Page 22 of The Gold Dragon Prince
Icould forgive my alpha for a wicked sorceress flirting with him. I supposed. My initial indignation at the way Saoirse threw herself at Gildur diminished because it was clear Gildur did not return her affections. And his explanation about how so many people were seduced by gold without actually wanting him was downright heartbreaking.
I still had my doubts about why, when he knew Saoirse was up to no good, Gildur would allow something like a garden party planning meeting to take place. Or rather, I questioned Queen Gaia’s reasons for allowing it to go forward. If Queen Gaia truly was as all-powerful as so many of the people of the magical kingdom seemed to think she was, then why did she not just call Saoirse before her, reveal that she knew all about her plan to usurp her, and throw her into some sort of magical dungeon?
Then again, throwing people into dungeons was what my father did, and Father most definitely was not a good ruler, let alone a good man. Maybe Queen Gaia was a good ruler after all by allowing one of her recalcitrant subjects to mend her ways, though I already doubted from what I’ve seen of her that Saoirse would ever do any such thing.
But all of those thoughts were banished from my mind entirely when I suddenly found myself face to face with Lord Manfred.
“Er, sorry, I beg your pardon,” Lord Manfred said, clearing his throat and shuffling to one side, as if he knew he was somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be and wanted to avoid company.
He paused halfway through turning around to head in the other direction, glancing over his shoulder at me, eyes narrowed.
“Is something amiss, sir?” Gildur asked him. I was startled by my alpha’s oddly subservient manner, until I realized he was supposed to be one of the head gardeners and not a dragon prince.
Lord Manfred turned back to me, narrowing his eyes and screwing up his face even more. “Do I know you?” he asked.
“I…um….”
“I doubt it,” Gildur answered for me. “This is Sel—er, Selby, a new undergardener I’ve just hired. I’ve been giving him a tour of the garden.”
Lord Manfred continued to stare at me, sweeping my body with a look. I clutched my egg closer when his gaze seemed to linger over my stomach for a moment. I suspected Gildur had worked some kind of magic to make the egg unnoticeable, like Rufus had clothed himself in magic so that he wouldn’t be noticed at the festival in myfather’s kingdom the month before, but that concealment didn’t seem to extend to me.
“Hmm,” Lord Manfred said. “You seem familiar, but then, all you serfs look the same.”
“Too true, sir,” Gildur said, nodding. “If you will excuse us, Lady Saoirse has asked us to serve for her party.”
“Then do as you’re told,” Lord Manfred said with a sniff before moving on. He glanced back over his shoulder at me with a frown, though.
As soon as he was out of view, I let out a long breath and rubbed my egg as if it needed calming. In fact, I was the one who needed calming.
“You know that man?” Gildur asked, though it needn’t have been a question. He could feel my feelings, so he must have known it was so.
“He was once a courtier at my father’s castle,” I explained. I gasped as I remembered something horrible. “I think Father allowed him to take one of Rumi’s heats years ago. Rumi wouldn’t talk about it after.”
The spike of rage that shot through Gildur was enough to make me flinch. “Your father is a barbarian,” he said, grasping my hand and leading me on, closer to the manor house. “I have half a mind to tell Emmerich what you’ve just told me and have him deal with Lord Manfred.”
“Emmerich?” I asked. I blinked as several things made sense all of a sudden. “Emmerich! The emerald marble. The one Rumi was given by his ordinary man.”
Gildur glanced back at me as we crossed through a narrow border and into a large lawn. Tables were already set up and liveried servants were rushing about with last-minute decorations and plates of food and drink.
“My brother, Emmerich, is anything but an ordinaryman,” he said.
“He’s Rumi’s fated mate, isn’t he?” I asked. “He’s the one who gave Rumi the marble that opened the door into this world.”
“Yes, and I’m not entirely certain he had Mother’s permission for that marble,” Gildur said, grinning slightly. He lost his grin a moment later as he asked, “You say this Manfred personusedto be a courtier at your father’s court?”
I frowned and kept my voice low as I said, “Father discovered a plot by Lord Manfred to overthrow him. At least, that’s what he always ranted about. He banished Lord Manfred from the kingdom, though I have no idea how he ended up here.”
Gildur hummed in concern, but put on a pleasant expression and nudged me through our bond to do the same as Lady Saoirse and several of her guests spilled out of the house and into the lawn. “I’ve no idea either,” he said.
“I’ll find out,” I told him, suddenly excited as I felt I had my own personal mission to match the one Gildur’s mother had sent him on.
We’d nearly reached the long table off to one side and partially concealed by planters, where the servants had set up something of a staging area to serve food and drinks. Gildur paused and turned to me. “You will not. It’s too dangerous,” he said in a low voice, staring intently at me. “The man already believes he’s recognized you. Besides which, I want you to stay close to me at all times.”
“That’s not much of a way to discover the information we need to know,” I told him, my expression flat. My dragon mate needed to trust me more.
“I do not want you to be hurt,” Gildur insisted.
“Gildur, Lady Saoirse is asking for you,” one of the matronly servants called to us. “She wants you to give her guests a tour of all the work you’ve done in the gardens.”
