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We didn’t go to the throne room this time, instead going up winding stairs to the next floor. I hadn’t gotten a chance to see this part of the castle, but it was still as extravagant in design as the rest with large wall-to-floor windows, curtains over walls, decorations on the adorning everything, and intricate and ornate columns fully carved out with images of dragons in different scenarios. High ceilings with chandeliers lined the hallways. We stopped at a door with two guards who barely had a chance to open the doors before we were going through.
We entered a large room with enough space to easily fit three of my homes in it. One wall was all window and looked down on the academy and the city below. The sides were massive built-in bookcases filled with tomes. A huge desk sat right in front of the window, and of course, the king sat there, a pile of papers in front of him.
He looked up and scowled as we came in.
“What is the meaning of this?” he asked.
“We have brought her as instructed,” one of the guards said.
King Laskis scowled even more as his attention finally turned to me. He stared for a moment, something else entering his expression, softening his features, but not in a good way. A chill ran through me, and I swore I felt his power pressing against me briefly.
“Leave,” he said. He looked to the side. “You too.”
Someone was sitting at a smaller desk off to the side. “Yes, Your Majesty,” the man said, bowing deeply before quickly exiting the room.
The guards did the same thing soon after, leaving me standing there alone.
King Laskis didn’t move right away, opting to just watch me instead. I did everything in my power to not fidget, but it was hard. And I was a little scared too. We were warned to behave, but we’d failed miserably. So what kind of punishment were we going to get?
Was I going to get?
“I told that captain to send you my way if you acted up. I didn’t think it’d happen this soon.” He slowly rose from his chair, moving slowly.
His wrinkled wings stretched out a little, sounding almost like crinkling paper as they moved, letting the sun that was up behind him filter through them.
The king broke out in a grin that showed his teeth between all his dark, graying facial hair. His face seemed more wrinkled compared to the last time I’d him, like he was tired. His gray eyes were a bit creepy as they looked at me, like he was seeing me naked or something. They even raked down my body, taking me in.
I shivered, hating the feel of his dirty gaze.
“So, it’s obvious you didn’t want to choose, and you’re also causing trouble.” The king moved closer to me, dragging his silver and red silky looking robes on the ground. “It seems you don’t care about the welfare of your dragons. Doesn’t sound like a mate-like thing to do at all. Whatever game you guys are playing needs to end. You are only hurting yourselves.”
King Laskis didn’t stop until he was close enough for me to smell the sweat from his body. He towered over me like all the dragons, and while his power was tamed compared to before, I still felt it humming against my skin. And he wasn’t even utilizing it. How did he become so powerful?
I was afraid to ask.
Maybe it was a good thing he’d never found his mate.
“I will ask again, Rayna. For the sake of your dragons, I hope you make the right choice. I am in need of a mate. Instead of making this whole process painful, why don’t you just join me?”
“If I scream it out to the world, will you finally listen? I am already mated. My chosen dragons have already been decided. Why is everyone so hellbent on breaking my bonds with my mates?”
“Three mates are unheard of. Not even in our history books.” The king reached out and touched my hair, holding it up to the light. “The color is there, though faint. If they were truly your mates, your hair would be darker. Your hair is barely holding onto their colors.”
I stepped back, my hair slipping out of his grasp. “That isn’t any of your business.”
“Three dragons don’t make you powerful. It weakens your bond, makes all of you lesser than what you could be. Join me, Rayna, and I’ll make you powerful.” He stepped closer, now touching my cheek instead. “I’ll show you what real power tastes like.”
I snorted and again stepped back, determined to keep that distance between us. “I don’t want power. I want my mates. I refuse to bond with you, even if I did have a choice. Which I don’t. I don’t get why anyone doesn’t understand that. It isn’t hard. I have three mates. I’m already bonded. Stop trying to take something that isn’t yours, old man.”
I thought my words would piss him off. Instead, he laughed, his voice crackling with power and age.
“Go ahead and fight me, Rayna. I’ve lived a very long time, and one thing I have learned to do very well is break a person.”
As he walked around me, my feet felt frozen in place, so I was too scared to move. My body shook slightly against my will, only making me more frustrated. He stepped closer to me so I could smell that unpleasant sour smell again. Like he didn’t belong being so close to me. My back felt like it was on fire as he pressed against me from behind, his chest against my back just enough for me to know he was there. A brush of our bodies. His hand came around and rested on my stomach, not pulling me against him, but just resting there.
I wanted to throw up.
“I enjoy breaking a person, so you’re only delaying the inevitable.”
