Page 45 of The Mountain King
Chapter Fifteen
Maddugh allowed Kailigh to lead. It gave him the opportunity to observe how she handled herself, the way she moved and communicated with the townspeople. The balance between command and ease, the questions she asked and of whom. He had to ensure she would, in fact, make him a good queen. He wasn’t inclined to take a queen in name only—marriage didn’t work like that. A wife would be privy to his thoughts and actions, would have to be trusted, by dint of her constant proximity, with his secrets and matters of states. Granted the ‘state’ wasn’t what it had once been. But his first step in forcing his people to dip their toes back into the human world would be to take a woman as queen who was from it.
Maddugh sighed. Times had changed. They must also change, or be washed away. She was Dwyrkin enough not to activate his instinct to dine. It was why he stayed away from the mines—Amnan was less troubled by his belly when among the mortals. Maybe because he’d been raised here. But Maddugh? The urge to chomp still occasionally troubled him.
Kailigh led him to a darker section of the bar. “Stay here,” she said, voice short. “I go to talk to one of the girls—they won’t say anything if you’re with me.”
Her autocratic nature amused him—since he’d already decided to wed her. If she’d been anyone else, she would have found herself on the wrong end of his flame. He planned to temper her fire, thoroughly, as soon as she was done with this courting business.
Maddugh sat, ordered the bartender to bring him something strong, and inspected the glass with a critical eye when it was brought to him.
“We wash the dishes,” the man said, sour.
“I’m sure that you do,” he replied, eyeing the glass.
“You’re not a Domer, are ya?”
“No, indeed.” Maddugh smiled pleasantly. “I’m simply here to escort my lady.”
The bartender’s eyes followed his nod towards Kailigh. He snorted. “That harpy? She’d just as soon cut off your balls than lick em.”
“That may be, but you will be respectful.”
The man looked at him sideways, then sidled off. Good. Maddugh’s face was not instantly recognized in the human town—he came here rarely, and mostly in flight and at night. There was no point to disturb Kailigh’s research over what she’d consider a trifle.
“You’re with Kai?”
Maddugh glanced at the human who slid onto a stool next to him. An overly friendly smile and nails that were far too clean for the job Maddugh paid him to do.
“Yes,” Maddugh said. “I am.”
“That’s odd.” Gaston took a sip of his beer and angled himself towards Maddugh. “I’ve never seen you here before, and Kai isn’t the relationship type.”
He was beginning to tire of other men speculating on the characterizes ofhiswoman. Maddugh drew a silver coin from his inner vest pocket and placed it on the counter.
“I don’t pay you to indulge in sordid speculation regarding my queen,” he said.
Gaston held up his hands. “Apologies. I’ve known her—and the girls—since she first came here, years ago.” He smiled. “We go all the way back. Some good times.”
Maddugh stared at Gaston, considered how the man would taste with a creamy garlic sauce. When he spoke again, his voice was very, very gentle. “You want something.”
Gaston’s smile faded. Maybe the man wasn’t as stupid as he seemed. “I was hoping you’d had time to reconsider the proposal. I spoke to Kailigh—”
Maddugh’s hand lashed out, grabbing the human by the cloth at his neck. “If I hear her name on your lips one more time, I will snack on your brains.”
The foreman’s face turned a sickly shade. “I didn’t mean any harm.”
Maddugh’s head snapped towards the bartender as the click of a rifle sounded. “Put that away before you hurt yourself.”
Distantly, he heard a familiar feminine voice snarl. Wonderful—now he was in trouble with his wife.
“Put that away, you shit for brains,” Gaston snapped at the bartender. “Do you know who this is?”
“Don’t care. Won’t be havin’ no excitement in my place tonight.”
Maddugh respected a man’s right to keep peace in his domicile… but didn’t he own the lease on the land this building was sitting on? He eyed the man, setting Gaston back onto his stool, then held out his hand.
“I am Maddugh. My apologies for my temper.”
