by Marcy Jacks
Whether it was because he was now aware of just why he’d been so sick as of late or because the egg was making him even sicker, Dravick couldn’t tell.
Kraigan was also in a mood, and he appeared to be searching for someone in the great hall, someone who was not making an appearance. When Dravick asked him what the matter was, the warrior grumbled at him and nearly told him, his king, to mind his own damned business.
Dravick would have to have a word with him later. At the moment, Novik was more concerned about what this could possibly mean to the nest. Some dragons had clapped and cheered when the news was made public over a good meal that Adam had dragon blood inside of him and now had an egg inside of him as well.
In fact, more than some. More than half, Dravick was willing to bet, but there were those who had shaken their heads, clearly disgusted with the entire thing.
Which was about when Dravick rose from his seat, lifted a goblet of fruit juice from his breakfast arrangement, and toasted Adam’s good health, as well as his union with Novik.
The entire nest, everyone who had been inside of the great hall, had no choice but to toast with him, whether they wanted to or not.
It was high time the rest of the nest saw their king accepting Novik’s new mate. Dravick had accepted the man for a while now, but it was different for him to simply accept Adam as a new member of his family. He needed to show the nest that he accepted him.
The nest needed to see it, and some people were angry enough that they stormed out of the great hall when all of the toasting had been said and done.
He was going to have to write in some new laws.
As he sat down, Dravick allowed his mind to wander over to Aaron. Aaron was not simply working Dravick’s table. The man had gone to help some of the other servants, who were having difficulty keeping up with the demand. Someone must have been ill, but Aaron was down there, refilling drink glasses and taking away dirty plates.
Dravick’s lips pulled up at the sight of him. He would make a new law, a law that stated humans and dragons were free to intermingle, to mate, and to socialize and even take each other for mates if they wished.
Of course, there was no law against such a thing, but if Dravick wrote it down, signed his name, and pressed the royal seal to the ledger, then it would be official.
Not only would those who created disturbances be harassing the humans, they would also be breaking a law set in place by their king.
Dravick could allow the nest to become used to it. Changing the minds of an entire people could take years, but thanks to Novik and Adam, that process had already been started. In fact, it had been jump-started. When their young arrived, perhaps even more of his people would come around to the idea that having human blood was not such a bad thing.
Aaron was a full human. He had no dragon blood, but with this law in place, Dravick could slowly sink it into the minds of his people that he was supporting this, and they would as well, if they knew what was good for them.
Perhaps, in a couple of years, hopefully no more than two or three, Dravick could make his love for Aaron public. He could announce that he’d found his mate and that he expected the full support of the nest in his decision.
Dravick could even name Novik’s child as his heir. Novik was family, after all, so it was a perfectly logical step.
As if sensing there were eyes on him, Aaron turned to look up, and his pretty blue eyes widened slightly when he realized Dravick was looking at him.
Dravick did not look away. He continued to smile, in a daze as he made plans for himself and his lover.
In a few years, with Novik’s child and Dravick’s law, there would be less danger to Aaron if he was discovered to be the king’s lover. There might not be any danger to him at all.
Many of the traitors who had kidnapped Adam, Blue, Jason, and Athy had been dealt with after all. Dravick had brought his sword down on their heads himself.
It was suspected that there were no others, that everyone else had stayed away from the nest in fear for their lives and that they had no intention of coming back.
Risking another man’s life on a suspicion was not always a wise thing. Dravick would have to ask Aaron what he thought of this plan.
Ha! A king who wanted the approval of a servant? His nest would most assuredly rebel if they knew of such a thing.
Aaron’s cheeks bloomed, becoming a lovely shade of red, almost as deep as the color of the rose that Dravick had drawn for the man in that note. Did he still have it? What had he done with it?
Dravick would have to ask him that as well.
The rest of breakfast was quite uneventful. Kraigan asked Adam some question or another about Jason. Javik waved to Athy down in the common tables like a love-sick child, and Lightning hand-fed Blue some sort of cream puff sweet. Blue blushed and smiled as he opened his mouth, clearly enjoying the attention.
