Page 40 of Dragon Heir

Probably something I should have known. I decide the most important person needs to be first on my list. “Actually, would you mind introducing me to my tutor first?”

“Of course,” Yadira says with a slight bow of her head.

“You’ll need him,” Kimbra says. Her big innocent eyes make it hard to tell if she’s insulting me. “And Paxton is a guard, not an advisor or tutor. He’s no higher in status than we are.”

“You’re the future queen,” Yadira says, smiling at me. “You’ve got to look like it when you leave your rooms, no matter who you’re entertaining.”

I roll my eyes, but I don’t argue. I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot more than I already have, and the dress is gorgeous. Not my style by any stretch of the imagination, slinky slip meets ballgown. But the material is so soft that I kind of want to leap onto the bed and roll around in it just to feel it on my skin.

I get the distinct impression that would be frowned upon.

“Right this way, Your Majesty,” Yadira says, stepping ahead to open the door for me. She lowers her head slightly as I walk through, followed closely by Kimbra.

The second we step out the door, Pax and True snap to attention, each standing ramrod straight like I’m an actual princess and not someone they’ve seen drooling on the sofa cushions in her sleep.

“Her Majesty needs to be taken to her tutor,” Yadira says, not even glancing at my guards. The first thing I’m going to have my tutor explain is the status of everyone at court.

True walks ahead of us, his hands hanging easily at his sides, but I note that they’re also within easy reach of the hilt of an actual sword hilt at his belt. Pax takes up the rear of the procession, and I can feel him there, close beside me.

“It’s smart of you to find your tutor first,” Kimbra says, sticking by my elbow while Yadira takes up position on my other side, each walking one step behind me.

That’s not going to get annoying at all.

“You’ll want him with you as often as your guards,” Yadira says. “He’s like your guide until your coronation.”

I take note of the fact that they let me figure that out myself when they could have easily dropped the suggestion to meet him before my advisors. My defenses rise another notch, and I glance back over my shoulder, my eyes meeting Pax’s clear, sea-green gaze. In this moment, I’m so thankful for his presence. If I can’t trust anyone else in the palace, at least I can trust him. I want to turn around and hug him, apologize for getting him in trouble, tell him that I don’t care about any of this pomp and circumstance at court. It’s me and him against the world, just as it’s always been.

We make our way along a passageway lit with wall sconces in the shape of dragon heads breathing fire. The walls appear to be made of polished jade, and the warm firelight bounces off them, creating an eerie luminescent effect.

“This is the Jade Wing of the palace,” Kimbra says. “It’s been set aside for the heir alone. And your own court, of course.”

“I get my own court?”

“Your procession and entourage will stay with you,” she says dreamily, as if she’s imagined being in my shoes.

We stop at a door at the end of the corridor, the last one before it intersects another passageway. True lets his fist fall against the door once before stepping back. A few seconds later the door swings open, and I feel color rise to my cheeks as I take in the familiar face looking down at me.

True clears his throat. “I believe you’re familiar with Master Sinetar.”

Chapter Seventeen

“Hello, Vynessa.” Professor Sinetar leans into the palatial marble doorway with a haughty tilt to the corners of his lips. Well, at least he’s not treating me like a queen. He’s not standing stiffly at attention, as if waiting for me to snap my fingers and order him to bow.

“You’re my royal tutor?” I ask in disbelief, gaping up at my professor who has been so unprofessional and inappropriate—the furthest thing from royalty I can imagine, aside from … Well, me.

“I’m whatever you want me to be,” he says. “Advisor, tutor, professor. You’re a long way from knowing all you need to know. I’m the one to get you there.”

His eyes rove over my body like he’s intimately familiar with its every curve and crevice. The memory of our encounter in the library plays through my mind—his promise to discipline me later, his closeness as he stood at my side, so close I couldn’t help but look at the bulge in his pants… And then the asshole way he dismissed me.

“Is that right?” I ask, looking up at him through my lashes. As usual, bravado fills me when he’s near. He brings out my irresistible urge to flirt every time.

“We can start whenever you’re ready,” he says. “You’ve got a lot to learn.”

“I hope you’ll teach me everything you know,” I say, letting my eyes explore him as thoroughly as he did me.

“I’m up for the challenge.”

Pax clears his throat behind me. “Whenever you’re ready, Princess, I will escort you to your sessions.”