by ERIN BEDFORD
“Either way,” Raiden interrupted not waiting for me to answer. “I’m glad he’s dead and not you.” Kicking him over with his foot, he squatted down and searched his body. When he found nothing, his eyes looked to me. “Did he say who hired him?”
My lips twisted into an unpleasant grimace. “Ned.”
“Ned?” Raiden asked, and then his face hardened. “As in your cousin, Ned? The one who had already tried to hurt you once before?”
I nodded solemnly. “Seems my cousin didn’t want to wait for my father to dispatch me and decided to do it himself.”
“And through someone else, so he wouldn’t be blamed for it,” Firestar added before pulling his shirt over his head and handing it to me. When I gave him a questioning look, he said, “You’re distracting.”
Giving him a coy grin, I slid the shirt over my head and let it settle over my thighs. The tension in the room lowered slightly now that I was concealed but not completely.
“What now?” I asked, more than ready to be out of my room now that it had to be cleaned again.
The three of them exchanged a look before Raiden came over to me, taking my hands in his own. “We found out who the raiders were working for.”
The way they were acting made me uneasy. Why weren’t they just telling me? Why all the dramatics?
“Well, who is it then?” I cocked an expectant brow at them.
“Maya,” Raiden softly said, his hand cupping my face. “It was your father.”
16
Like with Ned, I wished I felt surprised. But when Raiden told me the raiders worked for my father, I felt nothing. Just disappointed I hadn’t figured it out sooner.
I briefly wondered if my mother knew. Then dismissed the idea. Of course, she didn’t. She’d never approve of such meaningless destruction. Both she and my sister had wanted me to help end the raids. If anything, my mother knew something was happening but not to what extent.
Just more to add to my plate of things to worry about. As if I didn’t have enough on it already. Getting pregnant was hard work, let alone trying to do it and stop war from breaking out in Waesigar. No one wanted that to happen, least of all me.
“How do you know?” I asked after a moment, my eyes on the dead body on the ground. Eventually, we would have to call someone to take it away, but when they did, we wouldn’t have any privacy for a little while. There’d be questions and worse yet suspicions. It also meant Lady Nariko would be even more adamant about using me. This time though I might not be offered compensation.
“The men wouldn’t talk,” Firestar said and the tone he used told me everything. They had resorted to torture. I shuddered at the thought. Torture was something I’d never had the stomach for, nor had my father for that matter. It was the only thing we really had in common besides our blood. It was ironic that his own men couldn’t handle it either.
“But they eventually talked,” Raiden added, a pensive look on his face. “They didn’t give us many details before we left them to my brothers, but they did say they were paid by the Western Lord.”
Chewing on my bottom lip, I rolled around what they said in my mind. My father had always been a power-hungry man. He craved control over everything else. Sometimes, well most of the time, even above his own family. I wasn’t back in Waesigar for nothing. He’d have never brought me back unless it benefited him. God forbid it was because he missed me. I thought I’d never meet anyone as bad as him until I’d met Raiden’s mother. Boy had I been wrong.
I hadn’t been kidding when I said he and Lady Nariko would have been a perfectly deadly match. Though they were likely to kill the other just so they wouldn’t have to share power. My father was as suspicious as he was greedy for power. I felt bad for Raiden’s father being saddled with such a woman. I had a feeling Lord Shen was still around because he let her call the shots.
“Did they say why?” I half-wished they hadn’t, I didn’t think I could take any more news today or this century. I’d only just taken a nap, but the stress of the day had me wanting to curl back into bed once more.
Raiden didn’t seem happy to be talking about it. Probably because he had such a good relationship with his own family. Nevertheless, he shrugged and admitted, “As far as we can tell, they were just told to cause chaos in the realms. That’s why there was such a mixture of dragons. He’d recruited from the unaligned. Who, as you know, are more than happy to stick it to their former lords.” He gave me a sour look.
