Great Risks, Great Rewards
“Are you out of your damn mind,” Cole snapped.
“You realize by doing that you are broadcasting that we exist to the whole world, right?” May added, folding her arms over her chest, telling me she was very upset with me.
“How exactly do you think that’s going to go over when she finds out we are holding her sister captive and killed the king?” Paxton questioned.
Gavin lifted his fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle, shutting up everyone.
“Now that I have your attention, I think that Cassarah is making the right move. If I extend the invitation, letting her know I am consort to the Dragon Queen and she is invited to the coronation, she can’t refuse.
It’s like saying she won’t come to my wedding, and that would reflect poorly on her which she will never allow.
Since Mother sent out a message to her already for them to talk regarding the Lost King and telling her about our alliance, she won’t be any the wiser about what has transpired here.
Mother is under careful watch and hasn’t been allowed any visitors but my brother and I.
If the Lost King thinks we are building an alliance with Creisal before he can make a move, it will give us the numbers to stand a fighting chance if we can’t find his dragon and destroy it. ”
“And the prince thinks his brother has all the brains,” Becka teased, clapping him on the back.
“Okay, so we send this letter, the king and queen accept, then what? Are they going to stay in the castle with us? Do we have the staff to handle whoever they might bring because if I know noble people, they don’t go anywhere without people to attend to them. ”
Moving to the desk, I pulled out a sheet of paper, quill, ink, and blotter before taking my seat.
“We will be on the fourth floor, allowing these rooms to be used by the Creisal royalty and their attendants. We just have to move everything out of the rooms and put it in storage until we can go through it in detail later. The staff is already preparing to host the whole village, so I think adding more people won’t be an issue at this point. ”
“Yeah, says the woman who clearly has no idea how much work that really will be,” Becka mutters, running her hands through her hair.
I gave her a disapproving look which made her groan.
“Fine! I’ll see what we can do to get this dealt with as soon as possible, but what do you plan to do with things here? ”
“This study, while connected to the king’s bedroom, can be locked and spelled to keep them out.
It still allows them the sitting room, dressing room, and bedroom, plenty of space to have them stay for a few days,” I answered as I transcribed the one and only invitation that would be going out.
“Gavin, would you be able to leave right away to deliver this?”
“Absolutely, but only if Pax comes with me. I’ve never flown on my own that far, and he knows the lay of the land, having been there far more recently than I have,” Gavin said, turning to the man in question.
Paxton made a big show of being put out but relented like we all knew he would. “What the hell better to be doing this than dusting the furniture for visiting royalty.”
Rummaging through the desk, I found what I needed for a wax seal and press with the Sheca royal symbol on it.
Finished, I stood and walked over to Gavin, tucking the letter into his tunic where I knew it would be safe before pulling him into a kiss.
I let my fingers comb through his hair as his lips moved against mine, and his fingers dug into my hips, trying to hold himself back from taking this further.
Breaking the kiss, I looked up into his eyes.
“Be safe, my prince. Have Ninnat or Gatir reach out to Vasin if there is any trouble.”
“Don’t worry, love, we’ll be just fine,” Gavin answered, kissing my forehead.
Pulling out of his hold, I went to Paxton, who watched me with uncertainty.
We’ve become much better friends since we first met, but I think he’ll always be one who can get a rise out of me, no matter what.
I liked that about him, though. It brought out the fiery side of me I didn’t know I possessed.
“Make sure you come back to me in one piece. That’s a direct order from your queen. ”
He grinned at my sassy words and reached out to snatch me close before dipping me back and kissing the hell out of me. It wasn’t long before I could feel the heat of it searing through my body as it made my toes curl. Righting me, he winked. “As the queen commands, I, her humble servant, shall do.”
“Don’t make me do this without you watching my back,” I whispered as I clutched his shirt, letting him see how much he was starting to mean to me.
“I promise on my life I will return, and together we will make that bastard king wish he’d never come for us,” Paxton vowed in the most serious tone I’d ever heard him use.
