“If you and your people want a show, let’s give them one.” Luka started to unbutton his dress shirt and the king grinned, clapping Luka on the shoulder.
“Good man. An honest man!” he roared, and then stood.
‘He’s unhinged,’I said.
‘He reminds me of the mad king. I wonder how old he is,’Luka observed.
‘Let’s leave right now,’I begged.‘You don’t have to fight him.’
‘Yes I do. It will win us his trust so when we come back and steal the women and children, he won’t know what hit him.’
Frick.
‘Luka, what if you get hurt? He’s huge.’
Luka pulled off his shirt, highlighting his cut physique, and glared at me. Oops, wrong thing to say. I’d seen him fight. He was a maniac. I should have been more supportive.
‘I’ll have to let him win. I can’t embarrass him in front of his people, but I’ll hurt him enough to gain his respect.’
Ugh, was this seriously happening right now?
Carmen tapped the mic and the supernaturals present quieted.
“Our king has a special guest, and they have agreed to entertain us!” she bellowed into the mic. The people present cheered and clapped. It was a much less rowdy crowd than it was for Luka’s trials, but the fact that this was normal behavior baffled me.
“Not a fight to the death of course, but just to see who will tap out first,” she purred.
Well, that was obviously going to be Luka, whether he was winning or not. He was right in that he couldn’t embarrass the king in front of his people.
“Place your bets!” Carmen cried out.
Great.
‘Bet against me. He’ll like that,’Luka told me.
What?
This was so stupid!
The king watched in delight as money started to exchange hands. From the whispers I could hear, nearly everyone was betting on him. I’m sure his ego loved that.
“My Lady?” the lingerie-clad woman asked.
I locked eyes with the king, who was watching me. “My bet is on King Constantine.”
Luka frowned, faking obviously, and the king grinned.
Carmen brought the mic back to her lips. “Our king has survived many battles, conquered many lands, and even fought dragons. Let’s see how he fares with Luka Drake!”
The crowd went wild, and I swallowed hard at the mention of him fighting dragons. I also noticed they weren’t referring to Luka as a king himself.
Interesting. This entire trip had not been what I expected, but I suppose it could be worse.
‘Dragons?’I balked.
‘He must be very, very old,’Luka surmised.‘They used to roam our world freely.’
The king removed his shirt as well, and my eyes trailed down the angry puckered scar over his heart. There was a story there, I was sure.
