A few of the females giggled at Daylea’s words. Others shot Daylea glares and disapproving looks. The females were still split in their opinion of Georgia and Aryn. Desmond had hoped they would have come along further than that by now.

  Pursing his lips, Desmond turned to Daylea. He grasped her chin between his clawed fingers, causing her eyes to widen and her pulse to race in his ears. “I could never find a human more appealing than one of my kind...” He let his claws tighten, biting into her scaled flesh. “If you disrespect our visitors in my presence again, I will make sure that they are the last words you will ever speak, am I clear?”

  Daylea swallowed and tried to nod but couldn’t against Desmond’s grip.

  Desmond released her with enough force to send her stumbling back. Sensing his anger, the females back away from him, a mixture of fear coating the arousal in the air. “Now,” he turned to the other females. “Who can assist me in finding the human, Aryn?”

  “I can,” a smaller female of a bright sapphire blue stepped forward. She shrank back against the glares given by some of the other females but kept coming.

  “Wonderful, thank you for your help...” Desmond wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her an encouraging squeeze. “I don’t believe I know your name.”

  “Mai, prince... highness... I mean your highness.” She stuttered over her words, tugging on the long dark blue strands of her hair braided down the side of her face and over her shoulder. “My name is Mai.”

  “Well, then Mai. Where can I find my prey?” I let the teasing tone in my voice smooth over the tension in the room.

  Swallowing first, Mai wrung her hands together, her claws bitten to the quicks. “Aryn likes to work in the kitchens. You’ll probably find her there.”

  “Getting in the cooks way, no doubt.” another female he couldn’t identify snorted causing a good-natured laugh. Desmond let that one go, or he’d be here all day.

  “Very well. It seems as if my search continues.” Desmond released Mai and headed for the door. “As always my lovelies, it has been a pleasure.”

  Desmond ducked out of the room before any of them could attach themselves to his person. He didn’t interact with the guards this time not wanting to be distracted from his mission.

  The kitchens were in a different part of the mountain, near the north entrance so they could access the river that ran nearby. The closer Desmond came to the kitchens the more the air filled with the savory scent of meat and sweetness of the rolls being made for the evening meal. Desmond’s stomach growled its approval as he stepped into the warm room.

  Unlike the female’s quarters, the kitchens held a half dozen maybe more drakes. Many of them rushing back and forth to this task or that. The cook biting the heads off them for messing something up or distracting them.

  Personally, Desmond tried to stay away from the kitchens. Bry, the head cook, didn’t particularly like him.

  “Ah, your highness.” Bry greeted him on sight. “Come to destroy half my kitchen again? If so, let me know now so that I can give up on tonight’s meal.”

  Desmond grimaced.

  At the tender age of thirteen, Desmond thought he could light the stoves in the kitchen for them without so much as any accelerants. Turns out, he could. Desmond just didn’t know how to turn off his fire breathing on his own. It wasn’t until someone dumped a bucket of cold water on him did the fire stop pouring out of his mouth. His throat had burned for a week afterward.

  “No, Bry, I’m actually here for the human, Aryn. I was told she spends her time here?” Desmond’s gaze searched the room, his lips turned down in a frown at the lack of the small plump woman’s figure.

  “Ah, yes. Her.” Bry rolled his eyes. Seemed she’d made an enemy of the cook as well. “I sent her to get water with one of the others. She should still be there.”

  “Wonderful,” Desmond clasped his hands together and hurried himself across the kitchen. Lingering seemed like it would be bad for his health and his stomach. Ignoring the protest of said organ, Desmond walked down the corridors to the entrance of the underwater cavern.

  The river ran under the mountain on this side before exiting on the other. The openings of the mountain are too small and narrow for anyone to infiltrate, making it one of the safer area’s so close to the outside world.

  Mahani stood at the entrance, watching his charge fill one bucket after another. He glanced my way once before turning back to his duty with a bored expression on his face. Desmond had always liked Mahani, he didn’t put on airs. None of this yes your highness, no your highness. He did his job, and that was that. You either gained his trust and respect or you were dirt beneath his boot.

