Page 24 of Bride of the Black Dragon
“It is as Your Majesty feared,” he says gravely. “The Princess is still intact. It appears that no man has lain with her. Therefore, she cannot be pregnant.”
The Queen’s poison green eyes gleam.
“I thought that might be the case.” She glares at me. “Well, well—so you lied to me, Elaina. You lied to the Queen—do you know what the penalty is for dishonesty to your Monarch?”
“No,” I say, feeling my gut clench. I want to say more—to point out that it’s not my fault neither of her sons wants to bed me—but the woman is always at fault in these situations. There is no excuse good enough to get me out of whatever she’s planning to do to me.
“Executioner, it seems we may have a use for you after all,” she says, motioning to the man in black.
I feel myself go numb as he steps forward.
“No!” I gasp. “You can’t mean to cut off my hand just for one untruth!”
“Not your hand, but perhaps a finger,” the Queen says musingly. “That should teach you a lesson about lying—and about embarrassing your Royal husband in front of the Court.”
“You can’t do this!” I take a step back and stumble, nearly falling back on the chaise lounge again. “You can’t cut off my finger—people will talk!”
“Let them!” she snaps and I can see that she’s enjoying this. There’s a mean little smile playing around the corners of her mouth. “It will cause everyone in the Citadel to think twice before crossing me.”
I have my hands balled into fists, I’m not going to let them do this to me! But the guards are already moving. They take me by the arms and drag me towards the Executioner and his block.
One of them takes me by the wrist and forces my hand down on the block. The Executioner leans down to talk to me. He smells like blood and iron.
“Splay your fingers if you want me to take only one,” he says.
“Yes—you’d better do as he says,” the Queen purrs, smiling cruelly. “I’d say the pinky finger would be your best bet—you’ll hardly miss it, I dare say.”
“No…” I whisper, feeling sick. “No, please.”
A cold sweat has broken out all over my body. I can’t believe she’s really going to do this! I can’t believe?—
“Stop!”
The voice at the doorway makes all our heads turn. It’s Xaren, standing there with a grim look on his face.
“What are you doing here?” the Queen demands. She doesn’t look at all happy to see her oldest son.
“I could ask the same question but I can see well enough what you’re up to,” he growls. Striding over, he grabs the Executioner by the throat and raises him high in the air. “How dare you threaten my wife?”
His voice has dropped to a low, inhuman growl and I can see his left eye flaming through the curtain of his hair.
The Executioner sputters and kicks. He’s not a small man—Xaren must be incredibly strong. Or else maybe his Drake is lending him strength.
“Xaren! Stop that at once!” the Queen commands. “How dare you come into my private parlor and interrupt a punishment!”
“Because Elaina is my wife!” he snarls. “I refuse to let you maim her just for your own sick enjoyment!”
“I’m not doing any of this for my own enjoyment!” The Queen sounds huffy and offended, though I believe the cruel smile I saw on her face when I was being forced to the block gives a lie to her words. “I must punish the Princess for lying to me.”
“I don’t care what she said, I won’t let you maim her!” he growls. He drops the Executioner to the ground at last and the man lays there, panting, his face red and sweaty as he tries to get his breath back.
“Oh, very well.” The Queen makes a disgusted face. “I won’t have her finger cut off, but she must be punished. Guard—go get a whip,” she says to the guard closest to her. “And be sure it’s a heavy one—the Princess will receive twenty lashes to teach her a lesson.”
A whipping is better than a maiming…but only just. My mouth is still dry as cotton and I can’t seem to say anything. I just shake my head and back away.
“What lie did she tell that you think is worth twenty lashes?” Xaren demands. He walks over and pushes me behind his back, putting himself between me and his mother.
“Why, she told me that you’d bedded her and that I could expect a grandson soon,” the Queen says coldly. “But when I had the Court Physician inspect her, he found her to be still intact. So it seems you haven’t done your duty and bedded her after all.”
