Page 109 of The Heart of the Dragon

"This place is huge," I murmured, awestruck.

"Our ancestors built it to accommodate dragons," Magnus's voice was tense. "When we are young, we aren't always great at control." He squeezed my hand. "Stay focused."

I nodded, picking up my pace to match his as best I could. The sooner we reached the throne room, the sooner this confrontation would be over. Despite this ruse, we weren't here for a visit. Nor was I being taken on the grand tour.

"How far is the throne room from here?"

"Far enough."

"Enough for what?" I swear I had more questions than we had time, but I couldn't help it.

"Far enough away from the exterior that an outside attack won't get near him, but not so far that he can't escape from within either." I nodded, although it made sense, it was difficult to comprehend. I couldn't imagine having to design your home to survive an attack. There may be a lot of dangers to fear in the human world, but they were nothing compared to this one. I wasn't sure if I could get used to it.

I followed the men in silence the rest of the way, the knots in my stomach tightening the closer we got to the King. But it wasn't until my vision wavered slightly that I finally realized the air in here had changed. "Magnus, my eyes..." I said, pulling on his arm.

It's the wards he uses to protect himself. You'll be fine, but they are designed to disorient."

"Don't they affect you?"

He shook his head. "No. My body adjusted to them when I was a boy. Although not without suffering the sickness that long-term exposure can cause."

"That's disgusting. Why would he put you through something like that?"

"To toughen me up. He has no tolerance for weakness. Family or not. He has strict standards of those around him. So no matter how or what you feel in there, don't let him see it. If he suspects you are anything but what we represent, he'll run."

"I'll be fine." Hopefully. The nausea assaulting me said differently, but I would push through. What choice did any of us have? We'd either fight this bastard and win or he'd imprison us and?—

I shook my head to knock those thoughts loose. I didn't want to think about the alternative, or any of the scenarios of what our future would hold if we were wrong. I refused to watch Magnus die again.

Unfortunately, by the time we made it to the area of the castle I actually recognized, my stomach had begun to churn, and I figured it wouldn't be long before I lost it. I could understandwhy his magic would be suppressed in here. His uncle would obviously do anything to keep Magnus's dragon at bay.

Magnus grabbed my hands and pulled me close. "I trust you," he said, and I nearly cried out on the spot. I knew those words didn't come easy to him, and every time he said them I took them for the depth they were meant.

The doors opened, and we were ushered into the exact room that I'd been in earlier. Only this time it wasn't quite as chaotic. People lined up on either side of a walkway, and I could see an older, handsome man lounging in a large chair on a platform at the far end of the room. His throne I presumed. I ground my back teeth together to keep from giving anyone a sign of what I might be thinking or feeling as we were drawn closer.

The king seemed relaxed, with his arms draped over the arms of his chair and a distinctly bored look on his face. But I could sense the tension in the air that he tried to mask, and instantly knew he didn't trust us and was on high alert.

But as we moved closer, another strong wave of magic engulfed us and my gaze shot to Magnus. What I found made me realize why he'd been unable to fight in our previous attempts. His face had gone pale, and his skin clammy against my hand. His uncle was using far more magic than Magnus was used to.

When we stopped in front of him, Magnus dipped his head, and I bent at the waist as he'd described I should. When I looked up, I was again facing that bored expression, only this time I could see a new light in his eyes. As we'd expected, my Omega status had likely intrigued him. I only hoped he spared us enough time before he commenced with whatever nightmare he'd planned for me.

"After your utter betrayal, I'm surprised you would show your face in this castle again without my bride." The pointed tone in the King's voice sent a shiver of ice racing along my spine.

"Kitra always was resourceful," Magnus supplied. "And now that she has her mother's magic, she has disappeared from the realm."

"Then you should have gone after her."

The king leaned forward and stared at me instead of Magnus. It took everything I had not to squirm beneath his gaze. Or run from the room. Especially when he breathed deep, and his nostrils flared in my direction. His reaction was every bit as disgusting as if he'd stuck his tongue out and licked me. "Where on earth did you find an Omega? They were all claimed long ago, and I haven't heard of a new one being born in many decades."

"She found me."

The King turned a skeptical eye towards Magnus for a moment before returning his attention back to me. "Where?"

"In the outlands. She was taken in by garden witches with no memory of where she comes from."

"Is that so, girlie?" he asked me directly.

I nodded, remembering to keep my response to him as brief as possible. The less I said the better. The last thing I needed was to be caught in a lie.

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