  The drake with Aryn noticed me first. A young male, his horns barely coming in on his citrine head. The little knobs poking up between the tuffs of silvery white hair thrown haphazardly into a braid. He stood at attention dropping his bucket full of water as a result.

  “By the gods, you are useless Quil’n.” Aryn scowled down at her soaked skirt. She still hadn’t noticed Desmond standing nearby. “It's no wonder Bry sent you to get water. I’m starting to wonder if your egg was dropped before you were born.”

  “Actually,” Desmond interrupted. “We are born like mammals, not like dragons. A bit confusing, I’m sure for those who do not know us personally.”

  Aryn’s gaze jerked around to Desmond, her eyes going wide. The bucket in her hand hung there just seconds from spilling its contents. “Uh... your highness. We were just... “

  “It’s fine.” Desmond stopped her from rambling on. “I was just looking for you.”

  “Whatever for?” The older female’s brows furrowed, her eyes filling with suspicion. This may be harder than Desmond thought.

  “I need a favor.”

  Chapter 11

  Cal

  Flesh slapping against flesh filled the air. The stink of sweat and sex clogged his nose in the best of ways.

  “Oh, fuck, gods, just like that your highness. Fuck me.” the bitch screamed beneath Cal. Whether her cries of pleasure were real or faked, Cal didn’t particularly care. She was nothing more than a hole for him to find his release.

  Cal thrusted a few more times into the whore before pulling out and releasing his load all over her back and hair with a satisfied grunt. Pulling out of her, he threw a cloth at her and said, “Get out.”

  The dark-haired woman with large tits didn’t linger or ask questions. She quickly swiped what she could of his cum off of her and gathered her clothes. Half dressed, she hurried through the bedroom door just as Luis opened it.

  “I see your tastes have changed,” Luis commented with a hint of humor in his tone. “Tired of petite little blondes?”

  Cal ignored his brother’s taunts and went to the wash bin. Using a rag, he cleansed himself of the bitch’s cunt and scent. It horrified him he had to pay for his sexual release now. Cal was attractive. He could have any woman in court or employed at the palace under him with just a cruck of his finger.

  Unfortunately, none of those women were Georgia.

  “What news do you have for me?” Cal asked, jerking his pants back into place and walking to the nearby table for a drink.

  “I thought it was peculiar that you requested someone with such dark hair and voluptuous figure,” Lu continued as if he hadn’t heard him. “Then I thought maybe you grew bored with fucking the same hole every time. Now, I realized it’s because she looks like your betrothed.” Lu’s lips curled up at the side. “Feeling a bit frustrated, brother?”

  Not even bothering to set down his glass of wine, Call pulled a dagger from his waist and threw it at his brother’s head.

  Naturally, Luis dodged it with a smirk. “Touchy subject. I see.”

  “I won’t miss next time,” Cal threatened and then drained his glass before refilling it. “Now, tell me what I want to know and it better be something good or I’ll have to bring that bitch back and slit her throat. I really don’t want to find another whore to take her place.”

  Luis cocked a brow. “Testy today it seems.” When Cal shot him a warning look, Luis conceded. “Very well. We haven’t found a way into the mountain... yet. But our soldiers are scouring every inch until we find a way in. If there is one. They’ll find it.”

  “Of course, there’s a way in, otherwise how would those monsters be hiding there? They didn’t just dig under it, there had to be a way in.” Cal muttered more to himself than to his brother.

  “Don’t worry, brother. We’ll find it.” Luis stepped forward patting him on the back. “Then we’ll find the princess and this kingdom will be ours.”

  “That’s if that old coot doesn’t ruin it for us,” Cal snarled, flopping down into the chair at the table. “One word from him and the whole thing could go up in smoke.”

  “That brings me to the next piece of news,” Luis clicked his tongue and frowned. “He’s noticed his soldiers are missing.”

