Page 42 of Courting the Dragon Prince (A Royal Arrangement #1)
Chapter Forty-Two
“F ire and flames.” Luther raised his goblet of wine to his lips. “The necromancers turn my blood to ice.”
He and Onyx stood on the upper floor of the ballroom, gazing down at those below. Music swirled, mixing with the laughter and chatter of the crowd. Couples twirled as they moved around the dancefloor, Luther’s cousin Princess Dorothye and the Shadow Lady Nocturna amongst them.
It was their betrothal that was being celebrated tonight. Theirs would be the first of the two marriages that would take place between nobles from Draconia and Necros.
Luther’s older brother, Konrad, would be the other dragon marrying a necromancer. But who would Konrad be forced to marry?
Leaning out over the balustrade, Luther gazed down at those present from Necros. Konrad would no doubt marry one of them.
Luther didn’t really know the shadow princes, princesses, lords, or ladies well. After all, Draconia and Necros had been enemies not that long ago. But he knew that in Necros, the term shadow was placed before someone’s title. As if they wanted to make themselves even creepier.
Since they’d arrived at the assembly, Luther had been introduced to several of the noble necromancers. But they’d not seemed that interested in making chit-chat with him. And Luther had not been that interested either.
Most necromancers preferred to wear black or grey, which Luther felt was very obvious. Although, he saw some purple, red, silver, and white mixed in too.
Onyx’s arm pressed against Luther’s as he, too, gazed below. “I’ve never been able to stand the necromancers.”
Luther glanced at him. “You were allies during the war.”
“Out of necessity. We from the Grey Mountains have never gotten along particularly well with the individuals from Necros.” Onyx took a sip of his wine. “Mother did not enter into an alliance with the necromancers happily.” Onyx’s gaze slid to Luther’s. “But we had to do it to fight the mighty dragons of Draconia.”
Luther chuckled. “Yes. Well, we are pretty mighty.”
It had been about a day and a half since they’d returned from their night-time flight. It had been almost two full days since their last fight, when Onyx had accused Luther of sneaking off to fuck someone.
It must be some kind of record for them. Although, he supposed they hadn’t technically been fighting when Luther had been avoiding and ignoring Onyx.
The point was they were getting along now. That was something to be pleased with.
“We kept our distance from the necromancers even though we were allies during the war. Not just us, but those from Botanial and Voltaria as well. None of us wanted anything to do with them. Even here, you can still see it.” Onyx gestured around the room. “Everyone keeps their distance.”
It was true. Whilst those from the Grey Mountains, Botanial, Voltaria, Zephyrias, and Draconia mingled, those from Necros congregated in clumps.
From the looks of the room, one would assume the necromancers had been the ones at war with everyone, not the dragons.
Shadow King Lament wore all black. A crown carved from ivory that had been made to look like bones sat atop his head. Black lace hung from his crown, over his eyes like a veil. He spoke to his wife, Shadow Queen Rue, who unsurprisingly also wore black, although her dress had silver swirls along the hems.
And what was with their names? Everything about them was just sinister.
As Luther watched, the grand monk approached the shadow king and queen, who stopped speaking and turned towards him. It seemed only the monks did not avoid the necromancers.
“I remember we fought armies comprised of a mix of those from Botanial, Voltaria, Zephyrias, and the Grey Mountains.” Luther shook his head. “But you never saw those from Necros fighting alongside anyone else. The Necros armies were always comprised of those from Necros.”
Onyx nodded. “All four of the allied kingdoms wanted it that way. The necromancers have always been secretive about their magical methods. We’ve always been disgusted by them. So it’s for the best we didn’t fight together.” Onyx’s lip curled. “When an individual dies, they should be allowed to rest, not brought back to life to fight beneath someone else’s control.” Disdain dripped from his words.
“When we fought the undead armies, it always left me feeling sick.” Luther shivered as he remembered the fields of walking skeletons and zombies. “At least I was too far above to even attempt to recognise anyone I might know. A benefit of being a fire-breathing dragon.”
Still, the stench had been vile. He’d been glad to breathe fire and let the poor souls rest once more.
“It’s disgusting,” Onyx spat. “I’m glad the war is over and we don’t have to work with them anymore. This is as close as I ever want to get to them again.”
“Konrad doesn’t think they want this treaty.” Luther stared at Shadow King Lament Grimm, the ruler of Necros, as he spoke to the grand monk. “Do you think that is true? Do you think they actually want peace?”
This was new, Luther discussing alliances and politics with Onyx. It felt a little strange opening up to someone from the Grey Mountains. This was the stuff he’d normally only talk about with those from Draconia, usually just his siblings.
