Page 2

Chapter

Two

Diamant

F rom the moment I’d first spotted Leo with his brothers in the pavilion, I’d known my life would never be the same. I wasn’t too proud to say that from the first sight of his clever eyes, his svelte, omega body, and his surprisingly masculine features, I’d known he would have me under his thumb in no time.

Unlike Rufus and Gildur, I’d decided to take my time with the fascinating and feisty young man. We were fated, which meant we had all the time in the world to be together, literally hundreds of years, once we mated and he shared my magic. I never did anything in my life in a hurry. I indulged, enjoyed, and languished. It was simply what diamonds did. So why rush to the completion of a romance when the seduction could be so sweet?

Of course, I was tempted to change my mind and whisk Leo off to some concealed corner to have my way with him as soon as he suggested going to war. I wasn’t cowardly or craven, but it had never occurred to me to step away from the finer things of life to go to battle for a just cause. Doing so by Leo’s side might be fun.

“You can’t just jump through the glass and battle an army,” Tovey pointed out, swinging the pack that contained his eggs around so he could check on them.

“Why not?” Leo asked. “We’re princes of our father’s realm. It is our duty to our people to protect them, especially against Father.”

“No, I mean you can’t just blip from one world to the next,” Tovey explained. “There are laws governing who can move between worlds and where and when.”

“He’s right,” Selle said with a sigh. “Saoirse and Lord Manfred were punished for doing just that last month. Queen Gaia wishes for there to be less travel between worlds for now, not more.”

“But we cannot simply stand by and let whatever Father is plotting this time hurt innocent people,” Leo insisted.

I was so proud of him I could burst. His heart was always in the right place, and he had the strength of will to follow through with whatever was needed to help people. I’d learned that already in the few, short months since we’d met.

And I was absolutely going to help him.

“Making a doorway between worlds is no trouble at all,” I said with an admittedly arrogant shrug of one shoulder. “We dragons do it all the time.”

“Yes, but you are not supposed to,” my brother, Gildur, said, walking up to stand beside his omega. He rested his arm around Selle’s shoulder and smiled at him as if the two of them were on their way to a picnic instead of discussing plans for war.

“‘Supposed to’ is such a gold concept,” I said, smirking at him. “Diamonds don’t wait around for permission to do anything.”

“Diamonds are fickle and self-indulgent,” Gildur laughed, fortunately. We might have occasionally been at odds with each other, but that didn’t stop us from loving each other. “You’re starting to sound like Rufus,” he added.

“Who’s starting to sound like me?” Rufus asked, striding over to join us. He stood behind Tovey and wrapped his arms possessively around his mate.

“Diamant,” Gildur said, nodding to me. “He wants to create a doorway between worlds so his omega can charge off into battle against King Freslik.”

“You? Diamant?” Rufus blinked in surprise. He frowned a moment later and glanced from me to Leo then back again. “What is that bastard king up to now?” he asked.

“We don’t know,” Leo said, speaking to my brother as if he, too, were an alpha and a dragon. “Selle has a scrying glass, and through it, we were able to see into my father’s world.”

“There’s a small army attacking a village on the outskirts of our father’s kingdom,” Selle explained, twisting to address Gildur with a honeyed look, like he was determined to get what he wanted from his mate. “We cannot let our father continue to attack his own people this way.”

Gildur looked at me as if it were my fault, but he didn’t dismiss the whole thing the way I assumed he might. “I’ve been in King Freslik’s court,” he said. “That man has no morals or scruples. He would destroy his own people if he thought it could bring him more gold and prestige. ”

“I don’t dispute that,” Rufus said. “Something must be done about the man.”

“Precisely,” Leo said, pounding his fist into his palm. “It’s up to us to do something. Time is wasting, we must act.”

“Time between that world and this one moves differently,” Gildur reminded us. “You’re being hasty. This attack might not have happened yet. Where did you get that glass anyhow?” he asked Selle.

“From Billi,” Selle said, then, without Gildur having to ask the question or open the discussion, he went on with, “I trust Billi’s magic.”

Gildur still didn’t look happy. “I’m not saying that something doesn’t need to be done, but I don’t want my mate or our egg involved in another fiasco with King Freslik. My nerves still haven’t recovered from our last adventure.”

“And I’m not sure that I should go either,” Tovey said, wincing slightly. “The twins are at a fragile age right now.”

Leo blew out an impatient breath. “Then we’ll go,” he said, turning to me as if the two of us running off to fight villains was a usual occurrence. “You can open a doorway to somewhere near this village for just the two of us. We could take them together.”

I smiled, whether it was the appropriate time for a smile or not. “Careful, my little fireball. If you tempt me too much with your ferocity, we’ll never reach the battle in the first place.”

Leo’s face flushed with heat. I could practically see the blood pumping through him, particularly the intimate parts of him. It was even better when he asked, “Are you trying to stop me from defending my people, dragon?”

“I would never dream of it,” I said in a low growl .

“Right,” Gildur said impatiently. “If these two are going to flirt over a battle, then I say let them. But I’m keeping my omega close to home.”

