Page 51 of Dragon King’s Duty Bride

“I believe I will,” he said carefully, “remain here with my wife for a few days.”

Wife.

The word no longer felt like a political arrangement. It felt like a possibility.

And for the first time since their wedding, he allowed himself to imagine that it might become something real.

Chapter 18

Sia

Forced proximity between her and Lucas resumed but this time without the castle walls or the normal stressed environment between them. Her parents’ house had never seemed so small before.

Her parents, for their part, were beside themselves.

Despite Lucas’s assurances that it was unnecessary, Sia’s mother insisted on preparing the larger guest room for Lucas and Sia, stating her childhood room was far too small. Her father shook Lucas’s hand no fewer than five times in the span of an hour.

“The king under our roof!” her mother whispered loudly, as though the walls themselves needed informing.

Sia hid a smile that her parents weren’t quite as impressed by having a queen under the same roof. A queen who was, in fact, their own daughter. They had been proud of Dian, but as with heirs, the king had always been more valuable on the social scale.

The girls, however, were unimpressed by royalty, but they were very interested by the idea of recruiting him for chores.

“You’ve never fed goats?” Luna demanded as if it were a national scandal.

Lucas, who had faced down enemy battalions without blinking, looked faintly wary. “I can’t say that I have. Horses maybe, but never anything smaller. We have help for that.”

“Then you’re missing out,” Celeste declared solemnly. She grabbed her father’s hand and pulled him out the door followed by her sisters.

“The rooster will chase you if he thinks you’re after the chickens,” Stella warned. “He chased me before.”

Sia followed at a slower pace and her boot thudded against the path as she trailed them to the pen.

“Do you want me to carry you?” he called back.

“I’m fine,” she answered.

He tried to dissuade her. “We’ll be back shortly. No need for you to injure yourself more by following us. You should go rest.”

“Oh, no. Not a chance. There is no way that I’m going to miss this.”

Her parents followed, but they didn’t seem to be as excited at watching their goats get the royal treatment. They knew, as Sia did, that goats were ruthless and rough. They had the innate ability to recognize those unprepared to deal with them.

And she wasn’t wrong. The goats regarded Lucas with curious eyes. They stood together and made their usual bleating sounds while they tried to figure out where the food was going to come from. Celeste, after learning the hard way, handed the feed bucket to her father.

“Here. You do it.”

“They don’t look so bad. They’re kind of cute.”

Sia giggled but kept it quiet. Their cuteness usually caused havoc, and they were watching Lucas with criminal intent.

Lucas regarded them back as Luna pointed out certain ones. “That one is Sage, that one is Jack. The two little ones are Moose and Ginger. They’re brother and sister and Sage is their Mama.”

“They’re called kids because they’re babies,” Celeste explained.

“Do they understand hierarchy?” he asked quietly.

“No,” Sia replied cheerfully. “They do not. But feel free to try and teach them that you require special treatment.” She refrained from issuing the same warnings she had given the girls before they entered the goats’ domain.