Chapter 472: That Offer Still Stands, Drakencrest

The King of the Luminari, wielder of light, sovereign of a civilization that predated dragons, was rubbing his temples like a man with a hangover and a mortgage and a meeting he could not leave.

He had opened a door to find an orgy, been told his sister was matebonded, learned his cousins were very misinformed about dragon biology, and had just watched a noble woman mount the mage named Brennan Pike.

Velora felt Brennan start to pulse inside her and her grip on his wrists tightened. "There it is. Good boy."

"Fuck." Brennan’s hips jerked up hard. He came with a rough, choked sound, pulsing deep inside her in thick spurts, hands still pinned uselessly to the chair. Velora rode him through it, taking every throb, and smiled as she felt him empty himself.

He let out a sigh.

Velora stayed on him and kept moving. "Seven."

"Seven WHAT?" Talia asked.

"Pulses."

"Get off him," Astrelle yelled.

"No."

"He’s done."

"He’s resting. Inside me. There’s a difference."

"I want a redo."

"He’s relaxed now. Hush."

"SHUT UP, VELORA," Astrelle and Talia said in unison.

Ryker gestured at Brennan like a prosecutor presenting evidence. "Exhibit A, Commander. That. Right there."

Maddox dragged a hand down his face. "She just... that was aggressive."

"Yes. THAT. That woman crossed the room, opened his pants, and mounted him without a conversation in front of everyone," Ryker narrated in case anyone missed it the first time.

Nicholas stood very still. He stood still because movement would release the laugh. The laugh was compressed in his chest like a physical object. The object wanted out. The object was being held in by wolf king composure. Later, Damon was going to sit across from him, drink in hand, and Nicholas was going to tell him, "Brennan was mounted by a woman mid-brawl" and Damon was not going to believe a single word of it.

"Do Luminari women have heats?" Maddox asked Landon, in all seriousness.

Outside in the courtyard, Guinevere sneezed and didn’t know why.

Landon did not answer Maddox’s question or seem to hear it. He rubbed his temples because the temples were the only part of the situation he could control. "Velora was also a virgin. What the hell..."

Ryker gave Maddox a pointed look that said, I guarantee she is not a virgin. Maddox gave him a look right back saying, if she was a virgin then so am I.

Landon’s eyes moved from the chair to the drinks still sitting on the side table, untouched and glowing faintly.

"Guards." His voice carried the cold efficiency of a man who had found a thread he could pull without hitting family. "Collect every drink in this room. I want them tested by the Master Mage immediately."

Ryker straightened. "Those were the drinks they served us, King Solveil."

Landon did not acknowledge Ryker’s statement. "Velora. Off of the mage. NOW."

Healers entered the room at that moment and moved towards Electra.

Sterling moved faster. He picked her up, his dragon full at the surface, gold swallowing his eyes.

"You don’t touch her."

"Put my sister down, dragon," Landon commanded.

"It’s dragon instinct, Solveil," Maddox explained, keeping his voice level. Then he turned to Sterling. "Put her down, Sterling."

Sterling’s arms tightened around her, his dragon roaring against every syllable of the order. He shut his eyes and swallowed his dragon down. Then he lowered the princess carefully onto the cushions, adjusted her head so it rested right, and stepped back exactly one pace, no further, his eyes never leaving her.

"Emberfell. Stormvale." Maddox didn’t look away from Landon as he said it. "Go wait with Kael. Now."

"Brennan, go with them," Nicholas ordered.

Ryker left the room without complaint. As he passed Aurora, she stopped crying for exactly one second and waved at him, just long enough for him to catch it, before she resumed sobbing at full volume.

Sterling followed Ryker, though every step cost him, his eyes pulling back toward the couch where his mate lay until the doorway cut the line of sight.

Brennan waved at the three girls and followed the dragons.

???

SOLVEIL - KING’S PRIVATE LOUNGE (A FRESH ONE)

Landon crossed to the cabinet, pulled three glasses, and poured without asking. The whiskey was old, Luminari-made, and glowed faintly amber. He set one in front of Maddox. One in front of Nicholas. Kept the third.

Maddox knew what this was and so did Nicholas. None of them were going to say it out loud. This was a negotiation. All three kings wanted something.

Maddox opened. He wanted out, he wanted his men out, he wanted his wife home on Drakencrest soil tonight, and he wanted a Luminari healer and mage sent back with them to deal with the thing still living in her head. He laid the leverage on the obsidian table without any ceremony.

"Let’s talk about how we got here, Solveil. My wife was arrested for a crime she did not commit, by your Kingsguard, who entered my throne room after I forbade them. And they refused to take a dark Noxari off my hands, a creature capable of killing every person in that room, unless my wife went with them. That was the price. Guinevere for a monster your people could contain and mine could not. Were you aware of that?"

Landon went still, because he had not been aware of that.

"No," Maddox continued, "I did not think so. So before you try to execute two of my men over an impromptu orgy, understand the ledger I am working from. Your kingdom already owes mine. I am prepared to call it even. Clear Sterling and Ryker, and give Electra to my Third as consolation. That is fair, and it is cheap, given what you have already taken from me."

"She is a princess," Landon answered, his control thinning. "He is a military commander."

"The third most powerful man in Drakencrest does not marry down." Maddox leaned back in his chair. "Dragons treat their Second, Third, and Fourth like royalty, Solveil. Every law that protects a royal would protect her."

That one sat in the room for two seconds before Landon killed it. "Electra was promised from her birth to Edward Solandris the Second, heir to the House. If I hand her to your Third, I am breaking the word of my father."

Maddox swirled his whiskey, unbothered. "Funny you mention that. You offered your sister’s hand to me on diplomat row in exchange for Guinevere, when you tried to buy her from me."

When Landon spoke, his voice shifted from protective brother to King.

"That is different, Drakencrest, and you know it. Guinevere is a Solandris, so our houses would have been joined in another way. She would have been the single exception for that deal my father made because of a prophecy that predated it." He took a slow sip of his whiskey. "That offer, by the way, still stands."