Chapter 468: A Royal Scandal, Too Hot To Handle

A King of Light, a Dragon King, a Young Dragon, a Wolf King, and a gaslighting professional princess walk into an orgy.

Three of them looked like they’d just seen their mothers take it bareback. One puffed up like a proud father ready to hand out cigars. And one of them didn’t so much as bat an eye because she had hosted worse thirty minutes ago. Been there. Done that.

Landon’s anger volcanoed, surging through the matebond straight into Guinevere, hard enough to flash her runes and punch a gasp out of her. Blood ran from her nose in a thin line.

He was going to need a moment to buffer.

Maddox froze, taking in the scene with Guinevere in his arms. This was a scene that belonged on diplomat row.

Feathers were drifting down through the room like snow. The aftermath of a pillow that had seen too much and burst from the trauma.

His Second wore an expression that said, I can explain, while he was getting swallowed by a woman on her knees. His Third had a woman riding him, next to a woman who was unconscious and a drink that screamed "drugged" louder than anything in the room. His two highest-ranking officers. In a foreign citadel. With their cocks out. Diplomacy was going well.

The room looked like a war crime committed by genitals. He had been gone five minutes, maybe ten, depending on how long he was unconscious. And he came back to a visual that would forever be burned in his retinas. He needed a drink. He needed a therapist. He needed a priest. Possibly all three at the same time.

On his other side, Nicholas spotted Brennan surrounded by three women and was fighting a losing battle with his own face, which was doing everything in its power to not look like a proud father at a little league game watching his boy round third base.

Kael had seen all he needed to see, which now included the dicks of Ryker Stormvale, Sterling Emberfell, and goddamn Brennan Pike. What was this shit?

"Stormvale and Emberfell, put your cocks away. Pike, congratulations. Guinevere is done here." He plucked her from Maddox’s arms and carried her back through the doors, away from the whole feathered catastrophe.

Guinevere, to her own mild surprise, had less of a reaction to walking into an orgy than she would have predicted. Having a fivesome in a pool will recalibrate a person. The scandal threshold moved. The shock floor rose.

As soon as they were outside, Kael opened his mouth to say something soothing because that would have been scary for his innocent mate to see. He knew her better than anyone.

But then he clocked the lack of reaction coming through their matebond. He closed his mouth and stopped mid-step, looking down at her.

He remembered her reaction after they had accidentally run through one on Diplomat Row, and this did not match that reaction at all. This was fine with it.

His dragon surged, every protective instinct flaring at the same time.

"Did Solveil show you other orgies?!"

She blinked up at him, nose bleeding, genuinely thrown by the question. "No."

"Then why are you not—"

"The Luminari have a different way of life than us, Kael. I assume that was a ritualistic bonding practice. Their ancestors likely did this during harvest festivals and it has evolved since into a communal tradition. It would be disrespectful of me to react to their traditions with judgment." She dabbed at her nose with her sleeve. "When in their kingdom—"

Kael closed his eyes and kept walking.

Meanwhile, back inside, the man whose anger had given his mate a nosebleed was shaking with a rage so complete it had become architectural.

Next to him, the Dragon King was over the initial shock and was moving to phase two: damage control. This kingdom had arrested his mate for a crime she did not commit. These women came onto his Second and Third. Not the other way around. Done.

"Sterling. Ryker."

"Commander," both replied at the same time like a reflex.

Ryker shoved the kneeling woman back and yanked his pants up so fast the belt buckle hit him in the stomach, while Sterling removed Phaedra from his dick. After Sterling yanked his pants up, he immediately pulled the bottom of Electra’s dress down to cover her only to realize the top was also down. He yanked that up. Two adjustments. Two directions.

On the other side of the room, Talia had started riding Brennan again. After the doors blew open. After her king had entered and yelled ’WHAT THE FUCK.’ The amount of fucks she gave was zero. She had used them all on Brennan.

Without a word, Brennan picked her up and placed her on the couch next to him. Then he yanked his pants up.

"If one of us had gotten him off, he’d be bonded already," Talia snapped.

"Are you saying this is MY fault?" Astrelle asked.

"You were on him first and you didn’t close."

"I WOULD HAVE CLOSED IF YOU HADN’T PHYSICALLY REMOVED ME FROM HIS COCK."

"I’m going with him—"

"Ladies, please don’t fight. I’ll come back and visit," Brennan offered quickly, which was the diplomatic equivalent of ’let’s be friends’ after a threesome.

Three faces turned to him. Their expressions suggested that was not the answer they wanted.

Landon Solveil’s rage volcano erupted.

He crossed the room and got Sterling Emberfell by the collar with one hand and Ryker’s with the other, shoving both men against the wall.

Two glowing balls bounced out of Ryker’s cloak from the momentum. The balls chimed on each bounce. The chiming was cheerful like a goddamn toy commercial interrupting a murder trial at a celestial viewing party.

Neither dragon fought back. Neither one particularly wanted to set the King of Light on fire inside his own Citadel, which would have raised the political cost of this evening considerably.

Phaedra darted forward, entirely unbothered, hands up. "Cousin, wait. We were only trying to get markings from them."

She said it the way a person reports an errand. Picking up bread. Getting marked by foreign men. Same register.

Landon froze. "WHAT."