Page 30 of The Last Dragon King
He was just a man who wanted a child, and his magic was so powerful that most women’s bodies could not carry one for him. Would it be so bad if I were to? I wanted children eventually—but I wanted to fall in lovefirstand then have a baby born out of that love. What this whole spectacle sounded like was that the king wanted the heir and not the woman. I wasn’t signing up for that.
I just needed to pray that my magic stayed in my body for the rest of my time here and that he chose someone else to be his next queen. I wanted him to have his heir, just not with me, not in a competition. I wouldn’t be a prize.
I fell back asleep with thoughts of Nathanial and the kissing tent. The way he looked at Ruby Ronaldson meant that even if I did go home, they’d already be engaged.
* * *
It tookme two days to recover from my fever and accidental dragon explosion incident. I played dumb to the doctor, saying that I had no idea about any magic, and that as far as I knew I was a watered-down dragon-folk. Doctor Elsie and Narine had sustained some slight burns that had already healed, but all in all were okay. The washroom repairs would take a week, but in the meantime I could use the second guest washroom. Something rich people had.
The next morning I awoke to hear Narine whistling. My eyelids sprang open and I peered at her. She was bopping on her heels, hands behind her back.
“What?” I mumbled. Narine didn’t display this sort of happiness for no reason.
“You have a lunch date with the king in a few hours!” she squealed.
I bolted upright, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “What?”
Narine nodded. “And a dress has come for the occasion.”
Oh, that’s why she was excited.
I dipped my head. “Good. Take the dress and sell it before I’ve even worn it. I don’t want to get anything on it.”
She frowned. “But… my lady, you have only simple day dresses not suitable for lunch with his royal highness.”
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood, reaching my arms over my head to stretch. “His royal highness saw me kill a man while I rode on his back. He doesn’t expect a lady. Fetch my trousers and tunic.”
If it was lunch alone with him and not a big event with the other women, I wanted to be myself. I was worried it would be an interrogation about my heritage now that Dr. Elsie had told him she’d smelled a spell on me.
Narine swayed on her feet, grasping the window ledge as if she were going to faint. “My lady… you can’t… weartrousersto have lunch with the king.”
“I can and I will,” I informed her. I wasn’t going to be someone I was not for a man who might end up killing me if he found out about my magic.
No thanks.
Narine took a few steadying breaths. “This could look bad on me with Annabeth,” she said.
I waved her off and walked out of the room into the washroom. “I’ll tell her you are amazing and I forced you to allow me to wear my preferred clothes.”
She let a small smile slip. “Do you even want to see the dress before I sell it?”
I started to brush my teeth and nodded. She left the room and returned holding a silky pink and purple gown with hand-stitched flowers and frilly sleeves.
I spit into the washbasin and then looked at her. “It’s beautiful.”
It was. It would look amazing on Kendal.
She seemed hopeful, gesturing for me to take it.
“Sell it. I’ll let you do my hair.”
With a groan she nodded. “At least wear a corset over your tunic to accentuate your waist. Hiding that figure under baggy clothing won’t land you a husband.”
Thinking of my mother’s advice to seduce the king if things looked like they might not be going in my favor made me realize Narine was right.
I nodded.
It was a good compromise.
