I stood up abruptly. “Excuse me.”
“Eliel?” Raventar called after me.
“Just a moment, if you please, Your Majesty.” I stumbled through the dark. It wasn't my vision that hindered me, but my fear. It was back, clawing at my chest again. Damn it, I thought I was past this.
Gasping, I braced myself against the rough trunk of a tree. The Dragon King had won the first battle, but just barely. Nahel would recover and make more weapons. He would return wiser, knowing how the Dragons fought. In short, even the King couldn't protect me from him.
“Eliel.” Warm hands slid over my wings.
I flinched. “Can't I have even a minute to myself?”
The hands fell away, but only so the King could come around my side and slip between me and the tree. “No, not when you're hurting.” He eased me gently into his arms. “Not when you're afraid. I won't leave you to face this darkness alone.”
I crumpled into his arms. “Raven, it's beginning again. I will never be free.”
“That's just fear.” One hand slipped up my chest to grip my chin and hold me so that our gazes locked. “Look into my eyes and see the truth. See that I will not fail you again. Knowthat you are safe with me. No matter how many monsters he makes, Nahel will never have you.” His thumb brushed over my lips. “You are my foundling.”
“I can't belong to another man.”
“Yes, you can. But this time, this man will belong to you in return. We protect each other, Eliel. That is how we conquer men like Bara and Nahel. They cannot touch us when we are united.”
“We are united,” I whispered and rose on my toes to kiss him.
With his lips and tongue and hard body, the Dragon King vanquished my fear. It would return, just like Nahel, but I'd be prepared for both of them. Nahel may have learned things about us, but we had learned more about him. As I rose into Raven's kiss, I rose also into his confidence. I let him carry me into his resolve.
We were united in friendship and something more. Nothing Nahel did would change that.
Chapter Sixteen
That night, I slept in the King's arms again. We didn't do more than sleep. His vow to make our first time special hung between us. We both knew that if we went any further than we had the other night, that vow would be broken. So oral sex was out. I agreed with him now that I could think clearly. As much as I wanted him, I wanted our first time to be something more than a tumble in a tent.
The next morning, we woke tangled together, my left wing over us like a blanket. As I watched Raven wake and then smile softly at me, I was relieved he had stopped us in the carriage. But also eager.
The Dragon King's grin turned wicked, and I knew he sensed the direction of my thoughts. “Soon, my foundling. I promise.”
After a quick breakfast of bread, dried meat, and hot tea, we packed up camp and left. The day before, we'd been trying to put distance between Nahel and our group. That was just so we could come back around to him with the advantage. With the King fully recovered, we were on the hunt again.
Around midday, we found something, but it wasn't Nahel.
“Stop them!” the Dragon King called out of his window.
Shouts followed, and our caravan came to a halt. So did the one passing us in the opposite direction. I peered over the King's shoulder at a covered wagon. It did look suspicious, the canvas stretched over a tall frame. With solid walls, the wagon's bed remained unseen. Anything could be within. Oh, and there was the fact that an Okon was driving it. He didn't have gray skin or glowing veins, but he did have a single flight feather painted red.
King Raventar opened the carriage door, stepped out, and then helped me out. “Stay near me.”
I nodded, my stare focused on that red feather.
“Why have you stopped us?” an Okon demanded from the front of the caravan.
The King ignored him, focusing on the cringing driver of the wagon before us. He motioned for the man to come down. This guy was smart enough not to bluster at a Dragon.
He jumped down immediately and bowed to the King. “Your Majesty.”
Meanwhile, Sir Foxren pulled the shouting man up front off his wagon and shoved him aside. “Get this canvas off!”
The Dragon King didn't have to shout. He just motioned at the wagon.
The driver swallowed, his throat bobbing, and hurried to undo the ties holding the canvas in place. In a few moments, he had the canvas pulled back, hanging off the opposite side of the wagon.
