Chapter Nineteen
Viraj
Ashwin refused to leave.
Not that they’d asked him to. Of course they hadn’t, as guests stayed as long as they felt like, but he lounged around their estate and spent his days harassing Hallr about the fucking nestblossoms and bitching endlessly about Ryan changing his name and flaunting his Drakes about as if he had no shame.
He’d practically taken over their solar, set up his tea service and spent the day lounging on their wicker couch.
“Father, for a dragon with such a prodigious appetite, you sure have a problem with passing that trait on to your children.” Viraj, unable to keep his mouth shut, flinched the second he said it and earned his father’s sharp glare.
But calculation simmered behind those fiery eyes before being stowed away, not forgotten but saved up for later.
He was plotting.
Someone was in danger, but Viraj, for the life of him, couldn’t say who.
Ashwin decidedly ignored the snip, even as Karam and Mahava flinched. Ashwin had never been a stranger to backhanding mouthy progeny. Striking a pregnant Dette would have earned him a swift death.
But after he had his eggs?
Was that what he was waiting for?
“When Hallr turns over the nestblossoms to me, we won’t have any of this rampant nonsense anymore.” He gestured ambiently, which could have meant anything, but he kept talking. “Dette councils, Dette hoards, Drake harems.”
“How would you getting nestblossoms stop that?” Gatlin, sitting on the other side of the room on his phone, keeping a close eye on Viraj, spoke up, narrowing his gaze toward Ashwin.
“Nestblossom alone? No. There’re concoctions left behind by my physician that would drive Dettes mad with lust, keep them complacent, to learn their place.”
Viraj’s skin went cold. Drugged.
He’d all but admitted to it.
“And you kept these recipes?” Gatlin kept his tone even, but Viraj could feel the tension in his chest.
“Of course. My physician, unfortunately, passed long ago, but I’ll have to have another trained. What with the nestblossoms returned, I may send one of my servants to be trained. Or, perhaps Mahava or Karam could be trained. Which of you has more life left?”
The two looked at one another. Karam spoke up, indicating he did.
“There, train the boy. When your pups are manageable, send him back.” Ashwin snapped his fingers impatiently.
“I’d be interested in seeing the tomes.” Gatlin kept his tone neutral. “Though, I suppose you only have those tomes in one place, locked away safe in your homeland.”
Ashwin snorted. “I go nowhere without it. The secrets those tomes hold are not to be trusted elsewhere. But I’ll show no one.”
“I’m sure you could negotiate with Hallr or Gaspard when you wish for Karam to be trained. Someone will have to see it besides Karam.” Gatlin pretended to pay attention to his phone.
“True.” Ashwin sighed heavily. “The bloody Nielsen needs to make up his mind on my offer.”
Gatlin
Gatlin shrugged and glanced up, hating himself a little as he asked, “Viraj, would you be a dear and bring my laptop?”
Viraj glanced up from his phone and nodded once before sliding onto his feet precariously. His belly, quite impressive, preceded him as he wordlessly shuffled away.
“At least he listens and does what he’s told like a Dette.” Ashwin snorted, and when Viraj didn’t even flinch, Gatlin’s one goal was to make sure Ashwin never made it back home.
As for how anyone could be so overtly daft, Gatlin had no clue, but Ashwin’s kind would be the last.
“What is it that Hallr demanded in exchange for nestblossom?” Gatlin sat back in his seat, waiting for Viraj to return. He’d have gone and gotten it himself, but he didn’t want Viraj to spend any time alone with Ashwin. At all.
Ashwin, suddenly guarded, gave Gatlin a long, withering look.
“I’m only offering to aid in your endeavor. I’m in a precarious situation as your son’s mate. He’s never been quite a Drake in our relationship…” Gatlin cleared his throat, glancing toward the door to make sure he had time to say things.
“He’s a Dette and therefore a disappointment to my plans. Our only council seat for a Drake in this land and he’s no longer—”
“But Teige and I are on the council, not representatives of our clan but permitted to vote. We hold Viraj’s vote on the Dette council.” Gatlin stared Ashwin down and earned a flick of a brow—interest.
“Maybe not all is lost. But how can I trust you—what with your stance on giving Dettes power?” Ashwin drummed his fingers.
“Why wouldn’t I want to procure power through my Dette? Why wouldn’t I want to show off my wealth? I don’t need a dowry or anything when I can breed votes, now do I?”
Ashwin nodded slowly. “I see.”
“Fine. The Nielsen Drake wants me to take seeds for my gardens, guarantee that Dettes in need will get their share at no cost, and open distribution channels where he gets a commission. I’m the bloody original owner of nestblosoms!
I killed so many dragons and held my own for generations due to those flowers, and here he is with a single seed stealing it away from me in a petty few decades! ”
“What would you like to happen?” Gatlin waited patiently as Viraj’s steps plodded from down the hall.
“The entire clan to die out and every seed and petal end up in my control where it rightfully belongs.” Ashwin’s eyes gleamed before dimming back down, a vicious flicker of his dragon beneath the surface of his skin.
“That’s not happening,” Gatlin said, a huff caught in his throat. “Nielsens don’t die.”
Ashwin huffed as if he could prove him wrong. “But, barring that, I will take seeds and start the flower back at my estate, and he’ll mind his own fucking business.”
That wasn’t going to happen, either.
“So, not to be rude, but what are you waiting for, specifically?” Gatlin caught Viraj’s footsteps halting, dropping eaves, logically.
“An opportunity to present itself.” Ashwin licked his lips, and Viraj walked to the door a moment later, eyes aflame with warning. And he had Gatlin’s laptop.
“Thank you, dear. I’ve got some investments to move around.” Gatlin stood and crossed the room to give his mate a sweet kiss. “Go rest. You look exhausted.”
And Viraj gladly took the opportunity, hand pressed to his back as he shuffled off, belly leading the way.
“Let them believe they’re spoiled, and they are the finest Dettes in the world, Vritra.” Ashwin snorted and Gatlin kept his fucking mouth shut.