Dravick almost hated to have to ruin the mood when he rose from his seat once more and called a meeting. “All of you, I have important business to discuss. Alone.”
His warriors looked amongst each other then quickly nodded.
Dravick would give them five minutes to handle their mates. Blue and Adam might not be completely human, but they were still human enough that they needed protection, especially after what had happened, and though Javik had not announced that he was taking the red-headed female as a mate, it seemed clear that was where their relationship was heading.
Dravick sent one last soft glance to Aaron before he made his way to his rooms, let himself inside, and went to his office.
He took a pen, opened an inkbottle, and got to work writing up a quick, rough draft of what he had in mind before his men arrived.
* * * *
Aaron took the trolley of leftover food from the buffet line back to the kitchens. He would go back for the rest of the dirty dishes and soiled tablecloths later.
Still hungry from having skipped breakfast, again, he decided to snag one of the egg sandwiches with cheese from the metal heater. He loved these. They were his absolute favorite, and he hadn’t known anything could taste so delicious until he’d come to live in this nest. There was nothing finer than an egg sandwich with cheese and thick slabs of bacon on it.
He got a couple of friendly jabs for that as a few of the other servants called for him to hurry up, to stop slacking, and to get back to work. Only one or two actually meant it, so Aaron hurriedly stuffed another egg sandwich into his mouth before putting the rest of the food into the cold boxes.
Even though there was very little technology and electricity in the nest, even in Dravick’s rooms—and he was the king—the things that always had a constant supply of electricity were the cold boxes.
Aaron wrapped the rest of the food, put it all away, nice and neatly in its place, and then rushed out the door to get back to the great hall so he could help finish clean up.
He’d just finished swallowing down the last bite of his breakfast and was licking his fingers when he rounded the corner.
He bumped into a large, heavy chest and a pair of wide shoulders.
He looked up, and up, and up. The face staring back down at him scowled, angry gray eyes turning into slits like those of a snake.
A dragon. His size alone was enough to give it away, but the eyes were always enough to make Aaron just frightened enough to want to put some distance between himself and the man he’d offended.
“Pardon me,” he said, stepping around him. “I did not mean to rush into you.”
He hurried off, or would have if a giant hand hadn’t caught him by the shoulder.
“Wait a minute, human,” he said, his voice gruff as he yanked Aaron back, forcing him to look up into the man’s face one more time.
He was so tall, taller than Dravick even, and Dravick was by no means a small man.
This might be a recruit, someone who was in training to become a warrior, or at the very least a carpenter. He certainly looked as though he spent his time carrying aro
und heavy loads.
At first Aaron was fine, if a little irritated that he was being grabbed like this. When he realized that the other people in the hallway with him, his only witnesses and, therefore, his only protection, were more dragons, his nerves spiked.
The dragons in the hall stepped forward, as if it was their chance to do so now that Aaron had been stopped.
Aaron swallowed hard. “I apologized for bumping into you,” he said, trying to shift out from the man’s grip. “I’ll be late for the rest of my chores. The others are expecting me.
The two other dragon men surrounded him, closing in on him, and Aaron watched the end of the hallway, waiting for something, another servant pushing a trolley or one of the warriors, anyone.
No one came.
“A little birdy tells us that you might be warming the king’s bed. Like dragon cock, do you?”
Aaron tensed. He shook his head, a denial immediately spouting from his lips. “That’s a lie. I’m sorry, but you misheard.”
“What do you think?” asked the dragon holding on to him, turning to one of his companions, the one with the crooked teeth.
Crooked Teeth smiled down at him, an ugly smile that made Aaron shiver. “This one’s lying. You can smell it all over him.”
“It’s bad enough the warriors are taking to humans, now the king, too?” asked the last male, the one with the shaved head.
Aaron shook his head, struggling more, but Crooked Teeth’s hands came down on his hips. “Easy, easy now. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
The feel of those hands on him didn’t calm him. They made him almost wild. He jumped and bucked, but the dragons holding him just laughed, chuckling as though they held onto a toddler instead of a grown adult.
