Page 24 of Dragon King’s Bullied Mate

She smiled as she handed him a few more coins and watched him disappear eagerly into the crowd toward the confectioner’s stall.

For a while, Lyra almost managed to forget the king entirely, but the unease lingered beneath her skin. The steady rhythm of the market softened it enough that she finally stopped scanning the crowd every few seconds for possible threats.

Which was why the silence struck her so hard when it came.

Not true silence, but the sudden unnatural thinning of noise that spread through the square in slow ripples as conversations faltered one by one and laughter died abruptly beneath a growing tension that rolled across the market like the first warning crack of breaking ice.

Lyra looked up instinctively. Royal guards were forcing their way through the crowd.

Fear hit her instantly. There were six of them dressed in royal colors with heavy winter cloaks. Villagers hurried backward to clear a path, and every instinct in her body tightened at once when she realized they were coming directly toward her stall.

Beckett had just returned clutching a paper bag with his sweet treats, but he froze beside her the moment he noticed the guards approaching.

The lead guard stopped only a few feet away. His face remained cold and unreadable. “You harbored the king?”

“Yes.” Her heart sank a bit further even though it struck her that they didn’t even know her name.

“By order of the crown, you are under arrest for the attempted poisoning of the king.”

The words struck her so hard they barely seemed real at first. The entire square erupted immediately.

“What?”

“That’s impossible.”

“She would never…”

Several villagers began protesting loudly while Beckett stared up at the soldiers in open confusion, the candy bag forgotten as it slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground. Panic spread across his face.

Lyra herself could barely process what she had heard.

“Poisoning?” she repeated in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”

“You will come with us peacefully.”

“I saved his life,” she snapped, horror rapidly turning to anger. “If the king was poisoned, it was before I found him.”

“You will come now.”

The guards refused to explain anything further. Their silence felt cold and deliberate in a way that made dread unfurl in her gut.

Had Mikael awakened? Had Dag accused her?

Or worse, had whoever actually administered the poison figured out the easiest solution to cover their tracks was blaming the strange woman who lived alone outside the village?

Beside her, Beckett’s breaths came quick and he whimpered. Lyra looked toward him just as one of the guards stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. Everything shattered after that.

Beckett bolted.

“Beckett!!”

Lyra lunged instinctively toward him, but the soldier’s grip tightened painfully and yanked her backward hard enough to nearly knock her off balance. Panic exploded through her chest.

“Stop!” she shouted desperately. “Beckett! Don’t run!”

But terror had already taken hold of him.

The crowd erupted into chaos as Beckett darted between startled villagers, his small figure weaving frantically through market stalls.