Lucien huffs. “Who cares if she does?”
I hesitate, then decide to hell with it. “I do.”
Gareth looks at me, then back at her. It’s clear he agrees with me. I know we’ve all become twisted men, especially when it comes to love, but I don’t think any of us want to force a woman to be with us. The idea actually makes me feel sick. Harper needs to choose us, not because of our father, or our dragons, but because she wants to choose us.
Or is such a thing even possible?
Lucien softens his words. “She has got to feel the same thing we’re feeling because of our dragons. Maybe she loved that boy once upon a time, but she’ll forget about him, the same way we’ve forgotten about other women.”
It’s an admission I never thought any of us would make, but he’s telling the truth. We’ve forgotten about all other women. She’s our obsession. Our possession. Something we can’t resist.
The bell tolls, and my gaze is locked on Harper and Arthur as they stand. Will they try to go to her room now? Will we have to beat the shit out of a man she cares for to make certain hedoesn’t touch her? I can’t imagine she’ll appreciate that much, but the alternative is an impossible thing to bear.
“Prince Alaric.” A dragon rider steps in my way as I come around the table, and I see that he has a group of men behind him.
“Yes, Lord Wyler?”
My brothers look at the man in irritation.
“There has been a lot of talk about the Hollowborn’s offer of peace. The men and I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on what the future might look like. As protectors of the realm, we hesitate thinking about a future in which we’re supposed to see the Hollowborn as allies.”
I sigh, but decide to be honest. “My brothers and I have spent little time thinking about the Hollowborn’s offer or what that kind of future would look like, because we don’t believe there will ever be peace with the Hollowborn. Those soulless bastards would only ever make an offer of peace if they had some kind of plan up their sleeve. So, whether our father accepts their offer of peace or not, we doubt it’ll last long.”
There is relief in all the men’s faces, and Lord Wyler’s voice shows that relief. “Thank you, Prince Alaric. That does much to relieve our worries.”
They head out of the dining hall, and I turn to where Harper was… except, she’s gone. My spine stiffens, and my gaze slides around the room, but she and Arthur are nowhere in sight.
“Fuck,” I say.
Gareth and Lucien start pushing their way through the dragon riders, and we’re nearly in a run. Harper and Arthur are gone. Alone. Probably back to her room.
If we find her in a compromising position, that asshole is dead.
9
Harper
Arthurand I are lying on my bed. His arm is behind my head as we stare up at the ceiling. Everything feels better. Like the world is a little brighter. Like the birds’ songs are a little louder. That’s how it’s always been with Arthur. And I absolutely needed this in my life right now.
“What’s Tesson doing right now?”
I smirk. “I asked my friend Roland to keep him busy for as long as possible.”
“Nice. I had enough of that turnip on the trip over.”
Laughing, I grin at him. “I’m so glad you came.”
He shifts a little. “I wasn’t going to just abandon you after I heard Tesson was coming. I just kept thinking how much shit he would put you through, and how miserable it would be to deal with him, and I knew I had to come here and be a buffer.”
“Well, I appreciate it,” I say, thinking about how pissed Tesson was when we’d just walked off and left him outside the dining hall. “Why did Tesson come here though? Just to make me miserable?”
“Nah, after you left on the dragon, the whole town was talking about you, and Tesson went from shock to bragging about how he was engaged to you. Your parents basically set up a meeting with him and his parents and let them know the engagement was off. From what I heard, he did not take it well. He basically said that he knew if he came here, he could convince you to go forward with the engagement. Your family was very clear that that wouldn’t change anything, but he decided to come anyway.”
“Fucking prick.”
“Exactly.”
“How’s the family doing?”
