Chapter Forty-One
“Hello, Duke Zixin,” King Lyrandir drawled.
I stood before him in his throne room. He was, of course, seated on his throne—a massive thing that screamedovercompensationto me. Did he really need it to be that big? And all those tiger heads on it. Sheesh. Wait. Gavemor's symbol was a tiger. Huh. I looked at Captain Aras and wondered how he felt about that. I mean, Hulfrin weren't tigers, but they shared some similarities. Enough that the tiger imagery scattered around the room was hard not to see as Hulfrin imagery.
“Hello, Your Majesty.” I bowed to King Lyrandir because even dukes must bow to kings. And because I didn't want to anger the crazy motherfucker.
“You're so polite now.” Lyrandir got up and came down the dais steps. He took my chin in his hand and looked me over. “It looks as if mating a king gave you manners. Civility by injection.”
Again, I didn't want to upset him, so I stayed still and silent.
He ran his thumb along my jaw. “I'd call King Vaxarion a lucky man if I wasn't the one currently in possession of you.”
Captain Aras stiffened. I looked back and forth between the men. Aras was glaring at Lyrandir, but the King was staring at me. Oh, yeah, they were fucking.
“Well, now I know why King Vaxarion was so protective of you from the start. He had found his mate.” Lyrandir finally glanced at Aras and let go of my face. “What terrible timing for him. But brilliant timing for me. And well done, Captain. You didn't bring me the Eye, but this will do.”
“My pleasure, Your Majesty.” Captain Aras bowed.
“You will, of course, stay and continue to guard Zixin until the exchange is made.”
Aras's lips twitched. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Good. We must treat our guest well. See to it that he remains unharmed.”
“I will.”
“And I will prepare for a royal visit.” Lyrandir looked me over again. “So pretty. What a shame that I didn't get to sample you before you mated.”
A growl startled me, especially since it came from Aras. My stare shot to him. His stare was locked on the King. I looked back at the King to find his lips twitching now. What the fuck was going on with these two?
“After you see him settled, come to my apartments, Captain,” the King said. “I need to speak with you.” He spun and strode off, his robes flapping behind him.
Aras glared after him.
“You know he's fucking with you, right?” I asked.
Aras blinked, then looked at me. “Come here.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me along, out of the throne room and through the castle.
Aras remained silent through the walk, as did his men. We finally arrived at our destination. He opened a door and ushered me into an opulent room. Then he shut the door on his men and shoved me into the center of the room.
“What did you mean by that?” Aras demanded.
“Come on. I know you're fucking him.”
His eyes twitched.
I went on as if he had confirmed it. “It's classic relationship shit. He's trying to make you jealous by complimenting me.”
Aras scowled.
“You've done it before, haven't you? You want someone to notice you, so you act interested in someone else. Works every time.”
“Then maybe I should act interested in someone else too,” he murmured.
“I wouldn't.”
“Why not?”