  Cal snorted. “That was bound to happen eventually,” Cal stated, not bothered by his brother’s admission. The fact that the Kinokos’ king hadn’t noticed until now said something about the rulers and none of it was good. Cal would never let his soldiers not report in immediately and the lax security around the palace made it even worse.

  “That is not the concerning part.” Luis continued, a pinch between his brows. “Those guards we didn’t think were watching saw when we disposed of the bodies and ratted us out to the king.” Luis paused watching him for his reaction.

  Cal blinked at his brother. “And?”

  “And has called us to come to him and explain ourselves.” Luis picked at his nails, before flicking a piece of lint off his shirt. He paused for a long moment, letting Cal take in his words. “How do you want to proceed?”

  That old king was getting on Cal’s last nerve. He was lucky that Cal had any interest in his third rate kingdom. If it weren’t for Cal, the other kingdoms would have swooped in and taken over, decimating the countryside and people before killing him and probably his pain in the ass daughter. King Fergus should be kissing Cal’s ass and not questioning his every move.

  “Cal?”

  Jaw clenched and hands curled at his side, Cal contemplated his choices. One the one hand he could come clean and make up some kind of story to explain why he’d tortured and killed his soldiers. None of them could tell anyone else where the princess was located before they died and while that put Cal on the winning side, it could pose a problem in the long run if he didn’t pass along that information to the king.

  “Cal? What are we going to do?” Luis’s incessant questioning pushed on Cal’s nerves.

  “I don’t know.” Cal muttered and dragged his shirt on and buttoned it up with quick fingers. When he finished, he looked down and found the buttons misaligned. With a scream of frustration, Cal ripped the shirt open buttons flying across the room. He jerked the shirt off and threw it on the ground, stomping on it with his boot until it was a crumbled mess on the floor.

  Chest heaving, Cal glared down at the shirt before shooting his gaze up to Luis. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “What are we going to tell the king?” Luis asked again, handing him a clean shirt.

  “Fucking whatever we want.”

  “And if he doesn’t accept that answer and wants more?” Luis prodded, arching a brow amusement on his face at Cal’s actions.

  “Then we kill him and make it look like an accident, then take the kingdom as our own and destroy anyone who gets in our way.” Cal stalked out the door and added on, “Even my cunt of a betrothed.”

  Chapter 12

  “Again,” Beautine signed for the hundredth time in the last hour.

  My arm burned and was seconds away from falling off. Beautine said my arm strength was lacking and if I wanted to slice Cal’s head off, I’d have to get a lot stronger. Hence the relentless swinging.

  “Switch.” Beautine gestured with her hands.

  With an exhausted sigh, I moved the sword to my other hand. I wouldn’t complain. I needed to do this. I had to do this.

  Just imagine Cal’s smug face as my sword sliced through his neck. Of course, I wouldn’t make it that easy for him. First, I’d tie him down so he couldn’t get away. If I cared about anyone hearing him I’d shove a dirty rag in his mouth like Luis used to hold his hand over mine, the stinking sweat of his palm burning into my face.

  Then I’d carve into him bit by bit. Each slice was deeper than the last until I covered his body in cuts. We’d be twins in that aspect. Maybe I would cut my name into his flesh, right across his dick that he pressed against me every time he cut into me. He might not have raped me but he had violated me in a whole other way.

  My eyes burned, and my chest grew tight. I couldn’t even see the training room or Beautine anymore. All I saw was Cal and Luis’s grinning faces. Enjoying every minute of my pain. Every tear that streaked down my face, just like the blood that had stained so many of my clothes. It had taken Aryn forever to clean them in secret.

  A hand grabbed my shoulder, and I screamed, swinging around my sword lifted in the air. Beautine caught it before it cut her head off, blood dripping off her hand and onto the dirt floor. I dropped the sword with a horrified gasp, rushing to Beautine’s side.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I signed as well as spoke out loud. I grabbed her wrist, trying to see the extent of her injury.

  Beautine shrugged and pulled her hand away to sign to me. “I’m fine. You aren’t the first to injure me.”

