DIANA
The ache in my chest refused to ease.
It only got worse.
I couldn’t just sit here anymore.
I couldn’t sit under the suffocating weight of those eyes while the court played their petty political games around me.
Trying to maintain every ounce of my etiquette training, I rose to my feet.
“Your Highness?” Sarah’s voice immediately drifted from behind me.
Beside her, Mina looked at me with worry.
“What’s wrong? Are you unwell?”
I turned to them, forcing a smile on my face.
“I am going back to the palace. I feel lightheaded.”
“We will accompany you, Princess.” Mina said quickly, already reaching to gather her skirt to follow me.
“No.” I countered, my voice soft but unyielding.
I placed my hand on Mina’s arm to stop her.
“Stay. Both of you. Enjoy the competition.”
They blinked at me in surprise.
“We have been locked away in Volkar for over a month,” I murmured.
“You both could use a little fun. Consider it an order.”
Before they could protest further, I walked to the center of the pavillion where the King and Queen were seated.
The King’s eyes settled on me.
“Princess Diana?”
I curtsied.
“Your Majesties. I must ask permission to withdraw.”
“Oh?” Queen Valera said.
“Has the competition become too strenuous for you?”
The sweetness in her voice was almost convincing, but before I could answer, Prince Roderick snorted.
“I warned everyone the human would not last long. One wonders how she intends to survive the actual responsibilities of the crown.”
I ignored him.
Mostly because if I looked at him right now, I might say something inappropriate.
“Forgive me,” I said to the King.
“I am feeling somewhat unwell.”
The King shot his eldest son a look and Roderick immediately became interested in the field.
Then Xerxes nodded.
“Go. Get some rest.”
Relief flooded through me as I heard that.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
I bowed one last time and turned away.
The moment I left the pavilion, I nearly sighed aloud.
I picked up my pace, escaping the roaring noise of the stadium and my husband’s scary gaze.
When I entered the palace, I hurried down the hall.
As I got closer to my chamber, I heard something snap.
I looked around but I didn’t see anyone.
Not even a guard.
Then the air around me dropped and became chilly.
I slowly looked over my shoulder and this time, my breath completely seized in my throat.
The pillars at the corridor had turned to ice.
I watched, dumbfounded, as the ice spread until it touched my shoes.
I immediately sprinted until I was at my door.
As I reached for the handle, desperate to open it, I saw a towering figure standing at the end of the corridor.
Draven.
His fur cloak had dusts of snow and ice on it He didn’t speak, but as he lifted his chin, I saw that his eyes were still red, and my stomach dropped.
Karl was standing at the end of my hall, staring a path through my soul and I had no idea how one was supposed to have a reasonable conversation with an enraged dragon.
The silence in the corridor was deafening, yet, I wasn’t scared.
Overwhelmed?
Yes, but weirdly not afraid.
I tried to walk but my legs refused to move.
I was completely pinned beneath the weight of his gaze.
“Draven?” I whispered.
He growled so deep it made the floor beneath tremble.
“Not Draven,” the voice said in my head.
The ache in my chest pulsed again, but it was stronger this time.
It felt as though something was tugging at me, pulling me in.
The moment my hand touched my chest, his gaze dropped to it and his body went still.
“Karl?” The word barely left my lips before he appeared right in front of me.
I gasped, expecting to fall or run out of breath….or just die like the rumours claimed.
But nothing happened.
Instead, all my brain could catch was his intoxicating scent.
“You smell of him.” Karl growled aloud, his voice matching the psychic one in my head.
His gaze drifted to my neck, then back to my face.
“The pest. That fae.”
My heart skipped.
He really did see Aeris.
“He is a friend,” I forced out, my chest heaving.
“He was merely checking on me. He has done nothing wrong.”
The moment the words left my mouth, the air in the corridor seemed to grow worse.
Still, I wasn’t cold.
His jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched.
He leaned in, almost closing the space between us.
“No other male,” He rasped in my head, sending a shiver down my spine.
“No fae. No prince. No dragon. You belong to the North. You belong to me.”
He looked at me with those eyes that were still burning.
“YOU ARE MINE, DIANA.”
Realization hit me so suddenly I nearly laughed.
This terrifying dragon was actually jealous.
Slowly, his fingers touched the side of my and a breathless gasp escaped my lips.
The moment his skin touched mine, the persistent ache I’d been feeling since I got to Volkar dissolved, then an intoxicating warmth flooded my body, making me feel dizzy all of a sudden.
Is this normal?
My mind screamed, trying to find a reason why this was happening.
Is a dragon’s touch supposed to feel this good?
Am I supposed to crave this?
Karl’s eyes darkened even more, tracking the flush that rose to my cheeks.
Then his lips parted.
I watched, frozen in fascination, as his teeth turned to fangs.
I still wasn’t scared.
Not even a little bit.
My heart was racing, yes, but it was entirely for a different reason I couldn’t quite place.
He then bent and buried his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent.
A shiver shot through me instantly.
I had never realized how sensitive my neck was until now.
Then I felt his fang touch my skin.
The contact sent an electric jolt straight to my feet.
“Ah…”
A moan escaped my throat before I could stop it.
I realized too late what I had done, my eyes widening as I tried to swallow the sound back down.
Karl growled against my skin.
He liked it, that much was obvious.
“What…” I choked, placing my hands on his chest.
“What are you doing, Karl?”
“Marking you,” His voice echoed in my head as his fangs grazed my skin again.
“Taking what is mine. Marking you like Draven should have done weeks ago.”
Marking me?
I immediately started to panic.
A dragon’s mark was permanent.
It was a binding of souls, and from what I studied growing up, it was the highest form of intimacy in the dragon kingdom.
I pushed his chest harder, but he didn’t budge an inch.
He felt like solid stone.
I was a princess and I was absolutely not going to be claimed like a cheap object in a public hallway where anyone passing could stumble on us.
“Karl, no.” I hissed.