Page 110 of The Forbidden Dragon King
Daire is humming jauntily, tapping his foot. His silver curls are tangled, falling in waves around his shoulders. His servant’s uniform is ragged and stained. The linen tunic is ripped at the shoulder.
It makes me smirk with satisfaction that I don’t examine too closely to see that he hasn’t taken off the Golden Dragon brooch that marks him as being my personal pet.
Maximinus may be training him in skilled arts to perform at feasts, but Daire still works as my servant. This is more significant than the parade through the capital or seeing Daire in a cage. The outlaw is now my servant, wearing my brooch.
He’s not tame, however, just like Freya isn’t.
Where would the fun be in that?
Daire’s raven black wings are folded behind his back. What would they feel like to stroke? Are they as sensitive as mine are?
I frown, when I notice that Daire’s ice white skin is littered with purple bruises.
I didn’t order that he be beaten, despite the fact that the fucker deserves it.
I’ll cut off the hands of the guards that placed those marks on my pet’s skin without permission. He’s mine to hurt alone.
When I growl, Daire looks up from stroking his cat to peer through the bars at me. “Keep your growling down, boss. I was just getting to the good bit in the song.”
I growl even louder. “Is this how you spend your days? Lazing around, rather than reflecting on your mistakes?”
Daire’s intelligent lavender eyes assess me. I shift, uncomfortable. Why does it always feel like he can see through me?
“I reflect on them all the time: How I should have been faster with that butter knife. Why I didn’t kill you the first time we met on the battlefield. All the ways that I can tear out your?—”
“And how is this serving me, as per our deal?” I clutch the tray with whitened knuckles.
Daire cocks his head. “To hell with you, I never missed a work duty. When did I disobey?”
“Never trust a fae.” I meet his gaze. “I hoped you at least trusted that I was upholding my side. The featherglass are being well treated. I’ve protected them. Do you like being locked in cages, Kitten?”
Daire’s eyes burn with rage for a moment, before he smirks.
“Doyoulike locking me in them?” He licks his lips, stretching out suggestively. Is that a courtesan seductive trick that he’s learned? Or has he always been this much of a flirt? I’m not a mark that he can weaponize his allure against. “Does it excite you to see pets bound?”
I chuckle, cold and vicious. “You’re not just any pet though, are you? You’re the King of Nowhere, ruling over a fallen kingdom.Minebecause you chose to be.”
“Possessive.” Daire’s expression flashes with hurt, however, before he can shutter it.
When I make a show of selecting his cell door key from the ones that hang at my waist, Daire immediately scrambles to sit up.
Alert and wary, he bends over to whisper to the cat.
Uncomfortable, it reminds me too much of how Lanlin would talk to animals.
“Stop that,” I order.
“What?” Daire’s expression isn’t innocent because he’s incapable of that.
When I shove the key into the lock and swing open the door, Daire leaps to his feet with a powerful sweep of his wings.
His raven wings are glorious.
He may be a fae, but I can still admire his power. It’s a pity that his magic has had to be suppressed. What would it feel like to have him at my side with his full power unleashed?
I shut the idea away. He’d be too dangerous. How could I ever trust him?
The cat launches herself at me, hissing.
