it again, if you have the nerve."

Florence POV:

Caelus's fingers were an iron clamp on my jaw, the bones groaning under the pressure. The scent of him-a mix of sulfur and molten gold that was his unique dragon's breath-washed over me, making my stomach churn.

His amber dragon eyes burned with a fury that looked ready to erupt into flame and turn me to ash. "Say it again," he repeated, his voice low and lethal.

I could feel Aethan trembling in my arms, not from fear, but from a child's helpless rage. His small hand gripped my arm tightly.

I didn't back down. I met his gaze and, with all the strength I could muster, I repeated, clearly, "I said, if you dare touch my son again, you will regret it."

Caelus's pupils contracted. He clearly hadn't expected me to actually do it. The guards around us let out a collective, sharp intake of breath.

He laughed, a harsh, grating sound devoid of humor. He released my chin and stood, looming over me like I was an insect he was about to crush. "Regret it? A pathetic Dragonless woman, a wife who can't even protect herself. How exactly will you make me regret anything?"

He snatched the dragon-hide whip from the guard again. "It seems ten lashes aren't enough to teach you obedience."

Catharine stepped forward once more, her voice a soft coo. "Caelus, please don't. She must be delirious from the pain..."

Caelus waved her away impatiently. "No one will stop me today. I'm going to teach her, and this little bastard, exactly who is master here!"

He raised the whip high, and this time, it whistled through the air, aimed mercilessly at both Aethan and me.

Everyone expected to see our blood splatter across the stones. Even Catharine's lips curved into a subtle, satisfied smile.

In the fraction of a second before the whip fell, I did something that left everyone speechless.

I didn't flinch. I didn't cower. I shot my hand out with shocking speed and caught the end of the whip mid-air.

It stopped less than an inch from Aethan's face.

Time seemed to freeze. The courtyard was utterly silent, save for the whisper of the wind.

The rage on Caelus's face hardened into pure, unadulterated disbelief. He tried to yank the whip back, but it was locked in my grip, unmoving.

My palm screamed in protest, the rough hide tearing at my skin, but I didn't let go. I could feel a strange, foreign strength surging through my body.

Slowly, I rose to my feet, still shielding Aethan with my body. I was a full head shorter than Caelus, but in that moment, my presence matched his.

"I told you," my voice was quiet, but it sliced through the silence like a shard of glass, "do not touch my son."

Caelus's expression shifted from shock to raw humiliation. A powerful Dragon Lord, his weapon caught bare-handed by a Dragonless woman. It was an unthinkable insult.

He jerked hard, trying to wrench the whip free. But I used his momentum against him, pulling sharply as he pulled. He stumbled forward, catching himself before he fell.

The guards gasped, their discipline finally breaking. Their lord had just lost a contest of strength.

Catharine's face went white. She covered her mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief.

I looked at Caelus with cold disdain. "Caelus Alvarez, you listen to me. I, Florence Wilkerson, am not your property. And my son is not a toy for you to abuse."

I gently passed Aethan to a stunned Mrs. Hayes. "Take care of him."

Then, I took a step forward, facing Caelus directly. "You flog me for adultery. Where is your proof?"

He was momentarily stunned by the question, then his shame turned to fury. "Do I need proof? Your very existence is proof of your low breeding!"

"Is it?" I gave a cold, humorless smile. "Or is it because your precious concubine whispered something in your ear?" I glanced at the now-pale Catharine.

"Silence! Do not dare slander Catharine!" Caelus roared, trying again to rip the whip from my hand.

I suddenly let go. Caelus, pulling with all his might, staggered backward several steps before regaining his footing, looking utterly undignified.

I hid my torn and bleeding palm behind my back. "A Dragon Lord who can't even exercise basic judgment, who is led around by a woman... How pathetic."

My words were daggers, aimed directly at his fragile pride.

His golden eyes blazed with murderous intent. The stone tiles of the courtyard began to vibrate faintly as his dragon's power surged, uncontrolled. "You are asking to die."

