Page 85 of Dragon Me Through Space

He nodded.

“Nice,” I said, and my smile grew wider.

“You won’t be allowed to use your disc …”

“Scout.”

“… during the Games.”

I shrugged. “That’s fine. I don’t need Scout for the activities you described.” With the enhancements installed into me by Charles, I felt reasonably confident in my abilities.

“We’re going to have a very small window from arriving on Drakorantia and the start of the Games, but we will do our best to ensure we have extensively prepared you.”

“What kind of preparation?” I asked as I walked around the table and sat in his lap. “I hope there’s more than just obstacle course preparation.”

Zeke’s hand immediately came to rest on my hip, his thumb pressing lightly into my skin, and started purring. “You’ve got quite a bit of preparation before you take what I have.”

“Why wait? Let’s start preparing now,” I whispered against his lips.

He growled and kissed me, hard and passionately, his tongue claiming mine as his hand wrapped around the back of my head, angling it exactly how he wanted it.

The door opened and Preston walked in. He smacked the back of Zeke’s head and chastised, “Stop getting distracted.”

Zeke snarled, but quickly smoothed his features out when Preston stepped around to face him. “It’s not my fault.”

Preston plucked me off of Zeke’s lap and deposited me back on my chair. “Behave,” he warned with a finger pointed at my face.

I pouted, which made the corners of his lips twitch. “Fine, let’s get back to my schooling about Dragonkin, now that I have the basics down for the Games.”

Zeke cleared his throat and adjusted himself. “Right. These are the members of the royal family,” he said and laid out several pictures with names written below them, arranging them into four columns. “It’s important you learn their faces, names, and ranks before we arrive. Needing to be introduced will look like lack of knowledge, which you must not show. Even if you don’t know something, you have to act like you do.”

“That’s so stupid. Why wouldn’t you want someone to admit they don’t know so they can be taught?” My parents were always quick to provide knowledge and loved being asked questions.

“You’re going to be High Queen. You must be seen as all-knowing,” Zeke explained.

“Does the same apply to you four?”

Zeke and Preston nodded.

“Okay, let me look at them for a bit,” I said. As quietly as possible, I whispered, “Scout, memorize.”

Scout let out the tiniest, softest chirp of confirmation and in my display, I saw them taking pictures and recording.

“What’s proper greeting protocol between me and the members of the royal families?” I asked. “Am I expected to bow to the High King and High Queen, all Kings and Queens, or all royals?”

“You bow to the High King and High Queen only,” Zeke answered.

“So, I don’t bow to your parents?” I asked, shocked. It felt wrong to only bow to one of my mate’s parents and not the others.

He shook his head. “They’re King and Queen, which, yes, is technically higher than you as princess, but since you will become High Queen, you outrank them. It’s weird, I know, but that’s how our society works.”

“Does leadership pass only at death?” I asked, since that was how it worked on Caltyrela.

“No, my parents can decide to pass on leadership at any time they wish,” Preston answered.

“Doubt that’ll happen, though,” Zeke muttered.

Preston sighed. “Yes, my parents are … greedy. They won’t want to pass on the titles until they no longer have a choice.”