“And I’m doing the same,” Rufus said.

“I want to go!” Prince Obi said, all smiles and excitement. “I’ve never actually fought a battle before, but I’d like to do something to make a difference.”

“I’ll go as well,” Rumi said with a firm nod.

Emmerich would be proud of his omega mate. Argus would simply be amused by his.

“Um, I’m not certain I’m much of a fighter,” Prince Misha said, looking bashful.

Azurus would be charmed by his fated mate. I wasn’t certain whether the two of them had even met yet, but I knew it.

“You don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to,” Leo said, resting a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We can handle this.”

“With confidence like that, I’m certain you can,” Rufus said, though I could tell he was mostly amused by Leo’s fight.

“We should go as swiftly as possible, then,” I said, wanting to reach out and pull Leo into my arms rather than rush off to a cold, hard battle. “That way, we can gain our victory and return to dance away the rest of the ball before it ends.”

My brothers knew that was just a lot of bravado, but they nodded in agreement all the same.

“Let’s go,” Leo said, taking my hand like he would lead me off to fight.

I grinned and let him lead me, although once we reached the edge of the lake, I stepped ahead of him to summon a bridge to take us over to the forest. Prince Rumi and Prince Obi followed behind us.

“I’ve never taken part in a battle before,” Prince Obi repeated his earlier statement, but with more worry. “I hope I’ll be as brave as you are, Leo.”

Leo laughed with excitement. “Let’s get there and assess the situation first, then we can decide whether a battle is necessary.”

“Clever prince,” I murmured to him as we walked into the trees just far enough that everyone in the pavilion wouldn’t see me conjure a questionably legal doorway. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

“I thought you liked me because I’m pretty,” Leo tossed back, teasing me.

It was going to be a challenge not to jump my delicious omega at the first opportunity we got.

I forced myself to concentrate on my magic for a moment and thought about where I wanted us to go. I wasn’t completely certain where the impending battle was located, but intention alone was enough to open a small portal that would take us close enough to where we wanted to go.

“It’s just after dusk,” Prince Rumi whispered once we’d all traveled through into the countryside of the cruel world. “You can still see the last rays of the sunset on the western horizon.”

Leo nodded, receiving the information like intelligence. “This must be the village of Gannet,” he said, swaying closer to me so he could point out the features of the area around us. “That’s the village there, and you see those hills just that way?”

“Yes,” I whispered, breathing in his enticing scent of ripe summer fruit .

“There are caves from old mines that way,” he explained. “In his younger days, Father was certain there was gold buried in his land. He had several mines constructed, but he never found?—”

His words were cut short by the sound of horses galloping. We were at the edge of a small wooded area, but it wasn’t enough to provide us with complete shelter. The four of us were forced to dash for the cover of some bushes off to one side and to crouch so that we wouldn’t be seen by the riders.

“Are those soldiers?” Prince Obi asked, his youth showing through. “Are they on their way to attack?”

“We have to follow them,” Leo said.

As much as I loved my omega’s determination to do what was right, I wasn’t as happy with his impulsiveness. Rushing into serious things had never been my way. I was far more likely to sit back, preferably with a drink of something tasty, to think about a situation before engaging. Leo leapt up and started following the riders before I could grab him and hold him back. I lunged after him, but he saw that as me following his lead, and his brothers came with us.

Whether it was the smart thing to do or not, all four of us were racing across the shadowed field, following the riders to the small village just beyond where we’d been hidden. I hated leaving an open door to the magical world behind me, but there wasn’t time to seal it up tightly.

“I think we’re too late,” Prince Obi whispered when the four of us made it to the edge of the village. “It looks like the soldiers have already won.”

Unfortunately, the young prince was right. By the time we reached the edge of one of the houses that made up the small village, the air was still, and instead of the shouts and clash of a skirmish, we heard soldiers giving orders and women and children weeping.

“Stay down,” Leo said, taking command of our mission, which I found both adorable and arousing. “We need to discover what happened.”

With a few quick sweeps of magic, I could have read the minds of any of the nearby people or frozen them so that we could walk among them, as if we were observing a painting. Leo seemed to be doing a perfectly reasonable job of leading our mission, so I hung back, smiling with pride in him, and let him take charge.

“…for putting up a fight,” a deep, male voice said from the center of the small square all of the village’s houses were built around. “King Freslik knows you are hiding something. He knows that a sorceress attempted to overthrow him and that she escaped to the edges of his realm to hide and regroup.”

I fought not to laugh. Gildur had told us all about Saoirse’s little gambit with King Freslik and Argus’s attempt to erase the memories of everyone involved. It seemed as though my brother’s powerful magic wasn’t enough to wipe the idea that a sorceress had attacked him from Freslik’s mind entirely.

“We…we know nothing about any sorceresses,” one of the hapless villagers answered.

We’d snuck close enough, using the buildings of the village for cover, to see what looked like about fifty people on their knees in the square, surrounded by maybe half as many mercenary soldiers. It was the smallest army imaginable, but the simple village people were in no position to fight them. A few were bandaged like they’d tried.

