Page 57 of The Forbidden Dragon King (Shadow Kings #1)

My head is yanked back by the curls. My eyelashes flutter.

I groan, as the skin of my shoulders is stretched.

“Number one hundred coming up, fucker.” Caligo’s hand raises the whip to rest its hissing length like a caress against my bleeding skin.

I arch away from it, as it shocks me fully present into the moment again.

“You’ve lasted longer than I expected you would.

Don’t worry, I’ll make this one memorable. ”

My chest is rapidly rising and falling, as I hear Caligo take a step back, readying to land the whip heavily.

One hundred .

Fifty to go.

I clench my hands.

I can do this…

“One hundred,” Caligo says with glee.

I brace myself, grimacing at the sound of the whip being raised.

Yet it doesn’t land.

“How dare you use cursed iron metallicum magic on my pet?” Aurelius’ hard voice slashes through the air sharper than any whip.

My eyes widen.

I didn’t want Aurelius to see me like this.

He’s witnessed me shoved to my knees in the dirt, chained as a sacrifice over an altar, and dressed up in silks and satins as a courtesan, prostrating myself in front of him.

Yet him seeing me stripped and whipped bloody is worse.

On the other hand, I’ve also faced him in battle many times. I dreamed that he saw me as a rival but also as an equal.

Deep in my soul, I dreamed that one day, I could make a peace deal with both my fellow kings, Aurelius and Lanlin. I hoped that they would understand the past sins of our families aren’t our own. The cycle of this unnatural war could end with us.

My sins, of course, are my own. I’ll atone for them in the next life. I never can in this one.

“He’s only a fucking fae,” Caligo replies.

“He’s my fae,” Aurelius says, simply .

Aurelius’ smoky scent washes over me, along with his dominant pheromones. I breathe them in like salvation.

Aurelius works at the ropes that are holding my wings up in concentrated silence, careful not to actually touch my feathers.

I groan, as my wings droop. I fold them lightly over my back, shielding it from view and judgment.

Aurelius unlocks my hands from the shackles, and I collapse to the floor.

Pain shudders through me.

With difficulty, I raise my head.

I’m shocked to see that Freya is standing with Ignatius’ arms wrapped around her. It looks like the Alpha has been holding her back from running forward, rather than comforting her.

She’s clasping a furious, feral looking Five to her chest.

Ignatius’ expression is strained. He’s petting Freya’s back like he needs the touch as much as she does.

Freya’s eyes gleam with tears.

I drop my hands to the floor, shaking my head to try and clear it. My back feels like it’s been set alight.

When a shadow covers me, I raise my head again.

Aurelius towers over me like a cold sun.

I meet his emotionless eyes, as he studies me, assessing.

I try to make my tongue work, blinking the sweat out of my eyes. But I can’t.

Aurelius seems to find what he wants in my expression because he turns on his heel and marches to Caligo, who is still standing with the whip in his hand .

Aurelius wrenches the whip out of Caligo’s grip and hurls it across the parade ground with a controlled fury. “I never agreed to this type of discipline in the academy. An iron infused whip being used against a fae is barbaric.”

“I don’t accept the weak within these walls,” Caligo replies.

“They need to be weeded out, so that the strong can flourish. Don’t you remember that rule, Aurelius?

You appear to have forgotten your lessons.

Restraint. Control. Self-discipline. Perhaps, you should return for one to one tutoring with me.

Your emotions are all over the place, and you seem to be feeling more than?—”

“Silence.” The word is said quietly but with such authority that Caligo’s mouth snaps shut.

The dying sun gleams off Aurelius’ crown, as he backs Caligo against the wall of the parade ground.

I watch with the same surprise as the rest of the cadets.

“I am no longer a child or under your authority. Do you think that you can still control or threaten me? I have been away on campaign for three years. You don’t know me any longer. ”

“It looks like I don’t.” Caligo raises his chin. “But your pets are under my authority. I’m the Chief Instructor here. While they’re in my academy, I decide how to discipline them, or are you abusing your power like a tyrant?”

Aurelius’ golden eyes become molten. “You’ve never seen me as a tyrant.

Don’t tempt me. Also, these students are still members of my army.

I have a duty of care to them. My soldiers are my family, and even though I may not be able to change these harsh traditions and trials yet, I can still stop your overreaching cruelties. I don’t instill loyalty through fear. ”

“Don’t you? Don’t we?”

Aurelius takes a step back, straightening his shoulders. “Kneel.”

