Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Preston gathered everyone into our room the next morning before breakfast. I lay in the bed, half-awake and pleasantly sore.
“What kind of weapon was on that ship to allow it to destroy ours, shields and all, in a single hit?” Wayne asked.
It took me far too long to realize the silence was because he’d asked me and they were waiting for my answer.
I raised my head from the pillow, shrugged, and said, “I don’t know.
I’ve only heard of a few weapons that powerful and most were on military ships.
To be fair, it’s been about five years since I last ran into him, so it’s not impossible that he saved enough money to get something crazy on the black market. ”
“Are you going to lie in bed all day?” Zeke asked.
“Yes,” I mumbled as I pulled the blankets up higher.
Preston wafted a delicious smelling cup of hot chocolate near my face, but when I reached for it, he pulled it away.
With a scowl and a huge groan, I sat upright. “Fine, I’m up. Happy?”
Preston smirked, handed me the cup, and kissed my cheek. “I’m quite happy, yes.”
As I sipped on my sweet hot cocoa, I realized that Wayne, Zeke, and Gage were staring at me. “What?” I reached a tentative hand up to my hair, wondering if I had an epic case of bedhead.
“You marked her?” Zeke asked and looked at Preston.
“Marked and knotted,” Preston announced proudly.
My face heated and I hissed, “Preston.”
He only smiled wider until it was a full-blown smile and said, “They were going to find out eventually.”
“Are you alright?” Wayne asked. “In pain?”
Preston growled softly. “I would never hurt her.”
“Not on purpose,” Wayne argued, “but she’s not a Dragonkin and hasn’t been knotted before.”
“I’m fine, thank you for your concern,” I said and gave Wayne a soft smile before glaring at Preston, who only continued to smile. Smug jerk.
“Any news?” Preston asked, finally turning away from me.
“It seems they really were headed home when they received the distress beacon, so no foul play that I could find,” Wayne answered. “I went through their entire log history and nothing suspicious came up.”
“How long until we arrive home?” Preston asked.
“I’m not certain, since they’ll need to make at least two refueling stops, and their log doesn’t state how long they plan to stay for each refueling,” he answered.
“Murmurs amongst the crew is that they’re trying to get home as quickly as possible because something important is happening soon,” Gage answered. “I couldn’t find out what was happening, though.”
“Can’t you just ask your father?” I asked.
All four turned to me before looking back at Gage.
He sighed. “Technically, yes, I could ask him, but him having knowledge I don’t means I would have to trade him something for it.”
My brows furrowed. “What? But you’re just asking about your planet and what’s going on there. It’s not like you’re asking for military secrets. And even if you were, you’re the princes, right? Shouldn’t he want you to ask for information to stay updated on events and current statuses?”
“We’re supposed to stay ‘in the know’ at all times as princes,” Zeke answered. “They want us to develop our own intelligence groups to keep us updated without having to provide us answers.”
“Which we do have, but recent communications have been slow due to us being so far from home and not having frequent contact with our sources of information,” Wayne supplied.
“Reach out to our recent informants and get an update as soon as possible,” Preston ordered them. “We have to meet them for breakfast in thirty minutes, and I don’t want them to catch us unaware of something important.”
“At least we caught him off guard with Xoe’s presence,” Wayne said. “Means that they hadn’t tapped our ship at any point.”
They all nodded.
Turning to me, Gage said, “My father will treat you respectfully, but will also try to ask you things to cause you to give out information you shouldn’t.”
“What information could I possibly have that I shouldn’t tell him?” I asked. I barely knew anything about them or their world.
“You don’t have anything, I’m just telling you that that’s what he is going to do,” Gage explained. “For example, he will ask you about your plans once we get to our home planet.”
“I plan to learn as much as I can about the Dragonkin and the people by living amongst them and adjusting to your way of life as quickly as I can,” I answered.
All four smiled and I knew I’d passed that test.
“What if he asks which one of us you want to choose for your king?” Zeke asked.
I scowled as I debated my answer on this question. “The king is not chosen by me, but is the leader of the princely pack.”
Wayne and Gage snickered.
“What?” I asked.
“‘Princely pack?’” Preston asked, one of his brows arched.
Throwing my hands up, I asked, “What am I supposed to call you?”
“You could have just said, ‘the choice isn’t mine, but was determined by the members of my pack,’” Zeke said, trying, and failing, to hide his smile.
“What do you bring to the table as a mate to the princes?” Preston asked.
