Page 15 of The Forbidden Dragon King (Shadow Kings #1)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Aurelius’ Tent, Draca Military Camp

F reya

I slip a slice of sweet apple, which is drizzled with honey, between my lips and crunch down. The sweet taste bursts like life on my tongue.

I sigh.

On the moon, it’s good to eat like royalty. Why should I deny myself these perks?

Over the last couple of days and nights that I’ve been trapped in this tent with nothing to do but sleep in what’s admittedly the most comfortable nest I’ve ever been in, snoop through a Shadow Dragon King’s belongings, and eat, I’ve become friends with the two Beta guards outside.

I even tried to break into the chest, which is ornamented with gold flames, but it scorched me with powerful protective magic as soon as I touched it.

Aurelius must have some true treasure and secrets hidden inside there. It’s a shame that I don’t have longer to work out how to break in and steal them.

To my shock, Omega in this camp doesn’t automatically mean servant or lowest in the hierarchy like it does in Fang Kingdom.

And that means I can flex my con game.

Widening my eyes and pretending to be a sweet Omega in need has the Beta guards scurrying to bring me my every request.

If Aurelius ordered them to treat me like this, then I’m even better at playing this game than I thought I was. Have I conned the famously cold Alpha who appears to have been born without emotions?

Perhaps, I would make a good assassin.

When the guards brought me a warm, woolen crimson cloak and sturdy boots, they beamed with pride at making me smile.

I’d feel bad about the fact that the guards are actually helping me put together the kit that I need to escape, if I wasn’t going to be taken back to their capital to be turned into a fucking pet.

Each day, they’ve brought me the best food in camp, and I’ve hidden a portion away.

I settle more comfortably on the stool in front of the feast, which is laid out on the oak table in the large, rectangular tent.

Bread, a platter of cheeses, wheat pancakes with dates, olives, and a pitcher of wine.

I’ve never drunk wine before. I shouldn’t be drinking it now. But I have the chance to eat and drink like royalty; I probably never will again.

Who said that I don’t know how to seize the day?

Plus, the wine is amber colored and reminds me of Aurelius’ eyes.

It’s morning, but little light filters through the thick linen of the tent walls, which are further obscured by the fierce Golden Dragon banner, which shimmers with protective magic.

Beeswax candles cast light and shadows across the table and the shrine that stands beside the bed.

Rain pelts against the tent like a continuous battle drumbeat. It started, along with the roar of thunder and sudden bursts of lightning, on the night that Aurelius led his army to capture Daire.

The rain hasn’t let up since, weeping from the sky.

My heart aches.

What does it mean?

Truly ancient fae can control the elements. Has my lavender eyed Raven King been slain or survived the battle?

On the Shadow Gods, let him be alive.

Daire feels like he’s mine in the same bewildering and overwhelming way that Aurelius does.

For days and nights, I’ve rolled around in the velvet blankets, hugging to my nose the Golden Dragon’s leather armor that he used to line it. His smoky scent has calmed my fear .

Was Aurelius wounded?

Who won?

Anxiety has been eating through me in a way that I never thought it could for someone else.

Sometimes, in the Moon Court, I would fear for Bard, especially when King Ulf was in one of his rages.

Then Bard would have the skin stripped from his back for the smallest mistake in his training with his unit, the heathen wolves.

Whichever of the heathen Betas were unlucky enough to be with Bard at the time had a chance of ending up dead.

Yet I didn’t feel like this.

As if the survival of the two Alphas who are trying to kill each tonight to prove the size of their knots, means as much as my own.

I spin the golden scale bracelet that hangs around my wrist.

Is it possible to miss someone you barely know? Miss someone you haven’t even met yet? Miss them both?

“May the trolls take all Alphas.” I snatch up my goblet of wine, taking a furious swig of the alcohol.

The liquid is honeyed and spicy with a note of sweet apricot underneath.

I lick my lips.

I should have run by now.

I investigated the tent, finding a weak spot yesterday at the back. I’ve been working on it since, pulling up the flap. Now, I have a way to escape that the guards, who are posted at the front, won’t see.

The thunderstorm is too heavy, however, for me to get far without needing to take shelter. Plus, my traitorous heart is holding me hostage.

How can I leave without knowing…?

Knowing what?

That Aurelius isn’t wounded?

Daire isn’t dead or captured?

If Daire is in the grip of the dragons, should I try to free him? If I become his savior, then his entire kingdom will owe me. What kind of deal would the fae make me then? I’d have a new home for life in the Unseelie Kingdom.

