Page 30 of Dragon King’s Bullied Mate

Not always speaking or laughing, but never stopping it either.

She wondered suddenly how much he remembered of the boy he used to be and whether he felt even the smallest shame for it now. His gaze remained fixed on her with strange intensity, and for a moment the room seemed to narrow around them until Martin cleared his throat.

“The blysemberry root,” the physician prompted, clearly trying to redirect the conversation before Dag said something worse. “How much did you administer?”

Lyra answered automatically and quickly explained the dosage and preparation she had been taught, but Beckett’s face flashed through her mind so vividly that panic surged fresh and brutal through her chest.

She stepped forward. “Please, Mikael” she said, her voice breaking despite her effort to steady it. “I need your help. Please help me find him.”

Mikael looked up sharply. “The boy. The one who was with you while I was unconscious. I remember his voice.”

Relief hit her hard because she saw it immediately in his expression. He remembered Beckett. Only partially perhaps, only in scattered pieces, but there had been recognition there the instant she spoke.

“Yes,” Lyra whispered desperately. “He ran when the guards came for me and I have no idea where he is. He’s alone somewhere out there in the snow.” Her throat tightened painfully. “He’ll be terrified.”

“You left a child on his own?” he demanded of Dag. “In this weather?”

“I wasn’t there, Mik. I have no idea.”

“And you didn’t listen to her when you locked her up? My God, what were you thinking? We don’t treat anyone like that, especially young children.”

Dag shrugged. “By the time I knew, it was hours later. I’m sure someone found him.”

Lyra watched the exchange with tears threatening despite her determination not to cry in front of Dag ever again. “Please. We need to go find him.”

Mikael’s gaze held hers for several long seconds before he turned toward the guards near the door.

“Take a team. Search the village,” he ordered quietly. “Every street, every stable, every outbuilding. Bring the boy back unharmed.”

Dag opened his mouth as though preparing to object, but one look from Mikael silenced him instantly.

“I have to go. He’ll be terrified. You don’t understand.”

With a deep sigh, Mikael nodded his consent. For the first time since her arrest, Lyra felt the smallest flicker of hope return.

Chapter 13

Mikael

The room remained tense long after the guards departed to search for Beckett. Mikael sat near the fireplace and felt as though the castle itself had shifted into something unfamiliar around him. Exhaustion still dragged through his body in slow punishing waves despite the antidote working steadily through his blood, but it was not weakness alone that left him unsettled. Confusion pressed harder with every conversation.

Nothing felt right, certainly not Dag. The longer Mikael watched his oldest friend, the more unease settled beneath his skin.

Lyra stood near the far wall with her arms folded tightly around herself as she tried unsuccessfully to mask both fear and exhaustion. Although she still carried herself with stubborn dignity, he could see the strain beginning to wear through her composure. She had spent the night imprisoned after watching Beckett vanish in terror, and now she stood surrounded by the same people who had accused her of attempted murder.

The realization sat poorly in Mikael’s chest.

“You will be given a room for the night,” he said at last, breaking the silence while turning toward one of the servants lingering near the doorway. “Somewhere warm. You’ll not be returning to the dungeon.”

Lyra blinked, visibly startled by the unexpected kindness.

“And in the morning,” Mikael continued before she could argue, “you can join the search. There’s no safe way to try to make the trip tonight. One way or another, we will find Beckett.”

For a moment she only stared at him cautiously, as though she did not quite know what to make of his words.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

Dag made an irritated sound under his breath and crossed toward the sideboard where he poured himself a drink with sharp jerking movements that immediately dragged Mikael’s attention back toward him.