Page 5 of The Diamond Dragon Prince
“Diamonds are fickle and self-indulgent,” Gildur laughed, fortunately. We might have occasionally been at odds with each other, but that didn’t stop us from loving each other. “You’re starting to sound like Rufus,” he added.
“Who’s starting to sound like me?” Rufus asked, striding over to join us. He stood behind Tovey and wrapped his arms possessively around his mate.
“Diamant,” Gildur said, nodding to me. “He wants to create a doorway between worlds so his omega can charge off into battle against King Freslik.”
“You? Diamant?” Rufus blinked in surprise. He frowned a moment later and glanced from me to Leo then back again. “What is that bastard king up to now?” he asked.
“We don’t know,” Leo said, speaking to my brother as if he, too, were an alpha and a dragon. “Selle has a scrying glass, and through it, we were able to see into my father’s world.”
“There’s a small army attacking a village on the outskirts of our father’s kingdom,” Selle explained, twisting to address Gildur with a honeyed look, like he was determined to get what he wanted from his mate. “We cannot let our father continue to attack his own people this way.”
Gildur looked at me as if it were my fault, but he didn’t dismiss the whole thing the way I assumed he might. “I’ve been in King Freslik’s court,” he said. “That man has no morals or scruples. He would destroy his own people if he thought it could bring him more gold and prestige.”
“I don’t dispute that,” Rufus said. “Something must be done about the man.”
“Precisely,” Leo said, pounding his fist into his palm. “It’s up to us to do something. Time is wasting, we must act.”
“Time between that world and this one moves differently,” Gildur reminded us. “You’re being hasty. This attack might not have happened yet. Where did you get that glass anyhow?” he asked Selle.
“From Billi,” Selle said, then, without Gildur having to ask the question or open the discussion, he went on with, “I trust Billi’s magic.”
Gildur still didn’t look happy. “I’m not saying that something doesn’t need to be done, but I don’t want my mate or our egg involved in another fiasco with King Freslik. My nerves still haven’t recovered from our last adventure.”
“And I’m not sure that I should go either,” Tovey said, wincing slightly. “The twins are at a fragile age right now.”
Leo blew out an impatient breath. “Then we’ll go,” he said, turning to me as if the two of us running off to fight villains was a usual occurrence. “You can open a doorway to somewhere near this village for just the two of us. We could take them together.”
I smiled, whether it was the appropriate time for a smile or not. “Careful, my little fireball. If you tempt me too much with your ferocity, we’ll never reach the battle in the first place.”
Leo’s face flushed with heat. I could practically see the blood pumping through him, particularly the intimate parts of him. It was even better when he asked, “Are you trying to stop me from defending my people, dragon?”
“I would never dream of it,” I said in a low growl.
“Right,” Gildur said impatiently. “If these two are going to flirt over a battle, then I say let them. But I’m keeping my omega close to home.”
“And I’m doing the same,” Rufus said.
“I want to go!” Prince Obi said, all smiles and excitement. “I’ve never actually fought a battle before, but I’d like to do something to make a difference.”
“I’ll go as well,” Rumi said with a firm nod.
Emmerich would be proud of his omega mate. Argus would simply be amused by his.
“Um, I’m not certain I’m much of a fighter,” Prince Misha said, looking bashful.
Azurus would be charmed by his fated mate. I wasn’t certain whether the two of them had even met yet, but I knew it.
“You don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to,” Leo said, resting a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We can handle this.”
“With confidence like that, I’m certain you can,” Rufus said, though I could tell he was mostly amused by Leo’s fight.
“We should go as swiftly as possible, then,” I said, wanting to reach out and pull Leo into my arms rather than rush off to a cold, hard battle. “That way, we can gain our victory and return to dance away the rest of the ball before it ends.”
My brothers knew that was just a lot of bravado, but they nodded in agreement all the same.
“Let’s go,” Leo said, taking my hand like he would lead me off to fight.
I grinned and let him lead me, although once we reached the edge of the lake, I stepped ahead of him tosummon a bridge to take us over to the forest. Prince Rumi and Prince Obi followed behind us.
