Page 20 of The Dragon King's Assassin

The knight handed me the whip with an almost sympathetic look and hurried away. Dragging strips of leather behind me, I stepped into the room and shut the door. Something tinkled as I went to the King, and I glanced down to see that there were metal barbs affixed to the ends of some of the strips. Holy fuck, they'd tear the skin of my back open, maybe even my muscles.

Suddenly, I realized that I might not survive this. All because I wanted to make a point. So fucking stupid, but I was a child of the Broken and too proud to back down, even when I knew it could save my life. As the Neraky say, only a pussy dips his toe to test the water; real men jump in. It was time for me to jump.

The King stood in the center of the space he'd cleared, chest heaving. He removed his belt, then shrugged out of his tunic as I approached. I stopped before him and waited as he tossed those aside. Then I calmly handed him the whip. He just stared at me.

Holding his gaze, I removed my assassin's vest, then my tunic, and went to the nearest couch to lay them there. I returned to him and waited.

“Brace yourself against that column.” The King nodded toward the right column that bordered the fireplace.

I did as he said, leaning my torso against the cool marble and wrapping my arms around it. I heard him move behind me, heard the whip jingle. Seconds went by. Minutes. My face was pressed against the column, but I could see him moving in the corner of my eye. He was fiddling with the whip. Procrastinating.

I didn't rush him.

“Locrian Mahvis, I find you guilty of disobeying a direct royal order and sentence you to three lashes.”

Three. Fuck. I braced myself.

The whir of the whip came and then the sting of it landing. I jerked and clenched my teeth against the bite, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected. I felt no barbs cutting into my skin, nor the strength that I knew he could have put into it. He was holding back.

Even as another blow landed, and I grunted inadvertently from the pain, I rejoiced. I had won. As horrible as this was, it was a step forward for us. A step I doubt he'd ever taken before. And I intended to make it as large a step as possible. In short, I was gonna milk this for every drop of guilt I could get.

When the last blow landed, I cried out as if I'd been stabbed, and released the column to crumple to the floor.

“Lock!” the King shouted and rushed over to me.

I groaned, biting my lip to hide my grin, and then hissed in pain when he lifted me.

“Damn you for a fool!” the Dragon King snarled as he carried me to the closest couch and laid me upon it.

I moaned when he accidentally laid me atop my vest, and he shot forward to remove the clothing and settle me more gently onto my belly. I let my arm fall limply to the floor as he rushed to the door and flung it open.

“Bandages and healing ointment!” the King shouted. “Now!” Then he hurried back to me and knelt beside the couch. “Lock?”

“I'm all right, Your Majesty. You don't have to fret over me. I've learned my lesson. You win.”

“Fucking humans,” he growled but when he set his hand on my head, his touch was gentle. “You idiot.”

I let out a small whimper. My back felt as if it were on fire so it wasn't all acting, but the heat and pain quickly turned into a dull throbbing. So when his breath caught and his other hand went to my hip, I grinned into the cushions.

“Sire?” someone said from the doorway.

“Bring it here!” The King held a hand out for the tray of medical supplies.

“Would you like me to tend to—”

“Get out!” the King roared.

The man went running.

It was all I could do to not start laughing.

But then came a terrible sting, and I shouted, “Fuck! What the fuck is that?”

“It's antiseptic, you damn imbecile. Even though these are only welts, I need to clean them. You fucking humans are so vulnerable to infection. Fuck!” He dabbed at my back. “What was the purpose of this? To prove something to me? You're such a fool.”

“No, to prove something to myself.” I lifted my head to look at him. “You may own me but there are certain things, parts of me, that you will never have unless I give them to you.”

The Dragon King paused, his hand hovering over my back. “Very well, Lock. Keep those pieces of yourself. I hope they're worth this.”

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