Page 79 of Dragon King’s Bullied Mate

He barely heard her.

“Mikael, stop.”

Her hands touched his arm carefully. He felt the warmth.

“This isn’t you,” she whispered shakily. “He deserves to live. Even now.”

Mikael’s entire body trembled violently with restraint. Dag stared upward at Lyra in stunned disbelief. After everything, she was still trying to save what remained of him.

Tears mixed with snow across his face. “I only wanted my brother back,” he whispered brokenly.

“And now,” Lyra said softly, “you’ve lost everything else too.”

Silence fell across the mountains except for the storm. Then slowly Mikael released him.

“Chain him,” Mikael ordered hoarsely.

The guards moved immediately. Dag did not fight as iron shackles closed around his wrists. He only looked empty.

Hours later the castle infirmary remained quiet except for the crackling fire and distant sounds of reconstruction echoing faintly through damaged halls.

Beckett sat curled tightly beneath blankets while healers treated the bruises along his arms. The moment Mikael entered the room, Beckett launched himself toward him. Mikael caught him instantly.

“He’s dead.”

“I know. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Small fingers clung desperately to his coat. “Don’t go,” Beckett whispered tearfully against his chest. “Please don’t leave me.”

Something inside Mikael nearly shattered. He held the boy tighter.

“Never,” he promised quietly. “I will never leave you again.”

And he meant it with every part of himself.

Chapter 28

Lyra

The kingdom did not heal quickly after the attack.

Families mourned guards who had died while smoke damage still scarred entire wings of the palace. The air was faintly scented with ash no matter how many windows remained open.

Yet slowly, stubbornly, life returned.

Workers rebuilt shattered corridors while diplomats who had once fled in terror now spoke cautiously of Mikael’s victory over the Skelvarn with growing respect rather than fear. The whispers surrounding Lyra began changing too.

At first, it happened quietly.

Servants spoke about the way she had fought for Beckett during the attack despite overwhelming odds. Guards who had witnessed her bravery in the ballroom repeated the stories throughout the barracks until exaggerated versions spread through the entire town of Iskavard itself.

The flower girl became the woman who stabbed a Skelvarn soldier to save a child. The commoner became the woman who stood beside the king during the bloodiest assault the castle had endured in decades.

Lyra still didn’t entirely know how to carry that kind of attention. She had let a lot of the past go when Mikael told her the story of Dag’s brother and what had led to the bullying. She had no idea of her father’s involvement since her parents had passed away while she was still a schoolgirl.

And now she was about to watch his trial.

The chamber stood silent the morning Dag was brought in. Heavy tension hung beneath the vaulted ceilings while guards lined the walls in full royal colors.