Cupping my cheek, he kissed me again—this one full of promise and feeling before he let me go and headed for the stairs to the tower.
Watching them leave, I started to move forward, but strong arms wrapped around me, trapping me against his chest. “Tell me they’ll be all right, Day.”
“There is one thing I can promise you, Cassy-bear, and that is those men will do whatever it takes to get back here to you. That’s what men in love do. They defy all the odds against them to make it back to the woman who holds their heart and soul,” Dayson murmured as he rested his head on mine.
The shadow of their dragons taking flight passed over the windows, alerting us to their departure.
It shouldn’t take them more than half a day to get there, and it was the middle of the afternoon.
Chances were his aunt would want them to stay the night and leave in the morning, making their return late morning. What could go wrong?
The rest of that day was spent cleaning out the king’s room, starting with the closet since it held all the chests of clothing.
I asked that it be sent to Talia so if she could use anything in them to repurpose and make clothes for others to do so.
I’m sure they were a little out of style after four hundred years, but the material was still good.
By the time we were done removing everything and cleaning the basics, I wanted nothing more than a hot bath and someone to rub my shoulders.
Becka, bless her, made us a simple dinner with Abbott’s help since I was useless in the kitchen.
Instead of making a formal matter out of it, we ate right there at the butcher block in the kitchen, dreading the thought of having to make it up to the fourth floor. “Would it be wrong of me to have Vasin fly me up to the third floor so I don’t have to do the stairs?”
“Looks like someone is out of shape, having enjoyed the relaxed life of studying and being carried around,” Becka teased.
I scowled at her, but she was right. I hadn’t been training like I should have with everything going on. “At this point, I would do the obstacle course twice with a bag of rocks before having to scrub another floor.”
“Never thought I would see the day someone would volunteer for that kind of punishment.” Abbott laughed.
Cole heaved himself out of his chair and walked over to me, sprawled out in mine, reaching out a hand. “Come on, little mouse. Let’s get you upstairs before you become one with the chair.”
“Only if you let me have a piggyback ride,” I said with a pout on my lips, to which he just bent over and kissed me.
“Fine, now get up before I change my mind,” Cole whispered in my ear, letting his teeth scrape the outer shell.
Stunned, it took my brain a moment to catch up to what he said and get moving so he couldn’t back out on his offer.
Squatting down with his back turned in front of me, I wrapped my arms around his neck, and as he stood, my legs positioned themselves around his waist. He then wrapped both arms behind me, cupping my ass in the charade of not letting me slip.
“Damn, Cole, you are one well-trained puppy,” May sassed with a hoot of laughter. The others joined in teasing him as we walked away and began the journey to the fourth floor.
Cole didn’t say much, and neither did I. I just enjoyed his closeness and the steady beat of his heart. Once we got to the third floor, I spoke. “You can let me down now. I’m sure I can make it up one flight of stairs on my own.”
“You, my little mouse, are going to stay right where you are,” Cole ordered, squeezing my ass.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re expecting favors for carrying me up to my chambers?” I answered in mock surprise. “Don’t you know that I’m a noble lady?”
Cole chuckled, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. “You are no noble, and I’m not a gentleman. What do you say we take the risk?”
Laughter burst out of me as he quoted what he said to me the night we first met, and I threatened to kill him for seeing me in my nightgown. “You were absolutely right. I’m not a noble lady… being a mercenary has been far more exciting.”
As we reached the fourth floor, he headed down the hall to the right instead of walking into the central community space.
There had been so many other things to deal with I hadn’t explored the rest of what this level had to offer so when Cole brought me to an open bathing room, I was shocked.
Two large stone pools of steaming water greeted us with the welcoming aroma of lavender and mint.
Cole set me down next to a stone bench with woven baskets on it to place our things in.
“I thought this might be a welcome treat after the hard work you’ve been doing the past two weeks,” he explained as he rested his hands on my shoulders.
“How is this possible?”