“A habitable womb,” I replied with a smirk.
Preston rolled his eyes while the others shook their heads.
“Am I wrong?” I asked back and crossed my arms over my chest, my now empty mug resting against my leg on the bed.
Despite the agreement stating they can’t force me to have children, I knew that was the main reason for the arrangement.
Why else would you marry off four eligible princes when your fertility rate is so low?
“Not completely, but let’s try to be less aggressive in our responses,” Zeke suggested. “And remember, the betrothal contract stated that you won’t be forced to bear children against your will.”
“Yes, yes, I know. I’m a well-educated princess with a good background in all subjects as well as a skilled fighter.”
Wayne flinched. “I don’t think we should mention your fighting prowess yet.”
“Why not?”
“Yeah, why not?” Gage asked. “The sooner they know not to mess with her, the sooner she can avoid fights.”
“She’s going to have to fight no matter what at least once,” Preston said.
Zeke growled. “She shouldn’t have to.”
“You know the rules,” Preston said flatly.
“Why do I have to fight? If what you really want is a compatible biology, who cares if I can fight or not?” Not that I minded fighting, but I would rather avoid getting punched in the face if possible.
“Being compatible is just the beginning, you also have to prove that you have the mental and physical stamina and endurance to handle bearing a Dragonkin child,” Preston answered. “Plus, there are some long-standing traditions you’ll have to participate in.”
“And do you think I have that?” I asked, feeling a flutter of nerves inside my chest as I waited for his answer.
“I wouldn’t have marked and knotted you if I didn’t think you proved yourself,” he answered.
My hand immediately went up to the mark on my neck, which was still tender.
I also heard the unspoken part of that, which was he wouldn’t have done it if he wasn’t in love with me, too.
“I thought you said you hadn’t decided if you’re willing to have children yet?” Wayne asked. “What made you change your mind?”
“I haven’t changed my mind about children yet,” I answered and Preston’s eyes snapped to mine so quickly that I worried he’d get whiplash.
“What?” he asked.
I tapped my upper arm. “I have birth control in place.”
His brows furrowed a moment before relaxing. “Ah, that makes sense. I had thought you would put up more of a fight about my request last night.”
“Are you upset?” I asked, titling my head a bit as I looked at him and tried to gauge his expression. He was often the hardest to read amongst the quad. “I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression or deceive you.”
“I’m a bit disappointed, I’ll admit, but it is your body and we promised to follow the rules of our betrothal.
” He picked up my hand and kissed my palm.
“Whenever you’re ready, you just let us know.
Plus, I would rather you decide to open the locket and bind us together before we start trying to impregnate you. ”
“Why?”
“So that if you are pregnant, we are able to feel you and address any physical or mental ailments as quickly as possible,” he answered.
“And if anyone tries to steal you, we’ll be able to find you immediately,” Wayne answered while typing on a tablet.
“What was that locked room on your ship?” I asked. “I never got a chance to sneak, I mean, visit it with your permission.”
“That room was for our mate,” Preston answered.
“A nest,” Gage added.
“Nest?” Did Dragonkin lay eggs in a nest after they laid them?
“A room with lots of comfortable blankets and pillows that our mate would use during their fertile time,” Preston explained further.
My eyes widened. “A breeding room?”
“Breeding room makes it sound nefarious,” Gage grumbled. “It was designed for the comfort of our mate, so they could have a place of their own that we were only allowed to visit when they allowed us entrance. A place to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible while away from Drakorantia.”
Well, when he said it like that, it didn’t sound so bad and I was sad I hadn’t been able to experience it.
“We’ll build you a nest if you want one, when we return to Drakorantia,” Wayne said, still typing on his tablet.
“What are you doing on that tablet?” I asked, finally letting my curiosity boil over, and choosing to change the topic away from the nest discussion.
“I just finished checking in with our network and confirmed what the big event coming up is,” he answered and looked over at Preston. He had the most worried expression I had ever seen on him. “It’s worse than we imagined,” he said gravely.
“How much worse?” Preston asked, his hold on my hand tightening.
“It’s not a birthday or wedding. It’s the Games.”
“Shit.”
“Fuck.”
“Dammit.”
I looked around at the four, upset male Dragonkin and asked, “What are the Games? Why are you so worried?”
“Are you certain?” Preston asked Wayne instead of answering me.
He nodded. “They’re happening in three weeks, which means …”