Florence POV:

Caelus's dragon pressure crashed over me like a physical wave. My breath caught in my throat, and I felt my bones groan under the weight of it. This was the power of the Dragon-God bloodline-pure, irrational dominance.

But I didn't fall to my knees or tremble like the others. I forced my spine straight. My legs felt like they might give out, but I fought the pressure with every ounce of my will.

It's just an overwhelming release of pheromones and adrenaline, I told myself, the doctor in my mind analyzing the phenomenon. It can't kill you.

"What's wrong? Can't win with words, so you resort to force?" I taunted, a smirk playing on my lips. "Is this how a Dragon Lord acts? Using violence to hide your own foolishness?"

My words made him pause. He wasn't a fool, just arrogant. To kill an unarmed woman in front of his men simply because she angered him would damage his authority.

He needed a proper reason. A justifiable cause to execute me.

I saw the hesitation in his eyes. This was my chance.

"Caelus Alvarez," I said, my tone shifting to something calm and formal. "I will say it again. I did not commit adultery. This is a false accusation."

I turned to Catharine, who immediately adopted the look of a startled deer. "Lady Catharine, you claim you saw me with a stable hand in the stables, correct?"

Catharine glanced nervously at Caelus before nodding. "Yes, Florence. I... I didn't mean to. I just happened to be passing by..."

"Excellent." I nodded. "Then please, tell us all. When was this? Which stable? And what was the stable hand's name?"

Catharine froze. She clearly hadn't prepared for a public cross-examination. Her lie was a vague accusation, not a detailed story.

She stammered, "It... it was yesterday afternoon... in the west stables..."

"Yesterday afternoon?" I laughed, a dry, humorless sound. "Yesterday afternoon, I was with Aethan in our room all day because he had a cold. Mrs. Hayes and Poppy can both attest to that."

Mrs. Hayes immediately shouted, "It's true, my Lord! The mistress and the young master never left their chambers!"

Catharine's face paled even further. She hadn't expected me to have an irrefutable alibi.

She immediately turned to Caelus, tears welling in her eyes. "Caelus, I... I must have been mistaken about the time... But I truly saw it... Why would I lie to you about something like this?"

As expected, Caelus instantly defended her. He glared at me. "Enough! Everyone knows Catharine's kindness. She would never lie. It must be you who is playing tricks!"

I sneered internally. See? This is what biased affection looks like. Logic is useless against it. I had to negotiate with something he valued more: his own self-interest.

"Fine. Let's say your beloved concubine never lies, and let's say I am guilty." I took a deep breath and played my card. "But what benefit is there for you in executing me?"

Caelus frowned, not understanding.

"If I die, you get your satisfaction, but the Alvarez name is tarnished-a lord who couldn't even control his own wife. And my son," I glanced at Aethan, "he will die, too. You will carry the name of a man who killed his own child."

I saw a flicker of something in his eyes. He didn't care about Aethan's life, but he cared deeply about his own reputation.

"Give me two days." I pressed my advantage. "I don't need you to believe me. I just need two days. Within two days, I will find concrete evidence of who framed me. If I can't, I will submit to any punishment you decree, without complaint."

It was a gamble. I had no idea what I could find in two days, but I needed time. Time to treat the wound on Aethan's back, and time to think.

Caelus was silent, weighing his options.

Catharine grew anxious, pulling on his sleeve. "Caelus, don't listen to her! She's just trying to buy time!"

I looked at her coldly. "What's the matter, Lady Catharine? Are you afraid I'll find the proof?"

Catharine was speechless, able only to look at Caelus with pleading eyes.

Finally, Caelus made his decision. He probably thought a dying woman couldn't cause much trouble anyway, and granting me two days would make him appear "merciful" and "just."

"Fine," he bit out the word. "You have two days. At sunset two days from now, if you cannot produce your evidence, you and your son will be fed to the dragons in my den."

The threat was clear. The dragons in the den were not gentle pets.

I had won a precious reprieve. But just as I allowed myself a shallow breath of relief, a maid ran frantically from the inner keep, collapsing at Catharine's feet.

"It's terrible, Lady Catharine! Young Master Aidan... he's suddenly developed a high fever and fallen unconscious!"