Page 91 of Monsters of Air

I stiffened, hating that I couldn’t read his expression at all. It unnerved me. We stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Captain Corniz and Tanja both bowed, and we scrambled to copy the movement. Landers was the only one who mastered it, although Philit wasn’t half bad.

“These are the whelps who managed to hold the Fae army back?” he said, his voice was deep and smooth, but cold as he talked. Thin lips pulled into a thinner smile that I could have sworn I felt tip toeing up my spine. He looked like every other king until he smiled, but now he was just creepy as hell.

“Yes, Uncle,” Tanja said, straightening, she wasn’t even affected by the king’s demeanor. She didn’t seem to care at all as she smiled brightly at him.

I guess that meant I could stop bowing too, which was good, cuz I was half falling into Landers as it was.

“A little girl, two untrained dragons, and a spawn from Gryiene?” The king looked at each of my guys before his eyes settled on me, that thin lipped smile twisting into a corrosive grin as his gaze dropped to the ripped front of my pants. I shivered, like full on shivered, which he only liked more. Gross.

“We saw the damage they caused with our own eyes. I don’t know exactly how they did it, but they did enough to give us time to get there in time,” Captain Corniz said. “They took down a few dozen Fae on their own and survived it too, with minimum injuries.”

“No training at all?” White teeth flashed, his focus lifting from my crotch to my eyes as he spoke.

I wanted to step back, but was sure that would send me to the stocks or something worse. Judging by his smile, much worse.

“Correct. They were making the journey here to attend the academy and train.”

King Laskis rubbed at his chin, the smile thankfully fading. I hadn’t realized how much my spine had tensed from the look he was giving me.

“Interesting. Very interesting.” He was back to smiling and staring at me. “Reward them. Give them titles and payment for all they have done for us. Without them, the Fae would be at our walls right now. This has been a big win for us. I look forward to seeing what else you can do in the future.” He leaned forward, but this time his smile faded. “Enroll them into the school at once. Let’s remove the normal cleansing period. They will become powerful assets in this war. Train them well. Has she bonded with any of them?”

His gaze dropped to my crotch again and he licked his lips.

“With Philit,” Tanja said, pointing at him.

The king's smile turned to disappointment and panic rushed through me. “In that case, they will be a bonded pair in the academy moving forward.”

That panic twisted into something hot and acidic.

“Your Majesty,” Philit spoke up. I grabbed his hand, suddenly wishing I could stop what was about to happen, that loud scared part of me thinking he was going to ask for the bond to be broken again. “Rayna isn’t just bonded to me. She has ridden and bonded with all of us.”

Whispers broke out all around us. Tanja turned, her half smile clear.

Captain Corniz whirled around, gaping at us. “That’s… that’s impossible.”

“It’s the truth,” Landers said, stepping forward with another bow. “Landers Prat, your majesty, we have met before”

The king sat forward, narrowing his eyes at him, “Ay yes, your father wrote to tell me what happened. Shame about that girl…” The king smiled and I felt my core clamp down.

The story Landers had told seemed like a lifetime ago, I swore he told me in jest when he was trying to get in my pants. Guess not.

“Yes, your majesty, it was,” Landers bowed again, his cheeks red. He was clearly avoiding my gaze.

“You are telling me it is true, then,” the king leaned back, his smile gone as he looked at me for the millionth time. “That your prong has penetrated her. You took her and breathed fire.”

The King's voice grew darker with each word, his gaze again dropping not to my eyes, but to my exposed crotch. “All of you.”

“Yes,” they said at once, and that time I did step back, if only to get the king's eyes off me.

The action only made him boil.

“Impossible.” The word was little more than a growl, the deep rumble shaking over the wings of the dragons that lined the hall.

“Agreed,” Captain Corniz piped up, the poor guy looked panicked. “They are untrained, so it could be that they don’t understand the true nature of a bond.”

“And yet they breathed fire.” The King was still snarling. His angry eyes turned to me. “This type of thing is an abomination. I will not allow it. A rider will only have one dragon. One.”

The word was a snap, it pierced through my heart with a stab and I inhaled, almost as if I knew what was coming.

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