Chapter Three #2
The knight flinched. “They are probably feeling guilty for not noticing that you were not there willingly. I know I would be horrified if I had dined with you and Bara and never noticed your despair.”
“I don't think they care, Sir Vanoak. If anything, they're probably mad that Bara didn't offer them ribbons so they could capture their own bed slaves.”
Sir Vanoak blinked. “Great Goddess, has he damaged you that much?”
“Excuse me?”
“Bara. Did he hurt you so much that all you see is evil in the world?”
“It's not all I see. I'm just not blind to it anymore.”
“Seeing only good in people is being blind, but so is seeing only evil.
Neither is true. I understand why the bad outweighs the good for you now, but I hope when you heal, your vision will clear, and you will see that there is good and bad in everyone.
Some people are out of balance, tipping toward evil, and those are the ones you have to be careful of.
The rarer sort are those like our king, who leans so close to pure good that it's hard to remember how he won his throne.”
I frowned. “You mean, in a tourney?”
“Yes, in a tourney where he faced over sixty opponents and left them all crying for mercy.”
I shrugged. “No matter how kind he is, he is still a Dragon.”
“Now, I must ask you what you mean.”
“Your people rule, Sir Vanoak. You rule over all the other races. To do that, you must be savage. It is the way of things. The strong conquer.”
“Dragons rule Serai peacefully.” He made a wincing expression. “On the whole.”
“Yes, because you beat the other races so soundly that we all realized it was a choice of accepting your rule or being annihilated.”
“The beginning was rough, but now, our kings keep the world at peace.”
“I'm not trying to insult your race, Sir Vanoak. I think highly of Dragons. All I'm saying is that to rule, you must be comfortable killing. King Raventar is known to be a good man, but he wouldn't be able to hold this kingdom without also being a good killer.”
Sir Vanoak snorted. “I suppose you're right. And he will be very comfortable punishing me if I linger a moment longer with you. Shall we?”
“Yes, of course.” I motioned him on.
Sir Vanoak didn't speak to me again during our trip across the palace. Although he did look back at me a few times. Finally, he led me into the throne room.
Ancient stone pillars supported a vaulted ceiling painted to resemble the sky.
Eagles flew across the expanse, their wings eternally stretched wide.
All of them flew in the direction of the throne, perched on a dais at the far end.
There were no windows in here. Nowhere to flee from the wrath of the King, should you be so unfortunate as to inspire it.
Besides the throne, there was no furniture either.
Although there were tapestries of the King, his dread in flight, and the kingdom's eagle.
I glanced at a life-sized tapestry of King Raventar posing on his throne, and a shiver ran down my spine.
How the artist had managed to weave his likeness so accurately was beyond me.
Massive enough to be echoing, the room wasn't even a third full.
Still, there was a sizable crowd gathered before the broad stone platform and its royal occupant.
Despite what that tapestry had suggested, King Raventar wasn't on his throne.
He stood at the edge of the dais, arms crossed and forehead drawn down.
His bright gaze was fixed on a Ricarri man who stood before him, separate from the crowd.
The man was nearly as large as the King, his muscular arms bared by a sleeveless tunic.
The minerals in his gray skin caught the light and glittered.
A sword hung on his lean hips, the hilt matching those glints.
Sir Vanoak escorted me to the left side of the room and then up along the wall until we joined another Dragon knight on guard duty at the bottom of the dais stairs.
Sir Foxren nodded at us and then returned his attention to the room, scanning it for threats.
On the opposite side of the dais, Sir Devorok did the same.
“Just wait here,” Sir Vanoak whispered to me. “He'll be done soon. He's already mediated the disputes. Now, he's hearing the requests.”
I nodded, though I didn't know what that meant.
Then I looked up at the King. My breath caught.
Knowing that I'd never have him, even if I recovered from Bara, made my body fill with something I had never felt for a man—longing.
There was no fear about becoming the Dragon King's lover holding me back.
No worries about him controlling me or abusing me.
So I was free to imagine what it would be like to kiss him.
In my fantasy, I could touch him at my leisure, and he could touch me without me cringing.
If he really was the man he appeared to be, I could have loved him.
We could have had something beautiful together, untouched by evil.
But I was already tainted, beyond merely touched, and he was too perfect to be with someone like me.
“—the tribes are unsettled, Sire,” the Ricarri man was saying. “People have gone missing. There have been strange attacks in the middle of the night. A cold swoops in, and people vanish with it.”
“I will send the Talons. We will find whoever or whatever is behind this,” King Raventar vowed.
He looked down to his right, where a Deldin man stood at the base of the dais, taking notes.
“Juv, send word to the Talons. I want a regiment here within the hour to escort Mr. Trefan back to his tribe and conduct an investigation. Be sure they send a claw with the regiment to lead the team.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The Deldin man scribbled something and handed it off to one of the waiting servants, who then ran for the door.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” The Ricarri man bowed and turned to leave. He glanced my way, stumbled to a stop, and gaped at me.
“You may wait for the regiment in the courtyard, Mr. Trefan,” The Dragon King growled.
My gaze shot to the King. He was glaring at the back of the Ricarri's shaved head.
The Ricarri flinched as he tore his gaze away from me and nodded to the King. “Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you.”
Sir Foxren snorted.
I lowered my stare to the ground as my mind spun.
So, I was still lovely. Bara hadn't taken that.
Somehow, the stain of my enslavement didn't show on my face.
My beauty was still a benefit and a threat to me.
Sir Vanoak and this stranger had proven it.
Some men, like Vanoak, would overlook my past, but there was also a whole world out there that didn't know who I was or what had been done to me.
Maybe that was the answer. The King would probably ask me to leave anyway.
I would travel far away, go somewhere no one knew me. Start again.
Yes, that was what I would do. The decision lifted a weight from me. In another kingdom, I could be whoever I wanted to be. I could forget Bara.
And the Dragon King who had rejected me.
I glanced at King Raventar again and then flinched. He was staring at me, his eyes narrowed as if he could hear my thoughts. I shifted my wings forward, an automatic reaction to comfort myself. Why did he look so angry? It made no sense.
Before I could gather the courage to look at the King again, the herald at the throne room door boomed out the arrival of a new guest.
“Mr. Dracal Kurvis, Your Majesty,” the herald exclaimed. “He brings a message from Lord Katai Gral.”