Page 9 of Courting the Dragon Prince (A Royal Arrangement #1)

Chapter Nine

L uther sat with his older siblings, Senta and Gerard, as well as their stepmother in one of the sitting rooms provided for them in the monastery.

“I hope I can get along with whoever Father decides I should marry,” Senta mused. She lifted her cup of tea to her lips and sipped.

They sat on brightly coloured cushions. The mid-morning light filtered in through the windows, creating shafts of sunlight on the vibrant patterned rugs on the floor.

“He plans to have his children marry someone from each of the different kingdoms, if you count Zephyrias and Voltaria as one kingdom, that is.” Gerard leaned forward and took a honey cake from the tray on the table before them. He took a bite.

Zephyrias and Voltaria were technically two kingdoms. But they’d been one once. Since they’d split, they’d warred and fought and invaded each other. Each ruler had tried to take the other’s throne on multiple occasions. But at present, the two kingdoms were at peace under one ruling couple.

Senta pointed at Luther. “So if Luther is marrying someone from the Grey Mountains and Konrad is marrying a necromancer …”

“That leaves the nature mages of Botanial and either the lightning sorcerers of Voltaria or a wind sorcerer of Zephyrias,” Gerard finished Senta’s thought.

“I’m happy to swap my betrothed,” Luther interjected. “Are either of you interested in marrying an uptight earth elemental?”

“That had to be you,” Gerard said in his deep voice.

“What? Why?” Luther sat up, almost spilling his tea.

“Warden Onyx is the heir. Whoever marries him will need to live with him in the Grey Mountains as his future consort,” Senta explained as if talking to a rather daft child. “Konrad is the dragon heir. Gerard is the dragon warrior. I am Gerard’s spare. As such, we all need to stay in Draconia. Only you can leave.”

Gerard nodded.

“I guess that makes sense,” Luther muttered, slumping backwards. He lifted his cup to his lips and drank the herbal tea.

In Draconia, the firstborn, which was Konrad, became the heir and had the title of dragon crown prince. The second-born child, which was Gerard, was given the title of dragon warrior prince (or princess), or dragon warrior for short. Gerard would take over the military one day and be titled the grand dragon warrior. A title currently held by their aunt.

The third child, his sister Liesel, became the spare heir to the throne. The fourth child, Senta, became the spare for the dragon warrior title. If nothing happened to the heirs, then the spares would take on supportive roles.

Meanwhile, the fifth child, Luther, and his younger half-siblings didn’t have clear roles. Of course, should several of the older children die, the younger had to be ready to step up.

Luther’s father had always paid most of his attention to his four eldest children. They were the important ones. The king never really cared what Luther did or got up to. He, like the rest of the king’s younger offspring, were a mere afterthought.

“Warden Onyx doesn’t seem so bad.” Gerard straightened his eye patch.

Luther choked on his tea. “What? He’s a conceited arsehole!”

“I have to agree with Gerard,” Senta said. “Warden Onyx is a fighter and a competent one from what we’ve heard.”

“Of course you two only care about that.” Luther glared at them. “It doesn’t matter to you that he is a giant prick as long as he can fight.”

“Perhaps if you didn’t try to annoy him so much, you’d get along better.” Gerard picked up the silver teapot and refilled the others’ cups before refilling his own.

“Whose side are you on?” Luther asked.

Senta huffed. “It’s not about sides, Luther.”

It didn’t surprise him that Gerard and Senta ganged up on him. Since Gerard and Senta had trained together under the current grand dragon warrior, they’d always been close.

“We all have to marry someone we wouldn’t choose for ourselves,” Senta said. “We must all strive to make those marriages as painless as possible. And that includes not intentionally trying to aggravate your future spouse.”

Senta gave him a look. “Which you seemed to enjoy doing far too much on the night of your betrothal ball,” she said, clear reproach in her voice. “Don’t deny it. We all saw you trying to get a rise out of him.”

Gerard nodded.

Luther bit his tongue and the urge to tell them to go fuck themselves.

After all, his siblings weren’t wrong. He did enjoy irritating his betrothed. And the other night, getting Warden Onyx simultaneously annoyed and aroused had been far too amusing.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t taking his responsibilities seriously. After all, he was marrying Warden Onyx. He’d not argued with his father when he’d told Luther who he was marrying, even though he’d wanted to.

“Perhaps if you tried not to annoy your future husband so much, you’d find him more agreeable,” Gerard said. “Or even a decent husband.”

A sliver of uncertainty unwound inside Luther. Was that true?

No. Warden Onyx had hated Luther on sight. He’d treated Luther with disdain from the moment they met.

“I think if you focus on the reason for marrying and on your duty to the kingdom, maybe you’ll find your marriage more tolerable.” Senta paused. “Your sense of responsibility has always been lacking.”

Luther frowned. That wasn’t true. Why would she think that? He glanced at Gerard, who nodded. Did all his siblings think he didn’t care about his duty?

But he’d always done what he was told. Although, honestly, he’d been overlooked for most of his life. His older siblings had been the ones his father expected things from. Meanwhile, Luther had never been given the opportunity to prove himself.

But of course, that wasn’t true. He had. And when he had finally been given that responsibility, he’d failed miserably.

His stepmother spoke, “I’m sure whoever your father arranges for you each to marry will be a noble and honourable individual. It will be what is best for the kingdom.” Their stepmother held one of their father’s shirts in her hands, mending it with needle and thread with deft movements of her fingers.

She could easily hire someone to mend his clothes. But their stepmother always took pride in caring for all her husband’s needs. She always seemed so keen to please him. Not that his father really noticed.

Luther wondered if his own mother had done the same. He could not remember. After all, he’d been but an infant when she died. She’d been dead less than a month when their father remarried. A few months later, the king’s second wife had been with child.

Luther’s stepmother hadn’t been particularly present in his life. As such, he had no strong feelings about her. Although, he’d often felt sorry for her. His father never seemed to really care much for her, and she’d always been so devoted to her husband. Still, she’d done what her king required of her, which was to produce more children.

Now the king had nine legitimate children and quite a few grandchildren. The grandchildren were courtesy of his older sister, Liesel, who remained in Draconia as acting ruler whilst his father was away.

The king of Draconia had no fear of his line dying out anytime soon. Especially since he’d also sired quite a few bastards over the years.

The familiar raised voices of his father and eldest brother echoed in the corridor outside the room. They grew louder and louder. A moment later, the door flung open.

The king entered. “I am sick of having this conversation with you, Konrad.”

“But how can you not worry?” Crown Prince Konrad stormed into the room after the king, eyes blazing as he slammed the door behind them.