Page 75 of Captured By the Dragon Warlord
“Can you take me to where he was last seen?”
Drex comes towards me. His scales are still pale, but otherwise he looks fully recovered. I smile at him and his lips twitch slightly in return.
“I will if you make sure you tell Lord Dexx I was assisting you and not encroaching on his mate,” Drex says quietly.
My stomach chills. What I took for indifference from all these warriors to me is no such thing.
It is fear. They do not want to be the subject of Dexx’s wrath on his return. And they clearly expect him to return.
The chill turns to warmth. All these warriors care deeply about their leader. They do not want to upset him by interacting with his mate.
I’ve been a fool. My warmth is the growing embarrassment that, in my haste, I’ve misjudged them all. Once I’m claimed, they will not be concerned about interacting with me, like Darax’s warriors are with Kerra, but unclaimed…because I was scared and didn’t push the subject with Dexx, his warriors dare not risk his ire.
Save for Drex. This warrior has interacted with me before and he is bold.
“Why do you seek Dalsor?’ Drex asks me quietly.
“I have some questions for him, that’s all,” I respond.
“About the devices and the explosions?” Drex persists.
“Maybe, something like that.”
“Dalsor was often doing work for Lord Dexx which took him into the other sectors,” Drex says. “He was very busy when he wasn’t in the mines.”
“Oh, was he? He must have been a good warrior.”
I catch the look on Drex’s face before he manages to control himself.
“He did what was necessary.”
Which I think is Sarkarnii for “no, he was a terrible warrior” if the look of disgust which briefly appeared on Drex’s face is to be believed.
“And Lord Dexx trusted him.”
The twist in Drex’s lips tells me everything I need to know. Dalsor wasn’t liked. Shame Dexx hadn’t noticed.
“He trusted him,” Drex says. “Most of us would not. Most of us knew he did not do his share of the work needed.”
We reach the end of the passage as it opens out into the main atrium surrounding the mine entrance.
“What if I were to say I think Dalsor was behind the explosion in the mine and in the other sectors, that he is a traitor?” I fire out in a hoarse whisper at Drex.
“I would say out of all our clan, Dalsor would be the onlywarriorI would expect to be a traitor,” Drex says. “He thought being related to a great general would get him what he wanted.”
“And what did he want?”
“He wanted glory and power. But that comes from within, not what you get given to you by your birth.” Drex pulls himself up to his full height, which, although still smaller than Dexx, is a good six foot plus and significantly taller than me.
“I agree.” I nod.
“If he is a traitor, then we need more warriors,” Drex says with a grin. “Wait here.”
Before I can stop him, he’s scampered away with youthful exuberance, leaving me hovering on the edge of the atrium.
I suddenly feel very alone and very…Dexx-less.
This was a terrible idea.
