I held up my hands to him and he hesitated for a heartbeat a few inches away from my touch before leaning forward and resting his face in my hands. His eyes closed as he touched me, and Dain made a low keening sound as I pressed a kiss to his soft nose. I drew him down so I could put my arms around his muzzle, heedless of the blood, before I leaned my body against him, resting my cheek against his warm scales as his heated breath wrapped around me.

"I have something to tell you, and there's no reason to be afraid of it," I said, my heart starting to pound. It felt like a sun was being born inside of me, blooming into being, filling me with light. My Dain. My soulmate. We had everything we needed, and I was ready to drop over the precipice with him. I didn't care if it took him three years or three thousand to stand on two feet again. We would have an eternity together.

I felt him shiver, a tremor running through him. "I remember the look on your face when Zhiolas said how you were conceived. And I remember the look when I told you I didn't care." As he made another low, panting sound, I started stroking his fur. Even with the blood and the smoke, I could smell Dain, the scent of the man I loved so much. I hoped he liked having his nose against me, and didn't mind the tang of iron too much.

"Beloved, I still don't care," I said, and felt him heave under me, as if he was trying not to sob.

"You keep calling yourself a monster, and you keep being wrong. There's nothing monstrous about you. Not your body, not your spirit, and not your soul." I ran my fingers through his fur as he shuddered again, the edge of a whine on every breath. My Dain. "It doesn't matter how you were conceived, or why. We're so much more than our parentage, or the circumstances of our birth. You are a gifted, powerful, remarkable man, and you are going to be a beloved King. Stag Court is lucky beyond words to have you."

He started shivering and didn't stop, panting against me, making those soft sounds of pain.

I ran my hands along his muzzle, resting my weight against his face. "I know you can't see it, and maybe you can't even believe me when I say it, but that's okay," I said gently. "The gods gave you a soulmate from another world to look at you without prejudice, and she sees the man you are."