Page 46 of In the Embrace of Dragons

“She sure loves you, Captain,” the queen says, and I rise to see her smiling from her seat at the table. It’s radiant and aimed directly at me. It feels like the world turns upside-down when she looks at me that way.

Then her gaze travels to Vizarios, and the smile falls from her face.

“Oh,” she says, sitting back down. Her puppy runs to her side to finish eating. She doesn’t offer any more greeting than that, choosing instead to return to her meal.

Clearing his throat, Vizarios sits across from her. Once again, she looks up.

“How can I help you?” she asks warily.

“Well...” He picks up a fork. “I wanted to eat with you.”

The suspicion in her eyes is as plain as day. He will have to run a mile just to get to the starting line.

VIZARIOS

I feel like a cowed dog myself, coming to the dining table with my tail between my legs, begging for her approval.

I wish I understood what Ragnakor was trying to tell me. He truly doesn’t mind that I would have someone else? That feels like a stone in the pit of my stomach, that he would harbor no jealousy toward the queen.

And yet, it’s a relief, too. I don’t want to hurt him, but I don’t get to have either of them until I please Nissia. How has one woman wrapped her hands so tightly around my life?

“You wanted to eat with... me?” The queen says it like she can’t believe her own ears. The frown on her face gets deeper.

“Yes,” I force out. “We haven’t had a meal together in a long time.”

“No kidding.” She sighs and leans back in her chair. “This is about last night, isn’t it?”

I grit my teeth. Is there no way to earn my way back into her good graces that isn’t so painfully obvious?

Get to know her. Learn what she likes. Honestly and truly.

I can’t possibly undo all the ill will that’s sprouted up between us like a thorny weed.

“It is about last night,” I say as a servant slides a plate of food in front of me. “I was crude at best. But I have never...” I clear my throat, because this part is painful to admit. “I have never tried to court a female. It’s not natural to me.”

Nissia’s expressive dark eyebrows rise high on her forehead. “Never?”

I shake my head. When I was still just a prince, I had all the males and females I could want waiting eagerly for a turn with me. Having to woo someone? It’s improbable.

“But... that’s what you want?” She stares at me with unabashed surprise. “To ‘court’ me?”

I almost swallow my own tongue along with my food. Is she going to make me say it twice?

“Well, you are my wife, are you not?” I say with annoyance.

She stiffens. “Yes, but?—”

“Then it is my job, as your husband, to court you.”

Her eyes squint in confusion, and she casts a quick glance at Ragnakor as if he might help explain it to her. I thought she was smarter than this.

“All right, then,” she says, though her tone is more than hesitant. “How would you like to, um, do it?”

She wants to get to the point already? Oh, that would be marvelous.

“On my bed, if you would like,” I offer, and her eyes get huge.

“No, you dolt!” The queen covers her face in embarrassment. “Ugh, never mind. I knew you would be incapable of romance.”