Jack made a sound of agreement. “I hardly blamed them.” When Firestar and I just stared at him, he quickly added, “No offense meant, but your father is power hungry and yours is a thief. Hardly men to rally behind.”
I couldn’t argue with him. Besides Raiden’s mother, his family was pretty normal. Jack on the other hand. I didn’t know much about Jack’s family. He didn’t talk about them much or at all. I had no idea how he felt about my father’s actions regarding Waesigar or me. Jack had always kept his thoughts and opinions close to his chest, but in this instance, I’d have liked him to voice his worries to the group, or me at least.
Either way, no matter what any of them thought, I knew that it was only a matter of time before they came for us. Or rather me. But since they were mated to me, they might very well be seen as guilty by association. For once, I wished I hadn’t slept with all of them. Then at least some of them might be able to get away without being brought down with me.
Damned father.
“So, how long do we have?” I asked.
“I don’t understand what you are asking.” Jack glanced from me to the others with a curious raise of his brows. “How long do we have until they come for the body?”
“She means,” Firestar stepped in, placing an arm around my waist. “How long until your family,” he pointed a finger at Raiden with a bit of an accusatory glint in his eyes. “Start coming to us with questions and threats.”
“No, no.” Raiden shook his head, disbelief in his voice. “My family wouldn’t do that, and besides I already told my brothers Maya had nothing to do with this. She’d only been back for a few months, and these raids started way before that.”
I snorted. The poor guy, I want to feel bad for him, but at this point, he was just being naïve. “Do you really think they won’t take advantage of having the heir of the Western lands in their home? Especially, when they just found out its lord was now their enemy?”
Raiden didn’t answer which wasn’t good. He’d been so sure his family was right and good, but now he wasn’t so sure. Then again, his mother was a right beast, and he’d never even noticed, so it was hardly surprising.
“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions.” Jack moved away from the group and shifted toward the door. “Let us find out ourselves their intentions before making enemies where there are none. Besides, everyone in the kingdom knows you bear no love for your father.”
“Or him for me, it seems,” I muttered mostly to myself. Not that it was news to me. Once you banish your child for no reason other than to keep the line of succession in your control you kind of lose all hope that your father cared for you.
“I agree with Jack,” Raiden strode across the room to stand by the ice dragon. “We should talk to my father and brothers. Find out what else they learned before we are making any kind of decisions.”
I stared at them both not wanting to be the downer of the group but knowing they didn’t know what I knew. What was worse was I still hadn’t told Raiden about his mother’s proposal and adding it to the possibility that I might now be a prisoner of war? I didn’t see it helping our relationship any.
“Very well,” I sighed reluctantly and then turned to Firestar. “Will you stay and help me find something suitable to wear? It seems I have yet to get any new clothing.”
“Sure.” Firestar nodded at Jack and Raiden. Then when they had left, and we were alone, he asked, “What did you want to talk about?”
Brow raised, I asked, “How do you know I wanted to talk about anything? I r
eally need more clothes.”
Firestar snorted. “We might have been apart for five years, but I know you well enough to know you wouldn’t agree to wait and see. So, what is it?”
Rather than beat around the bush, I blurted out, “Lady Nariko wants me to screw her sons for power and has threatened to leak the information to everyone in the kingdom if I don’t do it.”
Waiting for Firestar to explode, I was sadly disappointed when he only laughed. Shifting my weight, I shoved at the massive man, though he barely moved. “It’s not funny. She knows about your father needing money and has offered to fairly compensate us for my services,” I mockingly mimicked her words and then scoffed. “I’m not a high-class hooker she can just buy when she wants to and who’s to know if it would stop at her sons. Why not her whole army?” I waved my arms in the air, paying no mind that I was ranting. “Or her husband?”
Firestar, the smart man that he was, waited until I was done before trying to speak. “I can’t say I’m shocked. To be honest, I’m surprised it’s taken anyone this long for her to try. My men weren’t exactly known for keeping secrets.”
