Page 102 of Mage of the Dragon Prince
Chapter 51
Kizoshi
Kizoshi led Vanra to her sitting room, then gestured for him to make himself comfortable in the chair in front of the fireplace she activated with her dragon fire. Her furniture was white with red piping trim.
She sat on the chaise opposite of him. The scent of his fear was overpowering, so she tried to set him at ease. “You do not need to be so nervous, Vanra. I mean you no harm.”
“I definitely never want to get on your bad side.” He bowed his head. “Thank you for saving me from Nasume.”
“You did not really need my help, though.” It was curious that someone so powerful hadn’t taken advantage of his natural defenses. “You could free yourself, but you chose not to. Why?”
“Because it would require me using my powersagainst Nasume. The last thing I want is to be responsible for a diplomatic incident.”
“You might think differently if he had kissed you as he clearly intended. Or perhaps maybe do even more.” The shame emanating from Vanra made her take pity on him. “On the other hand, it allowed me the privilege of putting him in his place twice in one day, so it is hardly worth being upset about.”
Vanra laughed. “Does it make me a bad person I really enjoyed watching you do that? You’re so good at it.”
“It is such great fun watching him storm off in a hissy fit. I dare say I almost missed doing that.”
Vanra studied her with curiosity. “I can only imagine what he did to make you hate him so much.”
Some of her amusement subsided. “Nasume is the worst kind of persistent. His continued interest in my brother after repeated rejections has grown old over the century. Since he refuses to desist in his outlandish behavior, I take great joy in making him suffer for his foolishness.”
The human fidgeted as the scent of his nervousness returned. “Can I ask a question?”
“You may.”
“Why didn’t your father turn down his proposal earlier?”
“It was neither the time nor the place to do so. Most of the attendees were so drunk they will have no memory of Nasume’s foolishnessby morning. I suspect Father will pointedly ignore it, which sends its own message. Although Nasume is probably too thick to understand the implied rejection.”
Vanra frowned. “I’d feel a lot better if he rejected him outright.”
“Regardless of Father’s inaction, you have nothing to fear from Nasume,” Kizoshi assured him. “Kitaro is forced to treat Nasume politely because of their positions as princes. He has no love for the unruly pup. Your position is not under threat from the likes of him or anyone else.”
“My position? What do you mean?”
Her lips turned up into a slight smirk. “I may not be around very often, but I understand things all too well—perhaps even better than yourselves.”
“I don’t follow.”
She gestured between herself and Vanra. “You and I are a great deal more alike than you might think. I would be surprised the others have yet to notice that fact, but people are blind to brilliance they don’t understand.”
“How can they understand it when I don’t even know?” Vanra asked with a laugh.
It was too early to give him the answers he sought. “You will come to understand my meaning one day.”
“Somehow, I doubt that.”
“You will learn in time.”
Vanra seemed unconvinced. “If you say so.”
There were other important things that theyneeded to take care of first. Kizoshi summoned her red fire to her hand. “Here, hold out your hand with your palm up.”
His hand shook with nerves as he obeyed.
With a flick of her wrist, the red flame shot over to Vanra. It hovered above his hand without touching it. “Use your powers on it.”
