Page 127 of The Forbidden Dragon King
“And what if,” War’s voice drops, dangerously, “I tell youto get fuckedfor trying to pry into my King’s private business? Why don’t you just talk to him directly, I don’t know, like a fucking normal person?”
“He’s not here.” I slip out from between her and the rose bush, spurred by my own mounting anger. “And he’s sort of the King of hiding behind masks, or hadn’t you noticed?”
War blinks at me. “You’re backtalking me.”
“You think?”
When she lunges for me, I squeak, darting beneath her arms and diving toward the archway.
Panting, I glance over my shoulder at her. “Why are you so loyal to Aurelius?”
War stalks toward me. “Why wouldn’t I be? There are enough knotless backstabbers in this court. Are you one of them?”
I frantically shake my head, as War presses me against the archway.
She grabs my arm, holding me in place. I don’t struggle. What’s the point?
War could snap my neck within a second.
I meet her gaze. “I don’t want to learn about him in order to betray him but because I love…”
I snap my mouth shut.
By the Shadow Gods, did I say that out loud?
War scrutinizes me. “He always did love taking in strays.”
“Hey,” I protest.
Although, fair.
War lightens her hold on my arm. “I was just some orphan Alpha in the army under Tarquin. It didn’t matter that I passed top in the academy or that I was the best fighter. I wasn’t some pampered elite with a silver spoon rammed so far up me that it shone out of my ass. Then as soon as Relius became King, barely more than a kid, he assessed every soldier on merit. Immediately, he promoted me to Imperial Legate. I thought that I was fucking dreaming.”
“And that’s why you’re loyal.”
She shoots me a withering look that makes me cringe. “It’s one of a million reasons why I respect him as a King, solider, and dragon. But then, on my first day in the new position, I had to stand by, still as a statue, and let Maximinus lay his filthy hands on the King. I had to stand there and not even…” She breaks off, turning her head. My eyes widen in horror. “Relius showed trust in an orphan like me, placing the future of his army in my hands. Then he let me in on the secrets behind his kingship. The true brutality that he lived by. But that goes both ways. Now, he can trust that I will do anything to protect him.”
I hear the underlying threat in her words.
After hearing what she owes Aurelius, and the reasonsthat she has to be protective of him, I don’t doubt that she’ll destroy anyone who threatens him.
I need to warn Daire.
This game has become much deadlier.
War’s shoulders relax. She twists to lean on the stone wall next to me.
“After that, Relius led me on his first campaign as King and my first as commander. You’d expect it to have been something glorious to make the annals against the fae or Bloods. Instead, he mobilized the entire army and went to war in order to save the prettiest Omega damsel in Draca, who was locked in a tower. It was like he was in some kid’s fucking story. The Council were livid.”
I laugh. “Lucius, right?”
War’s gaze becomes dreamy. “As soon as I saw that sweet bundle of sass and threw him over my shoulder, rescuing him, I knew that he was my mate. You want to know why I admire and respect the hell out of Relius? What other King would lead a campaign like that over a single abused Omega? Then would listen, when that Omega begged for his worthless family’s lives? Would make the Omega his adviser? I’m not as smart as Luc, as ruthless as Vic, or as devious as Wraith. But I’m a soldier. A good one. I’ve been up to my tits in blood, guts, and bones for three years, and young as he was when we started, Aurelius has been right alongside me.”
“So, he’s brave. Why does that make him…?”
“Any fool can be brave. Look, wolf, I’ve fought on campaigns with both Relius and his brother. Tarquin didn’t know down to the last grain how much wheat wasleft in the granary. The names of the wounded soldiers after a battle. What weapons needed replacing or mending. Tarquin didn’t give two fucks if his soldiers starved or marched until they collapsed and died from exhaustion because after all, that fucker was riding. Do you think that Tarquin would have bunked down with his soldiers? And this is why those who have served with Relius would fucking kill and die for him, not out of fear but rather, respect.”
I nod, slowly.
