Page 7 of Courting the Dragon King

But the king strode straight past Wraith, gaze ahead, talking to one of his half-siblings.

No doubt the dragon king had much on his mind at present, especially since this was his father’s funeral. It was expected he’d be uninterested in talking to Wraith today.

“This treaty cannot fail,” the dead king said to his son as he trailed after him. “Our bloodline must be saved!” But King Konrad did not hear his father. Only Wraith did.

Draconian guards followed the group, and the dead king’s voice faded.

Wraith turned his attention back to the grand monk.

“I know it has been hard for everyone recently.” The grand monk threw another handful of seed to the pigeons. More flew down. “But I believe everything we do will be worth it in the end when true peace is obtained. We must all strive to achieve it. Only then will everything work out for the good of the kingdoms.”

Wraith glanced after his future husband as he walked away. He hoped his marriage with the dragon king would work out too.

Chapter

Four

Konrad strode down the hallway in the quarters provided for the Draconian royal family in the White Monastery. His younger brother, Gerard, marched beside him. Konrad glanced into each room they passed, looking over all the Draconian guards who stood at attention.

Meanwhile, six guards, four for Konrad and two for Gerard, followed them. Konrad didn’t love having people following him around everywhere. But he could not protest. As king, his safety was vital for the security of the kingdom.

He just had to get used to their presence. At least they tended to hang back and monitor the situation and give him space when he wasn’t on the move.

“I’m glad the grand shield allowed us to bring in so many Draconian guards,” Gerard said. “Although, I doubt she could have refused our request after everything that happened to us.”

“I suppose when your royal guests are attacked because you’d been unaware of a secret passage that led straight into their rooms, you become less strict about allowing them to properly protect themselves,” Konrad muttered.

Gerard nodded.

The grand monk had been horrified and beyond apologetic after the attack and found them new quarters. But honestly, the White Monastery was very old. It was no surprise that the monks were unaware of some of the secrets of the monastery. Konrad doubted he knew a tenth of the secret passages that existed in the Castle of the Dragons.

Still, it did not change what had happened. Gerard and his now-husband, Elias, had been attacked, taken, and almost killed. And their father was dead.

“How have the checks for secret passages gone?” Konrad asked.

“So far, we have found nothing. But we continue to check using every method we can think of, and we have at least two guards on duty in every room, at least when they are not in use,” Gerard said. “When the rooms are in use, the guards will wait outside if the occupants do not wish them to remain within.”

“Good.”

The secret passage into their old quarters had been used by Empress Emmeline of the combined Kingdoms of Zephyrias and Voltaria, along with their stepmother, Queen Consort Adelina Drachen, to attack them.

There were also robed and masked figures who had been co-conspirators. They had used a strange magic to attack King Alaric. Their identity still remained unknown. It had to be assumed that these unknown assailants were still at work in the shadows.

And this was not the first attack on them at the White Monastery. Because of her hatred for the dragons, Princess Lantana of Botanial had tried to stop the wedding between her nephew and a lord of Draconia by attempting to kill the lord, King Alaric, and Queen Consort Adelina.

In another attack, Warden Flint had planned to kill his sister, the ruler of the Grey Mountains, Grand Warden Amber, so he could become ruler and return them to war against the dragons. Warden Flint had also attempted to murder his nephew, Warden Onyx, along with Prince Luther.

Konrad and his family could not let their guard down. Not for half a second.

After the last attack and the king’s death, there had been some consideration of whether they should just return to Draconia and use a treaty that did not involve magic. The Monks of the Way of the Dove at the White Monastery practised an ancient form of binding magic that made the contracts entered into unbreakable. Or practically unbreakable, since breaking the vows resulted in madness, illness, and death.

But they were so close to the peace treaty being properly completed. And they needed this treaty to work. Dragons in Draconia, including his own blood relatives, were growing weaker. Some had even failed to shift for the first time when they came of age.

Some scholars claimed that the war had led to an imbalance of magic in the world. There were those who thought this was why the dragons were growing weaker.

Konrad wasn’t sure if that was true. But he would not risk it. They could not return to war. Doing so might cause the dragons to weaken further. They needed a lasting peace with the other kingdoms. After discussions with the other rulers and the grand monk, it had been decided to rush the remaining courtship rituals and marriages so the treaty could be finalised once and for all.

“How did our guards do with their contracts?” Konrad asked.