  My lips pressed together in a tight frown. “But I shouldn’t have gotten so distracted.”

  Placing her good hand on my shoulder, Beautine smiled, her lips moving slowly. “I am proud of you. Your strength of body now matches the strength in your heart.”

  My eyes burned for a whole different reason now. I threw myself at the female drake, wrapping my arms around her middle and burying my face in her neck. Beautine’s chest rumbled with laughter beneath my face, while she patted me on the back.

  Rubbing my eyes, I withdrew from her with a sad smile, signing, “You have been a good friend. Thank you.”

  Beautine tried to sign back but winced, the pain in her hand giving her away.

  “Come on,” I spoke aloud. “Let’s go to the infirmary.”

  We walked in companionable silence on the way to the infirmary. A few drakes greeted us with a nod or a word. To my surprise, a couple of them even used the sign for hello.

  The drakes had enough forethought to keep the infirmary close to the training area. If we’d been at the palace, we’d have had to come inside, go up four flights of stairs before winding up and around the tallest tower to get to the physician's study. Even then he’d have lectured you the whole time about taking care of yourself. If he was even available. The majority of the time we’d find old coots passed out on a patient’s cot stinking of alcohol.

  There weren’t many drakes in the infirmary. I’d noticed they heal a lot faster than humans and most of them didn’t even bother to get treated. I knew that Beautine was just humoring me by letting me bring her here. Either way, it made me feel better about my transgression to take care of her.

  We found an empty wooden bench to sit on near a work table. The infirmary was mostly empty except a few drakes sleeping off last night’s revelry.

  “Lazy drunks.” Beautine said, her eyes rolling at the drakes.

  I smiled at her, turning to the supplies on the table.

  The drakes didn’t follow the same kind of healing procedures as the physician at the palace. They didn’t have leeches or weird concoctions that stung the nose and eyes. Everything they had came from the forest or mountain around them. Lavender for pain relief. Garlic for a fever. It was different to say the least how a race so strong could only use such simple things to help them. I’d have said humans were the superior race before meeting them. Now I’ve begun to think we might be the ones who should be in hiding.

  Picking up a cloth, I wet it in the bowl of water on the table. I turned Beautine’s hand over to me, slowly and carefully cleaning around the edges of the cut. Thankfully, the sword hadn’t cut her too deep. I didn’t even think it needed stitches.

  My eyes focused on the cut, smoothing the cloth over it and around it. Even after it stopped bleeding I couldn’t stop looking at it. My heart raced in my chest and my head felt foggy. I blinked once, twice, three times. But I couldn’t get the sickening feeling in the back of my throat to go away.

  Beautine placed her hand on top of mine. Her eyes filled with concern.

  I blew out a slow breath, pulling my hands away from her injury and turning to the side. Why was this happening? I’d never had an issue with blood before. The gods know I’ve seen and cleaned enough of it during my time with Cal and his brother. Why did the blood on Beautine’s hand affect me so much?

  After a few minutes, Beautine touched my hand.

  I slowly turned back to her and found her injured hand covered with the cloth so I couldn’t see it. My eyes flicked up to her face and the pity there made me irrationally angry. I knew she was only worried about me. Beautine had been nothing but nice and understanding. Nothing in her face was saying she thought I was weak or undeserving.

  Without a word, I stood and stalked out of the room. I hurried down the corridor, my eyes on my feet and not where I was going. It was no wonder that I didn’t run into someone. Unless they saw me and quickly moved out of the way. Which would explain why I ended up in the middle of a four way crossing completely lost.

  Spinning around in place, I tried to figure out which way I’d come from. The markings on the wall weren’t much help. I didn’t know if I’d come from the east or the west. I’d been so focused on my own pain and self pitying that I had ended up somewhere I’d never been before.

  For a moment, I grew angry. Even more so than at Beautine and her pity. I was angry with myself. My helplessness in this situation with Cal and the drakes. I thought I was being brave and taking his disgusting touch for the sake of my kingdom. Then I thought I had the kingdom’s good at heart when I came running to the drakes.

 

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