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Saieke eyed Talon balefully. That was it? “Would you care to expound?”
“No.”
They arrived at her chamber, and he stalked past her like the sleekest of panther. After a thorough check of her room, he bid her a pleasant rest and disappeared.
They were all insufferable barbarians.
***
The court was alive with talk of the princess, and the fact she had treated Lady Farrah with such civility at the dinner. Drac had missed observing the High Lords and chancellor’s reaction to her presence because he had visited the dungeons and executed the men who thought to harm her out of misplaced vengeance. The hearing had only been held an hour before, and judgment had been swift and final. Drac’s retribution as he sliced their heads off with his claws had been even swifter.
He had then visited Gidon and learned of her request to which he had yet to respond.
“I never thought I would see you speechless,” Gidon said.
Drac scowled. “I a
m merely thinking.” And trying to slow the hunger twisting in his gut.
His king smiled, a flash of calculation appearing on his face, before he smoothed his features into a blank mask. “The princess displayed an interest in you that I did not expect,” he said as Drac joined him on the secluded balcony.
He felt bemused. “I intend to shadow her so that she is safe while she tours the Darkage, but I need to stay hidden and as far away as possible if I am to proceed with caution. I need to assess what my reaction to her means from a distance,” he replied, while his gut tightened in anticipation at the mere thought of being in her presence again.
“Could it be that you want her and your beast is responding to your lust for her?” Gidon asked. “She is very beautiful.”
“No, that’s not it. The need and desperation I feel is deep and not something I can banish since I tasted her.”
Gidon smiled with cunning.
“Wipe it from your thoughts, Gidon. She is blood-bound to the Nurian king; and if she were to be mine and he pursued her...”
“You think the Nurian King would war with us?” Gidon asked with silky menace as he leaned against the balustrade overlooking the jungle.
“If he wanted her or her kingdom enough, he would march on us. Our laws would allow us to declare war on anyone who thinks to take a Darkan’s mate away, yet his law also allows him to war for a queen by blood-oath.” Drac’s beast prowled restless at his assessment.
If she was his mate and he claimed her, the Nurian king might very well wage war for her, and then Gidon’s reign would indeed start with bloodshed. Drac faltered. It was why he must resist her, why he had not searched for a mate like some of their kind did. If he loved her, claimed her, he would be forever weak for her.
“To do so would be a folly on his part. He could not win,” Gidon said flatly.
“Nuria has over two hundred million citizens, twenty million of them warriors. He has more warriors than our entire kingdom’s population. King Ajali’s feats in the second Great War are unsurpassed.”
“You doubt our might?” Gidon asked in mild surprise.
“No.” Drac inhaled, tightening his hands on the railing, creating fissures. “My friend, I know you don’t want to start your reign by delivering death to any kingdom. That would transport us back to the dark times. I do not want to take her if she is not my mate and jeopardize our vision for our realm.”
“Then proceed with caution,” Gidon warned him darkly before he shiktred away.
Unable to deny the need to see her, Drac stepped into the shadows and appeared in Saieke’s chamber.
Worry.
Pain.
Regret.
They seeped from the princess, the taste of emotions bitter to swallow. She lazed in the massive tub, gently waving her fingers, spiraling water in the air. A sigh slipped past her lips. “I am so sorry, Mother.”
Ah…he’d found the source of her upheaval. She had been in his realm now for two days, and her kingdom would be beside themselves with fear for their missing princess. She did not understand that when one made a resolve it was pointless to reflect with regret.