Would Daire also turn those enchanting, otherworldly eyes on me? Fly me away held not in sharp claws but rather, his soft, raven wings?

I take another swig of honeyed wine. My mind starts to swim. My gaze is blurry, as I collapse to rest my head on my arms.

“Daire,” I murmur, smiling. “My silver haired rogue.”

I imagine the fae’s plush lips lowering to kiss mine…

Finally…

I edge my hand beneath my leather dress, feeling how slick I already am.

I purr, touching myself higher up.

To my shock, the twinkling lavender eyes in my pleasurable fantasy turn to cold amber.

Then suddenly, piercing red-wine…

I gasp in horror, pulling back my fingers. I stand sharply.

I flail around in panic, as my nighttime nightmare breaks into my daydream, knocking over my goblet. The wine spills across the table, spoiling the food and pooling across the floor.

“Fuck,” I whine.

“You’re drunk,” an icy voice says behind me.

“I’m not,” I reply reflexively.

The lie is revealed by the way that I stumble as I spin around.

Aurelius is standing in the entrance to the tent.

Water drips off his strong shoulders and his gleaming armor. His hair is plastered to his head and neck. His expression is mask-like.

Excitement rushes through me, along with a joy that I don’t understand.

I rush toward him.

I scan Aurelius greedily, checking him for injuries. He doesn’t look any different from when he set out. His armor is just as immaculate. His tight leathers aren’t even torn.

I frown.

Did he fight at all?

The only differences are the purple shadows underneath his eyes, as if he hasn’t slept for days, and a haunted look that is lurking behind his eyes.

Aurelius isn’t even covered in blood, unless the rain washed it away.

Why was I worried? Perhaps, kings in the Draca Kingdom are raven starving cowards who don’t fight their own battles or get their hands dirty.

I should have known not to trust the legends .

My shoulders relax. I bet that if Daire has been captured, he’ll be in the same state.

“You’re slurring your words,” Aurelius points out, shaking his head like a dog.

I stop purring and growl, taking a step back, as water sprays across my cheeks.

Aurelius looks too smug.

I wipe my sleeve over my face. “And you’re being an asshole. At least my condition will wear off.”

“By the Shadow Gods, you truly aren’t frightened of challenging me at all, are you? Do you know how many people aren’t scared of me? Or what I may become?”

“An even bigger asshole?”

Aurelius’ lips quirk, as if against his will. “How much did you drink?”

When I hold up my hand, his eyes widen. “Five goblets of wine, already? It’s barely past dawn.”

I glance at my hand, confused. “I only see one hand here.”

“ One goblet? I’ve finally found someone who is more of a lightweight than I am. Luc is going to be thrilled. I should introduce you soon. You’re going to be the Omega Terrors, I can already see it.”

“I like the wine. It makes me feel warm. It’s been too cold without you. I’ve missed your heat,” I blurt. Fuck, I didn’t mean to say that. “Did you know that you radiate heat? You burn like the sun. ”

“A compliment.” Why are the tips of Aurelius’ ears beneath his crown turning red? “You really are drunk, Spark. ”

I wag my finger at him. “Nicely tipsy, thank you, Your Majesty.”

“At last, some respect.” Aurelius smiles, despite looking like he’s fighting it. He leans over the table, sniffing the spilled wine. “I’m docking the guards’ salary for fetching you Faler wine; it’s potent. Actually, this is my uncle’s prized stash. He’ll be furious. I should reward those guards.”

“Good because your guards are my friends. They’ve looked after me better than anyone ever has.

Did you know that they brought me honey?

I didn’t know that anything could taste this sweet.

Wine and honey in the same meal. I’ve always wanted to taste them.

” I smile, snatching up a piece of honeyed apple that’s untouched by the spilled wine.

I pop the apple into my mouth.

“I’m glad,” Aurelius says, softly.

Aurelius is watching me with a strange intensity. Hasn’t he seen an Omega eat before? Or is it an Alpha thing? Many of them like to handfeed Omegas, don’t they?

While I was on my knees, scrubbing the floor, I would watch the elite Omegas as they sat on their Alphas’ laps in the Great Hall, being fed prized slices of beef.

“You can handfeed me,” I say graciously, opening my mouth like a baby bird.

Aurelius makes a choking sound in his throat. Then his smile widens into something genuine and fond. It transforms his face .

It surprises me enough to make me snap my mouth shut.

“You have cruel lips,” I say. “But it’s a beautiful cruelty when you smile.”

Instantly, Aurelius’ expression becomes serious. He straightens. His shoulders stiffen.

I don’t like it.

I bang my hand on the table, and he winces. “Drink with me.”