Page 116 of The Dragon King's Assassin

Chapter Forty-Six

I wasn't leaving without Teng and his men. No fucking way. Luckily, I didn't have to look very hard for them. I found them sitting in a line along the palace wall just down from the guard shack, all of them in manacles and under the watchful eyes of Sir Hersk, who stood nearby. Tengven started to grin when he saw me.

“The King is well?” Teng asked.

I nodded. “Thanks in part to all of you.”

“Assassin!” Hersk strode over to me. “How the fuck did you get inside the palace?”

I gave him a sympathetic look. “Were you born this slow?”

Tengven and his men burst out laughing.

Hersk snarled, bared his teeth, and started for me.

“Hold!” Sir Drasik called from the palace's main doors.

“What the fuck?” Hersk pulled up short and glared at Drasik.

“The Captain just tried to kill the King,” Drasik said as he ran over to us.

“What the fuck?” Hersk repeated in a whisper.

“The Assassin helped to save His Majesty's life.” Drasik grimaced. “And the King has announced that he's his mate.”

“Who's his mate?”

“The Assassin!” Drasik waved at me.

“The Assassin is Captain Vettan's mate?”

I shook my head and drawled, “Again, I ask, were you born this slow?”

“Fuck,” Hersk muttered. “He really mated a human?”

“Yes.” Drasik waved toward Teng's group. “And the King has ordered that these men be released; they helped his mate save his life.”

Hersk looked as if he might throw up and then stare at the stuff, wondering where it came from.

“I swear, if you start that who's-who stuff again, I'm going to smack you,” I said to him. “Let my friends go.”

Hersk looked at Drasik.

“I saw the Captain's body myself,” Drasik said. “He drugged the King and his dog.”

“Drugged them?”

“Look, watching you process this is very entertaining, but I just made a dramatic exit, and if the King comes out and finds me still here, it's going to ruin it. So, release my friends, we'll leave, and then you can continue this idiocy without us.”

“That is the last time you call me an idiot, Assassin!” Hersk went for my throat.

Drasik grabbed him and yanked him back. “Do you have a fucking death wish?! The King will tear you apart if you touch his mate.”

I smirked at Hersk and while Drasik had him restrained, removed the keys from his belt. “I'll just do it myself then, shall I?”

I sauntered over to the Nerakians while Drasik and Hersk had a heated discussion behind me. I had just finished unlocking Teng's manacles when Hersk strode over.

“Let me do that,” Hersk said gruffly as he took the keys from me.

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