Page 1 of MidKnight
Chapter One
Ihad never truly hated anyone before. I realized that as black loathing bubbled in my stomach like tar. Rage ran hot in my veins as I clenched my fists to keep from throttling the man I faced.
Jorad, mother's butler—now mine—stared back at me. His wrinkled face didn’t show a drop of pity. He didn’t look the slightest bit cowed. He stared at me with steady brown eyes and it was all I could do not to kill him, right then and there.
"You can't go," Jorad repeated.
My cheeks grew hot. That arrogant shite. He was a butler. Not one of my knights. Not an adviser. I stood up straighter and narrowed my eyes. "I can. And I will. I am the queen—"
"Exactly."
"You can't force me to stay—"
"You can’t just go off chasing dragons. People depend on you.” Jorad made the mistake of moving to touch my arm.
It felt like being bitten. I backed away.
I’m not going to hit him, I told myself, though that was exactly what I felt like doing. How dare he! My sister, the only blood relative I had left in the world, had just been seized by a monster.
"Avia was just stolen by adragon!" I was awed by the fact that I needed to remind him.
I faced off against Jorad in the rose parlor, a small office and sitting room my mother had used for meetings.
Somehow, my knights had marched me here. I’d been too blinded by shock to even remember exactly how we got into the castle and into the room. I might have blacked out, I wasn’t certain. The last thing I was certain of was that I’d been standing on the dais, ready to give the order for the execution of a prince of Cheryn, when Avia had been snatched by a dragon. The beast had dive bombed, silent as a hawk, spreading his wings at the last moment. His taloned feet had curled around my sister’s arms and with a single beat of his wings, he’d been back in the clouds.
I shook off the memory and took in my surroundings. I still held Abbas’ chain in my hands, dragging the shite prince by the neck behind me like some dog. He was a dog. He was the one who’d arranged my sister’s kidnapping. And he’d pay. Right after I ensured Avia’s safety, Abbas would pay with his sanity. Then with his blood.
I yanked on the chain, bringing Abbas to his knees. It made me feel slightly better.
Jorad was not impressed by me. He crossed his arms. "You have no heir, have not set up an alternative arrangement for succession, and have dangers brewing both domestic and abroad,” he drawled.
Abbastsked, shaking his head. “Not very prepared, were you, Queen Bloss?” His words hit their mark, as deadly accurate as poisoned arrows.
I yanked his chain again. Then I kicked his ribs for good measure.
I rounded on Jorad. “Perhaps you shouldn’t discuss shite like that in front of prisoners!”
“Perhaps prisoners shouldn’t be brought into palace meeting rooms,” Jorad’s reply was steady. “I can have him sent to the dungeon.”
“I’m taking him with me.” I didn’t believe for a second that the dragon, Abbas’ shape-shifting brother, would give up Avia if I didn’t provide proof of life for Abbas. I needed that greasy, sorry excuse-for-a-human being. I wasn’t letting him out of my sight until I got Avia back.
“Youcannotleave,” Jorad repeated.
“Watch me,” I tossed back.
Ryan, the knight in charge of my armed forces, had gone to the stables, to ready our mounts and a regiment for the pursuit. He’d already sent out scouts to scour the skies.
Declan and Connor, two of my other husbands, stood to the side, watching Jorad argue with me. Or Connor watched, his ‘diplomat’ face on in full force as he stroked his tan jaw.
I turned to Connor and raised my brows expectantly.
“There is an alternative arrangement for succession on file in the records,” Connor told my butler.
Jorad’s eyes widened, “You can’t be serious!”
Connor shrugged, “Just because you don’t like the current candidate doesn’t invalidate the document.”
I glanced between the two men, whose backs were as stiff as their starched formal tunics as they squared off. I wasn’t certain what document they were talking about. I’d only recently returned to royal life in Evaness. I looked over to see if Declan knew. But he was busy scratching out calculations in a notebook.
