Page 60 of Dragon King's Cursed Mate

Several guards seemingly emerged out of nowhere. “They’ll take it from here, Oracle.”

The quiet hunter couldn’t get out of the room fast enough. A smell of fear hung on him like a cloak.

One of the guards offered her some water, which Seraphina gratefully accepted. They watched her carefully, even though they were intimidated by her status. As much as they were terrified of her, though, they were even more afraid of Malakar.

Malakar arrived shortly after with an air of confidence like he thought the world already belonged to him.

Seraphina chuckled because he was dressed like a stereotypical pompous king. He wore dark purple velvet robes covered with dragons embroidered with gold thread. Several gold chains hung around his neck, and a large signet ring graced his left middle finger. His black boots were polished so much they were practically glowing.

He grinned and circled her like a predator. “So, we meet again, Oracle.”

She smiled at him but didn’t reply.

“You should kneel before your king,” he growled.

“As I’ve told you before, you are not my king. You are a pretender and soon, you will lose everything.”

“Are those the lies you’ve been telling my darling nephew?”

Seraphina looked into his eyes and raised her eyebrows. “Careful, Malakar. If I’m the one telling lies, then what does that make you for believing them?”

He clenched his jaw. “I could kill you right now.”

“Sure, you can. But will you? You know what the penalty is for killing an oracle.”

“I’m the law of the land,” he roared.

“For the moment. But I was speaking about the punishment the gods will heap onto your shoulders.”

“The gods are dead.”

She just smiled at him.

“Guards, chain her to the chair.”

They reluctantly obeyed him.

“I do love physically torturing my subjects, but I find that using magic is also very satisfying.”

“You are not a magician,” Seraphina challenged.

“Oh, but Zorne is a powerful sorcerer, and I think that his love for inflicting pain is even greater than mine.”

Keep calm. You knew this was coming. It must happen. The situation has to be drastic enough for Dain to call on his bloodline.

“Let’s start with something simple. Where is Dain?”

“Preparing to take back his kingdom as the rightful king.”

Malakar smiled cruelly. He motioned lazily to the man standing behind him. Zorne stepped forward. He was tall and thin, almost gaunt. He wore a black cloak.

Seraphina suppressed a shudder when she saw the sadistic look in Zorne’s eyes. Evilness exuded from him, filling the room with the foul stench of death and despair.

Zorne murmured an incantation and a thin silver string slithered through the air, wrapping around her. Every muscle tensed up, as an icy coldness and searing fire flowed through her veins.

She clenched her jaw closed to keep from screaming in pain.

Malakar knelt beside her. “This is only the beginning, Oracle. I want you to be completely broken when Dain finds you. He’ll be too late to save you.” He chuckled. “It’s like killing two birds with one stone.

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