Page 40 of Dragon King's Cursed Mate

Shrugging, Dain said, “I don’t know.”

Seraphina, who was helping Kael, heard the question. “Remember, Malakar has a dark sorcerer working for him. He could have seen it.”

“Why didn’t Malakar send his army to fight us, then?” Darius asked.

Dain sighed heavily. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s not ready. Or maybe Varik didn’t tell him. He might have his own agenda.”

The morning light glowed from the east. It seemed to burn into Dain’s brain. “I’m going to bed. Well done tonight, men.”

He stretched out on the cot, staring at the worn canvas tent above him as the battle replayed in his mind. Exhaustion finally overtook him, and he fell asleep.

A sharp knock on the tent post startled Dain awake.

Kael poked his head in the tent. “You need to hear this.”

Dain sat up, dread already churning in his stomach. Growling in the back of his throat, he reluctantly got out of bed, dressed quickly, and went into the courtyard. Standing next to Jasmine, who’d fed them, Kael, Cassion, and Valon were six people, two of whom were children.

“They came from Thalrion, a kingdom west of Wyrmhaven,” Kael said. “Tell King Dain what you told us.”

The oldest woman stepped forward. Her eyes looked unnaturally large in her gaunt face. Her voice trembled as she described what the people were going through.

“I’m Abigail. Malakar is executing villagers who refuse to completely denounce you. Many who are loyal to you, denounce you to avoid torture and death. Malakar is telling everyone that they’d all lived in peace for the last ten years until you returned to claim your throne and that the violence is on your hands.”

She inhaled deeply, twisting her hands in a knot. Her shoulders were slumped, and she shook. “Malakar doesn’t understand that we aren’t stupid. He’s been taxing us seventy-five percent of anything we earn. He takes the majority of the food grown and any kind of supplies we create, leaving us with enough to barely survive. Some people aren’t surviving.”

Abigail’s voice became harder and fury flashed in her eyes, telling Dain she wasn’t ready to give up yet. “We are starving and dying while he sits in the castle, with his guards and friends, taking willing and unwilling concubines to pleasure him at all hours of the day, living the life of luxury.”

Dain’s hands curled into white-knuckled fists. He gritted his teeth and every muscle in his body tightened with pure rage. The crimson haze returned, and Dain was ready to shift and find Malakar.

Valon sensed his change and put his hand on Dain’s shoulder. “Now is not the time for that, brother. You would not win, and all we’ve been fighting for would be for nothing.”

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, calming his heart and temper, Dain nodded and willed his anger to dissolve. This would get him nowhere.

“Give them a place,” he ordered Jasmine.

He looked at Valon and nodded his thanks. “Have Cassion, Darius, and a couple others return to Blackthorn Keep. Make sure the governor and others have left. Send Kade to me.”

Dain quickly ate breakfast while he waited for Kade, who had been injured in the battle and had been asleep.

Kade sat next to him and one of the women brought him breakfast. “Good morning.”

“Do you think Lord Garren would be willing to take over the role as governor of Blackthorn Keep? It’s an equal distance between here and Wyrmhaven. We have several warriors, shifters, and mundane humans, who have been waiting for their chance to serve. They could shore up the defenses of the fortress.”

“I think he would. I’ll slip into Wyrmhaven and speak with him. He’ll also have some of his own people he can take with him. Malakar doesn’t suspect him, so he’ll be able to move freely, and Malakar won’t know what’s happening until the transition is complete.”

Dain hesitated. “It’s going to be dangerous. You know that Malakar is on very high alert now.”

Kade grinned. “That’s what’s going to make this mission fun.”

That night, Seraphina and Dain talked in his tent.

“I can’t believe that Malakar is my uncle—my father’s brother. My father was a noble man. He was a warrior, but he also cared about everyone in the realm. He trusted Malakar, who poisoned him.” Dain pressed his lips together in anger. “I took the throne not knowing it was Malakar who murdered my father—until he betrayed me. How can we share the same bloodline?”

“Unfortunately, greed, envy, and desire can rot people’s very core. Being a dragon shifter and being related to good kings with high morals doesn’t make Malakar immune to that type of dark evil that took over his soul.”

“The darkness is growing within me.”

Seraphina knelt down in front of him and put her hands on his face. He closed his eyes as her light and warmth coursed through him.

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