Page 141 of The Forbidden Dragon King
CHAPTER TWENTY
Silver Banquet Hall, Shadow Court
Freya
The Silver BanquetHall is warm, flooded by moonlight, and suffocating with Alpha dragon pheromones.
I discretely hold my sleeve over my nose, clutching the golden pitcher of wine to my chest.
The banquet hall is bathed in moonlight from high windows. It makes the frescoes on the walls gleam brighter, which depict silver dragons flying across the court, as if ruling it. Statues of Dracanian kings proudly flank the room, along with couches.
Every courtier and council member appears to have been invited. Betas hurry between them, carrying large platters of wine and food. The silver dragons ignore them,laughing and joking drunkenly, or handfeeding the Omegas who are perched on their laps.
I stand behind the central golden couch, which Aurelius is reclining on, still dressed in his full battle armor.
He only returned from the battle with the vampires an hour ago. His cheek is scratched and caked in dried blood. I don’t know if it’s his own. A smear of dirt stains his neck.
I’m desperate to lean down and wipe off both blood and mud.
A little lick also wouldn’t hurt.
Aurelius, on the other hand, has been avoiding my eye. He’s sitting stiffly. His face is a cold mask. He hasn’t even acknowledged me, as if I’m no different to the other servants.
My chest is tight.
Won’t I feel like a naïve fool, after how hard I vouched for Aurelius to Daire, if Aurelius turns around and bitesus?
Is he acting like this because he found out about my exploring against the rules into the North Tower? Are dragon fickle assholes?
Did something happen on the skirmish?
Or does Aurelius know more about this evening’s feast than I do, and he’s trying to protect me by ignoring me?
My gaze darts to the large, ornate doors at the back of the hall, as it has for the last few hours since the start of the feast.
Daire isn’t here yet.
My stomach is heaving with nerves about him performing as a courtesan and what may happen.
Yet Daire said that he would be dancing for me alone tonight. I’m clinging to that.
The table between the couches is overflowing with a feast: roast pig stuffed with sausages, wild boar, and beautifully garnished salads.
I don’t recognize all the meat, and I’m not sure that I want to, but the smell still makes my mouth water.
My stomach growls.
How hard would it be to steal some of this for Daire? These greedy raven starvers wouldn’t possibly miss it.
Of course, I’d need to taste it myself, just to be certain of its quality, of course.
Glancing around, I realize that only courtiers and council members are sprawled indolently on the couches.
No ruby, pearl, or jade dragons. No Betas. And that means no Golden Family members are here to act as bodyguards for Aurelius, apart from Lucius.
Is Maximinus deliberately isolating the King?
Lucius is seated without War by the far wall. He’s wearing a flowing tunic with roses stitched at the shoulders.
