Page 78 of Kingdom of Flames & Flowers
One dark eyebrow lifted. “You rode on his back right? At least one of them?”
I nodded, not seeing where this was going. He was talking about the queen having me killed, wasn’t he?
His head tilted to the side, puzzled. “Surely you’ve noticed. Dragons are possessive and vengeful.”
“OK …” I said slowly, still not understanding.
The king’s brow furrowed and with a sigh, he grabbed the neck of his tunic and pulled it down. My lips parted in shock as horrific scars met my eyes; three monstrous claw marks that started near the top of his chest and disappeared down his torso. He let go of the tunic, hiding them once more.
“I was lucky to survive, and that wasaccidental. You should leave now while you can. I know you probably want to help everyone … but I already explained this. You can’t. They are too powerful.”
His warnings rang true in my ears, but despite their reluctance to give me information, I felt the need to defend my boys. “They haven’t hurt me,” I insisted. “Either of them.”
The king’s lips tightened. “Yet. They will.”
“What is happening to the nobles? Why do they need to marry us so badly?” My hand went over my shoulder to touch the raised brand on my skin, hoping it would remind him we were both from the same dust and earth and compel him to help me.
“It all comes back to the curse, doesn’t it? She was a young, new queen, looking to mend the errors of the past and move forward. It was an honor and my duty to accept. I was lucky. The others who’ve met the dragon … haven’t been.”
I stepped closer, noting the bags under his eyes and how unkempt his clothes were. The streaks of gray in his hair were more pronounced than the last time I’d seen him, with a few new white ones. When was the last time he’d changed clothes?
“Why aren’t you at the feast?” I asked even though my brother’s face flashed before my eyes, smiling widely at the queen.
“Why aren’t you?” he fired back, crossing his arms over his chest.
Silence stretched between us.
“You say … they haven’t hurt you?” he asked delicately.
I gestured dramatically to my whole and uneaten body.
The king smirked. “Perhaps … there is more hope than I thought. If you can get away from here, there will be answers. That I can promise you.”
How vague and unhelpful.
“Get away from here … towhere?”
The king smiled again, his eyes unfocused as he took another swig from his flask. A new flask to replace the other one he’d dropped, apparently. “Goodbye.”
I watched him glide down the hallway, not a care in the world. Gods, that man was odd.
I only missed two turns the rest of the way to my rooms, so I was getting better at navigating the palace.
Once inside my room, shuffling noises made it apparent I wasn’t alone.
“Who’s there?” I called out, grabbing a thick, heavy candlestick from its holder next to me.
“Oh! My lady! Apologies! I was told—”
Haza spun around, clutching onto the pillow she’d been fluffing. She gawked at me as I stood in front of her, a candle raised like a weapon. I lowered it, blushing and putting it back in the holder.
“Sorry. Didn’t expect anyone to be here.”
Her eyebrows rose carefully, but her gaze remained on the floor. “Prince Zion told me you requested me to be your personal servant?”
Oh. Yeah. I had asked that.
“Sorry,” I said again, collapsing into the chase lounge. “Can you get me out of this?”
