Page 21 of Courting the Dragon Prince

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.”