Page 12 of A Bond of Fire and Roses

I did kill her parents and burn her kingdom to the ground.

Is this going to be our entire marriage? My life spent saving her nice ass from her own petty, foolish mistakes? Why does she have to be so fucking beautiful? She nearly took my breath away when she climbed out between those carts, and I saw her for the first time since she was a child. I could practically hear her heart racing, and her eyes so wide with shock, bright with fear, but strikingly beautiful. Too fucking beautiful.

And then her lips… Fuck, her lips are the perfect shape for devouring.

Didn’t expect that.

I hate to admit that I’ve dreamt of what she’d be like and detested my dreams when I woke. I should hate her for her very existence, for the blood swimming in her veins, for the mistakes her parents made, and the fact that she clearly still loves them like a loyal daughter so blind to reality. I’d almost pity her if I didn’t hate her guts so much. Her blood will always come between us, whether she’s beautiful or not. Hopefully she doesn’t get herself fucking killed though before she’s of any use to my kingdom. Then we’re really fucked.

I rub my face, trying to get her out of my head, but I see her long rose gold hair that looks soft and yet strong enough to wrap my hand around to arch her pretty neck. I can’t stop seeing the swell of her breasts, the inviting dips of her hips. She smelt like divinity, and I wanted to sink into her, to taste her, to know what it would be like.

Mine.

My dragon’s feelings on the matter swarm my thoughts. She’s possessive of her, and those possessive thoughts are spreading straight through me in all the worst ways. Fuck, my dragon sees her akin to gold. A treasure and she won’t let me risk her treasure. Dragons do not share.

Those possessive feelings make me feel like I’m going fucking insane. My boots slam on the stone as I cut through the castle, ignoring anyone who calls for me. I push open the doors to the private courtroom, letting them swing shut behind me, and the bright sunlight shines across my eyes from the open archways. I’m greeted with a boisterous, sarcastic laugh.

Noble leans on the massive solid red oak table that lines the middle of the room. “I heard she stabbed you, Goldeye. Now how did that tiny, pretty little princess of yours manage to stab the king?”

Something about him, my best friend, calling her pretty, clenches my stomach. I have to admit; I was fucking impressed she had the balls to stab me, even if it was futile. Burning jealousy crawls up my throat at the mention of her and I gulp, pushing down the urge to fry my friend to a crisp over a mere compliment. Mine. My dragon barely speaks to me in my mind and her words usually aren’t understandable, but I heard her loud and clear.

Mine. She’s mine. Ours!

Noble is still waiting for an answer when I push my dragon’s emotions out of my head and slam my thoughts down into a pit of ash. The room fills with my courtiers, all waiting for a similar answer but most of them wouldn’t dare say a word to me. They are just people who care about nothing more than themselves and the price I pay for being king is working with them in the name of peace. Doesn’t mean I have to like them. I barely even trust them.

“She’s quicker than she looks,” I say. “It won’t happen again.”

Noble laughs louder, his blond hair glowing in the light, and I resist the urge to punch him and ruin his pretty uniform. “Why are you covered in ash? You look like you’ve had a fight with a fireplace, and regrettably lost. Who was worse, the princess, or the fireplace?”

Fuck's sake, I don’t even want to tell the smug bastard. He would laugh his head off if I told him what she just did in a stupid attempt to flee.

A softer, silky voice interrupts. “I could help you get changed, my blessed king.” A small, soft hand runs down my arm. I blow out a frustrated breath and face Ambre. I’m sure she’ll be happy that the princess is here, even if no one else is. They’re not related by blood, which is lucky for her, but they’re family as far as her dad, Mist’s uncle, is concerned. Mist, I should not have given her a nickname like that. She is no friend of mine. I’m seriously losing my damned mind.

Ambre is the same age as the princess and maybe it would be good for the princess to have her as a friend. Ambre tucks her long blonde hair behind her ear, blinking her eyes once. Annoyingly, she’s wearing barely anything. A slip of a red dress covers roughly half of her body, and it’s near enough to see-through. I can definitely see her nipples through it as she saunters closer. I don’t know her well, but her father brings her to the castle on occasion when he attends court. Why she is in here is a mystery to me. Usually, I’d be interested if a woman as beautiful as she was flirting with me, but right now, all I can think about is the hot-headed princess I’ve just dragged out of one of the traps that my grandfather set up for intruders.

Loyalty is a choice, and I am going to be married. Now she is here, I won’t touch anyone else. Not that it will be difficult to keep to that mental promise. My cock seems hard in her presence alone, as if she’s controlling it.

She hands me a glass of wine and I take it, downing it quickly before going to the table. “No, and you shouldn’t be here. It’s for my council. Leave.”

I don’t bother looking to see if she goes. She’s wise enough to obey my commands.

I place my hands on the table, looking over the clay map of my kingdom. The entire kingdom is spread out on one table, like it’s small, and not the home to millions whose lives rest on my shoulders. Red markers are littered across my cities, like a fucking infection.

“There are more rebellions?”

Noble and the priest look between each other, but it’s Noble who dares answer me first. The first of my closest riders are out flying, or I’m sure one of those fuckers would explain it quicker. “The rebellion is growing in alarming numbers.” He pauses. “Perhaps the marriage will?—”

The unrest, now named the rebellion, brews fast throughout my large kingdom but mostly in the old Drifting kingdom lands. I’ve banished that name when I claimed the lands and made it all the Hallowed Kingdom lands, but the borders that don’t exist anymore are marked with the rebellions of the traitors that keep appearing. It has always been brewing, like a storm that I can’t quite escape, but now it’s here and it’s fucking suffocating.

I cut him off as he goes on and on about the politics of marriage. “I don’t want to talk about the princess or the marriage.”

Priest Jean clears his throat. I almost forgot the old man was here. “Well, I did not leave my prayers for no reason. This meeting was called to speak about marriage, my king.”

Noble frowns at me, raising his eyebrows. Noble is my best friend, the second one to take a dragon in my command, and my brother like the other riders. There’s no one in this world I trust more than him. I know him as much as he knows me, and he probably is wondering why exactly I’m so flustered. Noble points at the red markers. “There’s unrest in the cities.”

I cross my arms. “I’m well aware of that.”

“Yes, but it is worse here,” Noble points to the map. One of the third largest cities, which was free of rebellion only last week. “They blew up several of the military establishments, including family homes. I hate to inform you that many children were injured, some of them killed. They rebels are getting riskier and no longer give a fuck who they kill to make their point.”

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