“Sorceresses don’t exist,” one of the other villagers pleaded. “King Freslik is mad if he thinks one is set against him.”

“Quiet!” the head of the mercenaries shouted, which was followed by a slapping sound. “How dare you insult the king!”

Leo tensed by my side at the cruelty shown to the villagers. I was certain he wanted to rush into the square and fight them with his bare hands.

I was about to join him. It would have been easy to wipe every one of the soldiers out with fire. But the situation changed before I had a chance.

“Don’t bother with this lot,” one of the men on horseback said. “King Freslik has other plans, especially if this lot won’t talk.”

“Rottum,” Prince Obi gasped behind me, and I heard Prince Rumi shush him.

“But, sir, we have orders,” the lead mercenary said.

“Oh, I’ve no doubt,” the man on horseback, Rottum, said. “We’ll hold this lot hostage along with the rest of them.”

“The rest of them, sir?” the mercenary said.

“There won’t be enough room,” the second man on horseback said.

“Then we’ll make more room,” Rottum snapped. “King Freslik wants as many hostages as possible from among his people. He says they’ll be easier to control if we have a corral filled with their sons and daughters to threaten every time they step out of line.”

“Father is planning to take hostages from among his own people?” Rumi murmured behind where Leo and I crouched.

“Oh, sorry,” Rottum said, almost as if he’d heard Rumi but addressing the other man on horseback instead. “Not a corral, a work camp . All of those sons and daughters will be put to work for the benefit and glory of King Freslik.”

“Including this lot?” the other man asked.

“Yes, why not,” Rottum said, sounding as if he were having a grand evening. “They can work building more houses for the other hostages, I mean workers , to live in.”

“You cannot take us away from our homes,” one of the villagers pleaded. “My omega is with child, and he’ll give birth any day now. He cannot work.”

“He’ll work if he knows what’s good for him,” Rottum said with a sniff.

“What should we do with this lot, then?” the lead mercenary asked.

“Round them up and move them on,” Rottum said. “We won’t reach the camp by daylight, but we can get part of the way there in a few hours.”

“Yes, sir,” the mercenary said.

The soldiers closed in on the villagers, forcing them to stand and jostling the poor people into a clump so they could be prodded and pushed on, as if they were cattle.

“What do we do?” Prince Obi asked as Leo and I turned toward him and Prince Rumi.

“Someone has to tell the others,” Prince Rumi said. “Maybe there’s a way we can reach out to the other villages of the kingdom to let them know what Father has planned.”

“Holding our own people hostage and forcing them to work is barbaric,” Leo said. “Every time I think Father has sunk as low as he can go, he finds something worse to do.”

“Can we stop him?” Prince Obi asked.

“Every tyrant can be stopped,” I said. “How we do that depends on the resources we have available, not to mention the care we need to take to make certain no one else is harmed. ”

Leo glanced at me with a smile. “I knew there was a reason I liked you,” he said.

I winked back at him, wishing on the one hand that we didn’t have the mercenaries of an evil king to battle, but relishing the opportunity to fight by my omega’s side on the other.

“Rumi, you should take Obi and head back to the pavilion to let the others know what’s going on,” Leo went on. “Diamant and I will follow the soldiers, and when they make camp tonight, we’ll do whatever we can to sabotage them and help the villagers to escape.”

“A brilliant and noble plan,” I said, nodding to my omega. I was game for this adventure if he was.

“Are you certain the two of you will be safe on your own?” Prince Rumi asked.

“I’m a dragon,” I reminded him.

“And I’m a prince with a will of iron,” Leo said in a similar tone of voice.

Prince Obi made a long, low sound. “They really are fated mates, aren’t they.”

Prince Rumi chuckled as he stood, offering his brother a hand so that he could stand as well. “I’m almost afraid to leave them behind because I know they’ll get into all sorts of trouble together.”

“That’s the best part,” Leo said, grinning at me.

Prince Rumi shook his head, then turned said to Prince Obi, “Come on. I assume the doorway will be where we left it?”

“It should be,” I said. “But it won’t last forever.”

He nodded. “Stay safe,” he told Leo.

“I’ll stay as safe as is right when people need our help,” Leo answered.

The brothers embraced to say goodbye, then Leo and I stood where we were for a moment, watching the other two princes disappear into the darkness.

Once they were gone, he turned to me with a fire in his eyes that glowed even brighter with the reflected light of the bonfires that had been lit in the square.

“I’m not going to let them get away with this,” he said. “These are my people as much as my father’s, even though omegas cannot be kings in this realm.”

“A gross oversight on someone’s part,” I said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You would make a fearsome omega king.”

Leo laughed, but the sounds of the villagers being forcibly moved brought both of our attentions back to the matter at hand.

“We need to follow them and do whatever we can to foil their plans,” he said as we crept out of our hiding place, keeping to the shadows as we followed the contingent out of the village and along the narrow, country road.

“I won’t let any harm come to them,” I reassured him. Whatever my omega needed me to do, I would do, even though I could tell it meant my life of idle pleasure was over.