“They kept yours well enough,” I pointed out with a sneer.
“Well, that was when it was for the good of the kingdom.” He drew me into his arms and while I didn’t return his embrace, I didn’t fight it. “When I put you above that they turned on me easily. You saw it yourself.”
“Yes, well,” I grumbled, leaning into his embrace. “I could hardly fault them but the mother of my own lover? That I can’t forgive. Let alone the fact that she threatened me to do it. Like I’m just going to lay back and take it with her holding that over my head.”
“Do Raijin and Fujin know?” Firestar asked, placing his chin on top of my head.
“No,” I answered, shaking my head slightly. “She hasn’t told them yet. I have the feeling she wants me to make it all my idea, so they will think I want to mate with them.”
“Fucking and mating are not the same thing,” Firestar growled, the sound rumbling through my entire being making my dragoness stir.
“I know, but I have a hard time seeing them not taking it that way. Especially, if they think Raiden is all right with it.”
“Which he wouldn’t be,” Firestar quickly interjected. “He might be easy going on most things, but when it comes to you, he’s fiercely protective. Do you remember how he reacted when you added me to your bed? I don’t see him wanting his brothers anywhere near what belongs to him. Well, us.”
Firestar stating I belonged to them should have bothered me, but it only made me proud that they didn’t have an issue sharing me. Belonging to not one but three different men was strange. Most women would be happy to find just one person to be with, and I had three. Wasn’t fair, really. My friend Bianca on Earth would have had a field day if I told her about them, let alone that they thought I belonged to them.
Feminism and such. Though, I didn’t see it that way. They belonged to me as much as I did them. None of us were trying to hinder the other from doing what they wanted. It wasn’t like I was chained to them. No, it was more like the partnership I always wanted. Sure, we made mistakes. My blunder today with Jack and the blade was one example. I didn’t expect it to be the last one either.
“Should I tell Raiden?” I asked finally, pulling away from Firestar. “I mean how do I tell Raiden? This will devastate him.”
Firestar pressed his lips together in a thin line before making a derisive sound. “I think you must handle this on your own, and then afterward, when it is all said and done, you tell Raiden. Remember we still don’t know how they will react to the news of your father’s attacks. No need to add more fuel to the fire.”
I let out an exasperated breath. “This is getting so ridiculous. Sometimes I wish I’d have stayed on Earth. Told Ned and my father to go fuck themselves.”
“You still can, and in fact, I encourage it.” Firestar ushered me across the room and out into the hallway where he pointed us toward his room. “Both of those men have done nothing but bring misery to you. Ned more recently but your father…” Firestar shook his head in disgust as he opened the door to his bedroom. “Your father is a piece of work, a category of evil all on his own.”
I should have defended my father. That would be what the dutiful daughter would do, but really Firestar was right, and I couldn’t fault him for saying something I had thought myself.
Firestar left me in the middle of his room while he went over to his dresser. He pulled open the bottom drawer and withdrew a gray pair of cotton pants. Handing them to me, I started to say they wouldn’t fit me until I saw the drawstrings at the waist.
Shoving one leg and then the other into the sweatpants, I tried to figure out the best way to tell Lady Nariko where she could shove her offer. I had to be tactful and polite. If I told her what I really thought, she might very well throw me in her dungeon with the rest of the raiders. At least, the ones who hadn’t already died from interrogation.
A faint knock on a door in the hallway made Firestar and I move back toward the door. Opening it up, we ducked our heads out to see the teenager who had taken me to tea with Lady Nariko. Which only meant he was here for one thing.
“Hello,” I called out, making the boy jump in place. Spinning around, his eyes widened as he took in Firestar’s looming form.
“Uh, I...” the teen shuffled his feet and stared at Firestar.
Firestar, the darling, crossed his arms and puffed his chest out in warning. I tried to keep the smile off my face, but his act was too silly to go along with. The boy dropped his gaze to the floor and took a deep breath in before approaching us.
