Page 23 of Seduced By the Dragon Lord (Dragon Lords 2)

He shot to his feet and resumed pacing. This time when he’d returned her to her room, he was sure to lock her in. She had eyed the key in his hand like it was a death sentence, making him feel like a complete shit.Did I overreact?It was his duty to keep the inhabitants of this castle, thiskingdom,safe. She was a wild card. Unpredictable. Bold and a little too fearless.

She had such fierce eyes. He thought they had turned his way with interest more than once.

Had I only imagined it?

He sat again, leaned his elbows on the desk and gripped his hair with both fists. If there was interest there, there would be no more.Because I all but accused her of being a witch.Was that even possible? Other planets had magic users. The Faieara, for one. And the Serakians. But did Earth?

A knock sounded on the door. He straightened. “Yes? Come in.”

The Queen Mother entered his chambers. Her blond hair was pulled back in a loose yet elegant bun that showed off her slim neck. Her long-sleeved gown would make a statement on anyone, made from the finest fabric and tailored to perfection, but on her itroaredwith confidence and prestige.

Orik sprang to his feet. “My queen.” He spoke the words from a lifetime of habit. Edel had been mate to the late King Mar and mother to three princes.And to me. Yet he’d never grown accustomed to calling her “mother.” Had never felt worthy of that honor.

Edel huffed in irritation, a sound he’d heard throughout his rearing every time he addressed her so formally. “Allow me to converse with you for a moment, Orik,” she said as she glanced back out into the hall.”

“Is everything all right?”

“Oh, yes. Just avoiding another dreary conversation with Prince Gideon. He’s quite insufferable. Only wants to speak of politics and securing our borders.”

Orik had been surprised when Prince Gideon had decided to stay on as a courier after Tristan broke off the engagement with Gideon’s daughter, Princess Leanora, who had returned to her uncle’s kingdom near the Blackwood Forest. Prince Gideon had reasoned that garnering peace between Windguard and his brother’s kingdom was more important now than ever. He also had a habit of sticking his nose in other people’s business, wanting to, as he put it,better understand the realmso he could advise His Majesty to the best of his abilities. To Orik, it felt like an outsider looking in. On multiple occasions, he’d lectured Orik on the importance of security and offered his advice on the matter. Since Gideon was of royal lineage, Orik had done his best to be polite, but not without effort.

Edel eased farther into the room. “I hear we have another visitor from Earth.”

“Aye. A human female.”

“Are the Kayadon setting traps for them?”

“We are unsure,” Orik replied. “Our engineers and scientists are trying to gain knowledge from their ship’s database, but they must be careful. Last time they triggered a self-destruct program that wiped everything but the basic operating codes.”

“I can’t imagine what the Kayadon would want with humans.”

“Perhaps to utilize them for experiments as they have the demons?”

“But to what end? Humans have no notable strength to speak of. Certainly not like demons, or us, for that matter. They are ridiculously short-lived. And they have no magic like the Faieara.”

Orik wasn’t so sure about that last part.

“What could possibly be gained from taking them?” Edel concluded.

That was the mystery. Two humans had been intercepted. How many others had escaped their notice?

Edel waved her hand in the air. “In any case, we have saved two from whatever horrors awaited them, and now my son is happily mated to one. Should I expect great things from this second girl? Tell me about her.”

Suddenly, Tristan breezed through the door, followed by Queen Juniper. “Why don’t you come with us to meet her for yourself?” Tristan offered, having heard their conversation from the hall.

Edel instantly began fussing with June’s hair and dress. “Dearling, how has my stylist been working out?” June blushed as Edel ran urgent fingers through her somewhat mussed hair, grousing, “It looked so lovely this morning. What have you been up to? Tristan, I know you did no’ have anything to do with this mess.”

Behind his mother’s back, Tristan shot Orik a surreptitious grin.

“Oh! And what happened to your dress?” Edel leaned down to examine the singe marks on June’s otherwise elegant train. The woman really should have been blessed with a daughter. Instead she’d gotten three, or rather, four, ruffian boys.

“Oh, I forgot about that,” June replied. “I accidentally got a little molten metal on it.”

“Pardon? Molten metal?”

“Right. Orik, er, sort of had to turn into a dragon and burned a hole into that ship to get to Jessie.”

Surprised by the news, Edel’s gaze swung around to Orik. “Why would you need to do that? You know how fragile humans can be. What if she had been burned by your fire? They doona heal like we do.”

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