Page 40 of The Ruby Dragon Prince
“My good people,” King Freslik said, pretending to be gracious. “I apologize for the interruption to our celebration. I can assure you that no harm will come to the farmers. Let it be known this day that King Freslik is the savior of the farmers and that I and I alone have stopped all of you from being cheated and diminished by that wicked councilor!”
The crowd burst into applause, smiling at their king.
“What?” Tovey demanded, incredulity blazing from him. “Didn’t any of them listen? It was my father who caused the problem in the first place and now they believe that he is the one who saved them?”
“For now,” I sighed, shaking my head. “People want peace, and sometimes they’ll take it in any way they can get it, whether wisely or not.”
“It isn’t right,” Tovey said. “I’m not certain I want to live in a world where people are like this.”
I smiled sadly, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Fortunately for you, you do not have to.”
Tovey turned to smile at me. I could feel the love in his gaze and I replied with as much reassurance as I could send through our bond.
“Tovey! Tovey!” Prince Rumi called to him, as he and the other princes gestured for us to join them.
“Come on,” I said, resting a hand on the small of my omega’s back and nudging him forward. “Your brothers need you. Now is the time for us to celebrate the small victory we have gained.”
I believed it, even though I knew more victories were needed before justice was done.
Chapter
Twelve
Tovey
It was supposed to be a victory. My father and Lord Groswick’s plan to tax and impoverish the farmers had failed and Lord Groswick had been thrown into the dungeon for who knew how long. Everything that my brothers and I had hoped to accomplish was complete.
So why did I feel so hollow?
“Tovey!” Obi climbed down from the dais and rushed to me ahead of the rest of my brothers as Rufus and I made our way over to them. “That was amazing!”
“Look at what you did!” Leo exclaimed, running ahead of Obi to hug me. He laughed as he picked me up and spun me around. “You were braver than even me.”
I laughed, my spirits buoyed slightly as my brothers surrounded me, but my heart continued to fret. Something was wrong. Something was incomplete.
“Father made it look like Lord Groswick was the only one to blame,” I sighed, leaning into Rufus as he stood beside me. “He escaped blame.”
“This time,” Selle said as he joined us, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Knowing Father, there will be a next time.”
“I don’t think everyone believed he was innocent at all,” Rumi said, shaking his head. “In fact, if you look around, I think most people don’t believe Father. It’s just that the ones who do believe him are loud.”
“Why do they have to be so loud?” Misha sighed.
“It doesn’t matter,” Leo said, shifting to throw his arm over my shoulder, despite Rufus standing right next to me. In fact, I wondered if Rufus still bore part of the concealment that made him difficult for others to notice. “Today we had a victory, and I think we should celebrate.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Rumi said, grinning. He noticed Rufus then and said, “You’re more than welcome to join us. You are our brother’s mate. Our victory is your victory, and our celebration is your celebration.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Selle said.
“I would be honored to celebrate with you,” Rufus said, sounding cautious instead of happy, “but I don’t think our celebration can happen here.”
He nodded to the side, and we all turned to find not only Father’s guards, but Father himself marching toward us, looking furious.
I turned back to Rufus, but he’d taken a large step back. I was certain then that he’d resumed his disguise.
“How dare you?” Father railed at me as he stormed right up to stand toe-to-toe with me. “How dare you and that man, whoever he is, destroy my plans? Where is the man anyhow? Guards! Find the blackguard who importuned Prince Tovey and bring him to me!”
“Go!” I whispered, turning my head but not daring to look directly at Rufus in case that gave his disguise away. “I’ll come and find you in the magical world. I’m ready to stay with you there now.”