“My lady...” he started but then peeked up to look at Firestar who only seemed more menacing by the minute. The teen’s mouth gaped open, and I swore he would have rather swallowed his tongue than talk to us. Poor boy.
Smacking Firestar on the arm, I said, “Leave the boy alone. Let him do his job.” The teen seemed to relax a bit as I stepped in front of Firestar as a bit of a barrier between them but not much.
Clearly still afraid of Firestar, the teen shook in his boots before he cleared his throat and started again. “My lady wishes...” I had to give it to him though, he was dedicated to his work because he stuttered out, “Lady Nariko requests your presence.”
Exchanging a look with Firestar, I waved the boy to lead the way. It looked like my time was up. Lady Nariko wanted her answer, and she wanted it now. I only hoped her husband hadn’t gotten wind of her request now that my father's plot in this had been discovered.
17
As I followed my guide toward where I was going to meet Lady Nariko, I couldn’t help but feel like I was walking to my doom. I knew what was going to happen. Or rather I could guess.
Lady Nariko would be annoyingly smug about the whole thing, and when I told her no, she’d threaten me. Which made having Firestar there to back me up all the better. She’d have a hard time intimidating me with him at my side. He’d already proven that with the servant boy leading us.
When the teen stopped at Lady Nariko’s door, he tried to take off on me once again, but I stopped him with my hand. “What’s your name?”
He glanced up at me shyly before his eyes darted to Firestar. Swallowing visibly, he muttered, “Jinn, my lady.”
Smiling down at him, I offered him my hand which he took hesitantly before dropping his arm as if afraid Firestar would lop it off. “All right, Jinn, thank you for bringing us here. Could you do me a favor?”
“Of course, my lady.” He nodded his head up and down like one of those bobbleheads I’d seen in Ryan’s car.
“Could you find Prince Raiden,” I said. “Tell him I need him at his mother’s rooms. Tell him it’s important.”
“Of course, my lady,” he said once more and gave me a slight bow. His eyes darted to Firestar for a brief second before he hurried away.
“Are you expecting trouble?” Firestar asked after Jinn was out of sight. I didn’t even bot
her chastising him about messing with the boy all the way here, my nerves were already focused on what was to come.
“If you’d been with her the last time I was here, then you would too.” I sighed and adjusted my borrowed sweatpants. “She might pretend to be a nice old lady who loves her sons to the public, but in reality, she’s a mean old bitch.”
Firestar snorted. “She’s not that good of an actor.”
He was right she wasn’t. How she had fooled her family for so long bewildered me. An idiot could see through her backhanded compliments and thinly veiled threats. But then again love made everyone stupid. Especially, family.
“Nevertheless, don’t expect this to be pleasant. She wants me to give her sons powers too so she will try anything to get me to say yes. Which means she’s going to let her bitch flag fly once she realizes I’m saying no.” I knocked on the door and waited for the voice from inside to tell me to enter.
When Lady Nariko saw Firestar, her brows rose, but she didn’t immediately demand he leave. Instead, she glanced at her table with a frown. “I apologize, but I wasn’t expecting two guests. I’m afraid I don’t have enough cups for tea.”
Firestar didn’t even respond to her like it would have been appropriate for him to do. Instead, his attention was purely focused on the corners of the balcony. What was he looking at? Turning toward where he was glaring, I could barely make out the form of a few figures hiding in the shadows.
Did she expect a fight? I hadn’t come offering violence, but I wasn’t completely surprised she would think of it.
Noticing our attention was not on her, Lady Nariko waved a hand. “Oh, don’t mind them. They are only here because of the prisoners in the palace. Can’t have the Lady of the East being taken by traitors.” Her eyes locked on me in a clear warning. Like I cared about hurting her, I just wanted to get away from her and her other sons.
“Understandable,” I said, nodding before taking a seat opposite of her.