“I was sorry to hear it.”
Seleste snapped her fingers. “You there, show Lord Blaque to King Baron’s quarters.”
A maid curtsied, then said, “Yes, your highness. Right this way.”
I held up a hand. Stars, these people needed help with everything, didn’t they? “I can find it on my own, unless you think I need an escort.”
“Of course not,” Seleste said with faux cheerfulness. “You’ll join us for dinner?”
Rather than argue, I agreed. “Of course.”
After directing my stewards to stow my belongings in my rooms, I made my way to King Baron’s quarters. The last time I was in the capital it had been to negotiate for his daughter’s hand. Despite my hesitance to bind myself to another mate, I was eager to meet the princess and get it all over with so I could go back to the Northlands.
My ears picked up the sound of her voice first, not enough to make out the words, but enough to gather she was whispering encouraging sentiments to her father. She was saying her goodbyes. I couldn’t decipher what she was saying, but her voice was melodious and confident, despite the grief that shadowed it.
The dragon inside my chest purred like the sound of her voice was a siren’s call. It wanted her, fiercely, viciously, as it sometimes craved the blood of an enemy.
I stepped up to the door, but didn’t announce myself. Dressed in a nondescript, but well-made gown and cloak, a young woman of about twenty sat at the bedside of an ailing man, her hands clasped around one of his. Her hair draped over her shoulders in a glossy length the color of burnished wood. I wanted to run my claws through it, feel it draped over my body. Because the urge to touch it was all too strong, I stepped forward and cleared my throat to call her attention.
She started, turned. A hand went to her hair, and she pushed it away from her red eyes. She’d been crying. Her cheeks were still wet from tears and the dragon snarled, wanting to lick them clean, desperate for the taste of her sorrow on my tongue.
“Are you the healer?” she asked, getting to her feet. She gestured and said, “This room, it’s too stifled. My father needs fresh air. His quarters need to be cleaned more regularly, his body bathed at more frequent intervals. Just because he’s dying doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve to be treated with dignity. By stars, he was your King!”
I frowned at her. When was the last time someone other than Alaric had spoken to me in such a way and not been punished for it? “I’m not your healer, girl.”
Her eyes flashed with a heat I felt down to the marrow. “It’sPrincess,” she gritted out. “If you’re not the healer, then if you’d be so kind as to fetch one, it would be most appreciated. Be quick about it, I have somewhere else I need to be soon.”
It should have enraged me to have to her order me about, considering the last thing I wanted in a woman was one who had any semblance of a backbone, but I found myself stepping toward her instead of away. “There’s no need,” I told her.
She stepped closer to her father’s slumbering form. “No need for what?”
“No need for fetching a healer. Can’t you tell your father is dying? He won’t have much left in this world before he ascends to the stars.”
It was true. I thought it kinder not to spare her of my assessments. I could hear how frail his heart beat, the slow, death-march rattle of his lungs. He’d lost much weight since I saw him last, twenty years ago. His thick hair that had once matched the color of his daughter’s, was now silver and lank. Once, he’d been a great warrior of renowned strength and power, some said he’d rivaled my own, but now his muscle had wasted away, and he looked as though one stiff wind could blow him away…if it possible for him to stand from the sick bed.
The pale skin of her face drained of all color. “How could you say such a thing? Who are you?”
“Denying it will only make it harder, Elena.”
“How do you know my name?” she demanded. “Who are you?” She looked around the room as though to find someone to order me away…or escape. Then, she turned back to me. Her eyes took in my blood-stained clothes, my claws, and the steam still unfurling from my nose.
When I smiled, she took a step back, her gaze going to my fangs.
“I know your name, just as you know mine.”
Her hand fluttered to her throat as she swallowed hard and met my eyes. “You’re my mate,” she said, her voice a whisper.
Mine, my dragon roared in response.
5
Elena
Icould wipe at my face, straighten my travel-rumpled skirts and bemoan the fact I wasn’t decked out in finery, but there was no use. Not when the man standing in front of me reeked of days’ old blood and sweat. All I could do was stare, dumbfounded. He wasn’t at all what I expected. Somehow both worse and not as dangerous as I’d assumed.
He inclined his head at my words and agreed, “Your future mate.”
The thought sent a shiver racing down my spine. The threat of being bound to a mate, this man in particular, had always been on the peripherals of my mind. I had been raised knowing it would take place eventually.