Caligo looks winded, giving a nervous laugh. His gaze darts to the avidly watching students.

Forgotten on the floor, I turn my head to sneak a look at the cadets.

Ignatius is watching Caligo’s humiliation at Aurelius’ hand with a combination of hero-worship and vicious enjoyment.

Warmth spreads through my chest, however, that Freya isn’t looking at Aurelius.

She’s staring straight at me .

Our gazes meet.

She forces a smile, raising our soul mark to her lips. She kisses it fervently, desperate for me to feel it because I am still alive. I shudder at the pleasure of her kisses on my skin, when I am shaking with pain from my back and dislocated wrist.

“Did I say something amusing?” Aurelius’ voice becomes even icier. “You’ve forgotten your place, or maybe, I forgot mine for awhile there. Who between us is King?”

I glance back at Caligo, who is frozen in place like no one has challenged him before.

Is Aurelius doing this for me? Would he have stood up for any student?

Or is this only for himself? Performative?

I hate how hard my heart is hoping that he’s tearing Caligo apart in front of his instructors and cadets for my sake.

Caligo pulls a face, before he lowers himself to his knees. “You are, Your Majesty.”

“Finally,” Aurelius’ eyes are frighteningly cold, “you remember to call me Your Majesty . Is the problem that you also remember the number of times that you stripped me of my shirt and tied me to that post? How often you whipped me for the smallest offense? Or is it more that you enjoy imagining me as you wield the lash?”

As if he can’t help it, Caligo betrays himself, when his gaze darts to Ignatius.

Aurelius cocks his head, following the direction of his gaze. He turns and studies Ignatius, who immediately drops his arm from around Freya and snaps into perfect parade rest.

“What’s your name, cadet?” Aurelius demands, narrowing his eyes. “You look…well…”

He trails off.

If I was able to right now, I would laugh. After all his boasting of his close ties to Aurelius, the King doesn’t even recognize that they are related.

Ignatius’ cheeks pink, but he continues to stare blankly ahead. “My name is Ignatius Messalla, Your Majesty. You’re my… I’m…that is to say…”

“Out with it.”

“I’m your relative. A distant cousin.”

Aurelius scrutinizes Ignatius more closely. “I see. Tell me, Ignatius, have you been whipped yet? ”

Ignatius’ flush deepens, and his shoulders slump. “My apologies, Your Majesty, for failing you.”

“I didn’t say that you had failed me. I wish that I had known you were in my court. I would like to know you better. What was the offense?”

Ignatius breaks his position, staring at Aurelius with painful hope. The type of hope that comes from being seen.

He hesitates. “I was missing a button on my uniform during the first inspection.”

Instantly, Aurelius’ eyes swirl with rage. Sparks ignite between his horns.

I don’t care what anyone else thinks. Aurelius is glorious like this. He could tear down his entire Shadow Court and every corrupt bastard within it.

“Aurelius,” Freya warns, panicked.

She takes a step forward.

Aurelius clasps his hands behind his back, shuddering with the effort to hold onto his control.

He turns on his heel back to Caligo, who at least has the sense to shrink back. “You would go after my pet? My family? Did you enjoy reenacting the same trick that you used on me with the button?”

“You both needed teaching that the moment you enter this academy you are no longer nobles, instead you are fucking nobodies, Your Majesty .”

Aurelius’ thin smile could slice throats. “I’m not a nobody now. Who am I again?”

“My King, Your Majesty.”

“Then by your King’s command, ride out to join your brother in the borderlands. Tiberius and you can serve me better with the army in the south, facing the vampires with Propraetor Rustica Atticus, than in my capital.”

Caligo’s mouth falls open. “But…b-b-but…”

Aurelius’ mouth curves up at the side. “Yes? Do you want to beg? Although, you don’t allow begging within the academy. I’ll make an exception for you.”

Caligo’s jaw clenches, and his throat bobs. “No, Your Majesty.”

Aurelius turns back to me. A soaring joy makes my eyes glitter, as I meet his gaze.

This feels like change, or at least the first buds of it, as if something long rotting and withered is coming to life.

“I am giving you two weeks off duty; fae are fast healers. Although, with the way that your skin and muscle is torn, you’ll need it. I’m trusting you to rest and not be reckless.”

“Hopeful,” I finally find it in myself to rasp.

Aurelius’ lips twitch. “Don’t break any more rules, at least until you’re able to stand again. Then in two weeks, we’ll discover whether you’re chosen as the first ever Alpha dragon rider or sacrificed to the Shadow Gods.”