Chapter 50: The Dragon’s Wrath

Ugh...

Drystan’s eyelids flickered. His head felt like it had been used as a battering ram against a stone wall.

What happened?

He tried to move his arm, to push himself upright, but his limbs felt heavy.

Why am I here?

The memory crashed into him like a tidal wave.

The courtyard. The white-haired bastard. The punch.

Drystan’s eyes snapped open.

That insufferable, white-haired, flea-ridden mongrel had punched him!

HIM!

Drystan Zakaris! Ruler of the Dragon Faction! The most magnificent creature to ever walk the continent!

Knocked out cold like a common tavern brawler!

His vision swam into focus, revealing the ceiling of what appeared to be a lavish guest suite. Golden chandeliers hung from the vaulted ceiling, and heavy velvet drapes framed the windows. The furniture was beautiful, clearly intended for high-ranking visitors.

But Drystan didn’t care about any of that.

All he could see was red.

Pure, incandescent, murderous rage.

"THAT WHITE-HAIRED BASTARD!" Drystan roared, his voice shaking the very foundations of the room. He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the way his head spun and his vision blurred. "I’LL KILL HIM! I’LL BURN HIM TO ASH! I’LL FEED HIS REMAINS TO THE BABY WYVERNS!"

He stumbled toward the door, his nails biting into his skin. He didn’t feel the pain. He couldn’t feel anything except the fury that was rapidly consuming his rational mind.

Knocked out!

Knocked out in front of the entire courtyard!

In front of servants! Guards! That Empress!

He, the Dragon King, had been rendered unconscious by a single punch from a panther. A PANTHER! A lesser species! The creatures who couldn’t even breathe fire!

The humiliation was unbearable. Unfathomable. He would never live this down. The whispers would follow him for centuries. "Did you hear? The mighty Dragon King was felled by a single blow from a snow cat!"

"No," Drystan hissed through gritted teeth. "No, no, NO!"

He reached the door and grabbed the handle, yanking it open with enough force to tear it off its hinges.

And froze.

Standing in the hallway outside his suite was a wall of heavily armed panther guards. They were huge warriors in dark armor, their hands resting on their swords. Their eyes were cold.

"Stay back," the lead guard commanded. "You are not permitted to leave this suite."

Drystan blinked.

Not permitted?

He stared at the guard, his brain struggling to process the sheer audacity of the statement.

Not permitted?

To leave?

HIM?!

"Excuse me?" Drystan’s voice was low, a growl rumbling from deep within his chest. "Did you just tell me... to stay back?"

The guard didn’t flinch. "His Majesty’s orders. You are to remain here until further notice."

Drystan’s jaw dropped.

His Majesty’s orders.

Leonidas.

That overgrown, pathetic, emotionally constipated cat had ordered him confined to his room like a misbehaving child!

"How DARE he?!" Drystan exploded, his eyes igniting with literal flames. The temperature in the hallway spiked, the air shimmering with heat. "I am a Beast King! I am the Ruler of the Dragon Faction! I answer to NO ONE!"

He took a threatening step forward, his hands igniting with crackling, crimson fire.

"Make me," Drystan snarled. "Try to stop me. I DARE you."

The guards tensed, their hands flying to their weapons. But before the situation could escalate into a full-blown massacre, a voice called out.

"Stand down. Leave us, I want to have a word with our....guest."

Drystan’s head snapped to the left.

Leonidas strode down the corridor, taking his time. Drystan noticed he looked just as murderous as he did, but he didn’t question it.

The guards nodded in recognition to their king’s commands, before then dissipating.

Leonidas came to a stop a few feet away, his gaze locking onto Drystan with seething hatred.

"Leonidas," Drystan snarled, his flames flickering with renewed intensity. "I hope you have an explanation for this. Why is our wife—"

"OUR wife?"

Leonidas’s voice cut through the air like a whip.

"Don’t you DARE call her that," Leonidas hissed, taking a step closer. "You disrespected her, and besides, you’re here to dissolve the marriage, aren’t you? Watch what you call her."

Drystan blinked, his rage momentarily eclipsed by confusion.

What was he talking about?

Since when did Leonidas care about the Empress?

Since when did he defend her?

"She annulled her union to me," Leonidas continued, his voice dripping with disgust. "She signed the papers. She wants nothing to do with you. With ANY of us."

Drystan’s blood ran cold.

Annulled?

She annulled it?

She was actually serious?

The words echoed in his skull, bouncing around like a trapped insect. His mind, usually so calculating, struggled to process what he was hearing.

That spineless creature had actually gone through with it?

She had signed the papers?

"Annulled," Drystan repeated, the word tasting like ash in his mouth. He let out a disbelieving laugh. "She annulled it. Of course she did. That woman probably begged you to let her go. Probably collapsed into tears the moment she picked up the quill. Probably—"

"She didn’t beg," Leonidas interrupted "She demanded. She marched into my study, screamed at me until I gave her the papers, and signed them without a single tear. She didn’t even hesitate."

Drystan’s laugh died in his throat.

What?

No. That couldn’t be right.

The Empress he remembered, the clingy, desperate creature who had starved herself for scraps of attention, she wouldn’t have the spine for that. She would have wept. She would have begged. She would have done anything to hold onto the shreds of her marriage.

So what was going on?

"Is she well?" Drystan asked, the words slipping out before he could stop them.

Leonidas blinked, clearly caught off guard by the question. His eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"What?"

"Is she well?" Drystan repeated, his voice dripping with condescension. "The Empress. The woman I was forced to marry. I want to know if she’s finally lost her mind, or if she’s simply having a temporary bout of insanity. Because the woman I remember would never have the spine to do something like this."

Leonidas’s eyes flared with an irritated light. In a flash, his hand shot out and grabbed Drystan by the collar, yanking the Dragon King forward until their faces were inches apart.

"Listen to me very carefully," Leonidas hissed. "I am in no mood for your nonsense, dragon. And neither is Karina."

He tightened his grip, the fabric of Drystan’s tunic straining under the pressure.

"Our child was almost murdered. Yes, the ’mutt’, the one you so callously insulted and disrespected in front of a crowd."

Drystan tried to speak but Leonidas didn’t let him.

"Shut up and listen to me," he snarled. "If I were you, I would stay as far away from her as possible. Because if you aggravate her anymore, and she finds a way to kill you, and trust me, she will, I won’t lift a finger to stop her."

He released Drystan’s collar with a shove, sending the Dragon King stumbling backward.

"Now get back in your room and stay there. Before I decide to let her have you."