But the war was over. Onyx was his husband. If they couldn’t even try to work together, what was the point of this treaty?
“The necromancers held out against negotiating a peace treaty.” Onyx stared at the necromancers as he sipped his wine. “But I believe they’ve come around. Mainly because my uncle has spent a great deal of time in meetings with the shadow king and others from Necros, and that’s what he believes.”
“My father would agree with him.” Luther gestured to his father, talking to the shadow king and queen. “For all our sakes, let’s hope they’re both right. I don’t want more war.”
“Me neither.” Onyx surveyed the crowd. “But there are those who have been against the treaty.”
“Let’s just hope there are no more attempts to put a stop to it.” Luther lifted his goblet to his lips, only to discover it empty.
“Here, I’ll get you some more.” Onyx took his goblet.
“I have such an attentive husband.” Luther smiled coyly.
Onyx laughed, shaking his head as he walked away.
Luther watched his husband move through the crowd of people, admiring his broad shoulders and firm arse. Once you got past Warden Onyx Obsidian being an uptight arsehole, he was a pretty tolerable man. And an excellent fuck.
Onyx disappeared amongst the swirl of people, and Luther couldn’t help but wonder, Could they actually have a happy future together? Or was this just a temporary reprieve before they hated each other once again?
Luther wasn’t sure.
“Prince Luther.” A voice sounded beside him.
Luther startled. He’d been too busy ogling his husband to notice someone approach.
“Well, if it isn’t the lightning prince.” Luther grinned. “How are you this lovely evening? Enjoying the betrothal ball?”
“Well enough.” Prince Elias leaned on the balustrade. “Although, I’m preparing myself mentally. I think my father will soon be informing me who my future spouse will be.” He gestured with a flourishing wave of his hand to the couples below. “Perhaps I will be dancing at my betrothal ball next.”
“Any idea who you will be marrying?”
Prince Elias shrugged a slender shoulder. “No idea. Father has never been big on sharing his plans with me.” He sighed, flicking his white hair over his shoulder. “But hopefully, whoever I marry will not be too disappointed in my lack of magical power.”
“You mean your sparkles?” Luther gave him a half-smile. “At least they are pretty.”
“Well, thank you.” Prince Elias gave a playful bow. Then he held his hands upwards. Sparks of light danced across his palms.
Luther clapped. “Bravo.”
“All the best tutors and trainers in Voltaria, and that is all I can manage. At least I didn’t have to fight in the war.” Prince Elias wrinkled his nose. “I’m so glad I could avoid all that unpleasantness.”
Luther bit his tongue. He wanted to point out that many individuals who had no magical abilities had fought in the war. There had been armies throughout all the kingdoms that were comprised of large groups of non-magic individuals who fought and died bravely.
In Draconia, only a subset of people was dragon-born. Thus most of their fighters were not. And weren’t a large proportion of lightning sorcerers rather weak? Luther had the impression that they tended to work together in order to amplify their magical abilities.
Prince Elias leaned towards Luther, placed a hand on his shoulder, and lowered his voice. “Although, my spouse should not be too disappointed by my powers,” he whispered. “It’s actually rather fun in bed.” He winked.
Luther laughed. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”
Then Luther spotted Onyx standing a short distance away, holding two goblets, expression blank as he watched the two of them. Luther stopped laughing. He leaned away from Prince Elias and took a step back. For once, he didn’t want to give Onyx the wrong impression.
Luther held in a sigh. He hoped this didn’t start a fight between them. They’d made it almost two days without one!
Prince Elias glanced between the two of them. “Oh. Is everything all right between the newly married couple?” he asked, voice almost mischievous. “I thought you two must be getting along splendidly after he dragged you behind those bushes the other day to have his wicked way with you.”
“It’s … complicated.” Luther smiled at Onyx and lifted his hand, motioning for Onyx to approach.
For a second, Onyx hesitated. He looked at Prince Elias. Then, after several long seconds, he began to walk towards them.
“Your husband has a tendency to glare at me,” Prince Elias said. “I’m not sure what I’ve done to offend the man.”
“Shit. Sorry,” Luther said. “That’s my fault. He thinks you and I are lovers.”
Prince Elias burst out laughing. “Really? Why?”
“Ah. I may have implied it,” Luther confessed as Onyx drew nearer.
Prince Elias blinked at him. He placed a hand on his hip and tilted his head. “Why on earth would you do that?”
“I had my reasons.” Luther shrugged. “They seemed to make sense at the time,” Luther said a moment before Onyx reached them.