“Let me go,” Aaron said. “Someone will come and see you.”
The leader turned to Shaved Head. “You made a good mess, didn’t you?”
Shaved Head nodded. “Kicked over a couple of tables. They’ll be busy with that for a while.”
“Let me go!” Aaron snapped, slamming his fist up and forward. Pain exploded in his knuckles when he caught the leader’s nose, but it also must’ve hurt him, too, since he howled in pain.
“You little shit!” he snapped, eyes blazing as he slammed his own fist down on the side of Aaron’s head.
Aaron saw white. It exploded in front of his eyes, but he did not pass out. Not really. He was aware of being dragged off somewhere against his will. His body was limp and weak. He could barely summon the strength to nudge any of his muscles into action.
His brain was still very awake and very much in a panic when Aaron heard doors closing behind him as he was taken deeper and deeper into the nest.
“Don’t do this. You don’t want to do this,” he said. He thought he said that, anyway. He couldn’t be sure if the words came out slurred or not, but he was fairly certain that none of these men, as mean and angry as they seemed to be, would be doing this on their own without the other two to spur them on. Some things could be done only in groups, and Aaron did not want to be killed because these men had talked themselves into thinking this was a good idea.
“Someone shut him up already. Someone might hear him.”
That sounded like Crooked Teeth, and his tone was panicked. All the same, someone still put his hand over Aaron’s mouth.
Chapter Nine
Dravick revealed the rough draft of what would become his new law to his warriors when they arrived, to great appreciation from his men.
His insides warmed when they expressed their happiness. Javik sighed and threw his hands in the air. “About damned time,” he said and then rushed off, not to be seen again for the rest of the day.
Dravick hadn’t given the man permission to leave, but he’d run away so quickly there wasn’t much that could be done.
In all likelihood, he was off to see Athy and to finally do something about his lust for her. Dravick would let the man’s insult slip this one time, but that was it.
Novik seemed especially impressed with him. The man had clapped him on the back, thanking him even.
Dravick hadn’t known how much a law like this would mean to the man, and guilt ate away at his insides for the offense he surely must have caused.
Dravick had been thinking of himself when he wrote out this law, of his own happiness that could be had with Aaron. He’d assumed that Novik already had enough happiness and that the man simply needed to better protect his mate, and that would be enough.
It wasn’t. A law like this, set in stone and announced by the king himself, was different and a thousand times more powerful than simply having the protection of the leader of the dragon warriors.
Dravick nodded, grateful in that moment that he could offer some help to Novik and eager to give more.
He and his men spent the next several hours going over the finer points of the laws, searching for any loopholes and immediately including humans who had dragon blood inside of them. Humans who claimed to have dragon blood were also to be included, though there was no real way of knowing one way or the other. Blue was an obvious case, his hair and fingernails gave away his heritage, but Adam was different. Dravick would have never known about his own dragon heritage had the man not turned out to be pregnant.
Javik returned, a smile on his face and cheeks flushed from whatever activities he’d been partaking in with Athy, and they continued on.
They wrote and rewrote all the way through lunch, and only when dinnertime closed in did Dravick wish to put aside the piles and piles of notes that had been made.
So many papers were crumpled on the floor, half-ideas that had gone nowhere or needed to be fleshed out before they could be of any proper use.
Dravick was tired, however, and more than anything, in that moment, he wanted to see Aaron.
He wanted to see him, to tell him of his new ideas, and see what the man thought of them.
When they made their way to the great hall, and the food was laid out and plated, Aaron was nowhere to be found.
Dravick searched for him, but he could not see the man rushing between tables, providing extra cutlery or taking away dishes that were no longer needed.
In fact, someone different came to serve Dravick his wine, and a spike of irritation immediately welled up inside of him.
“Excuse me, where is Aaron?” he asked. Demanded more likely. The man was missing, and the part of Dravick that was used to having him there, a constant presence during these times, riled him up inside.
The servant seemed to jump a little, as though not expecting to be spoken to by the king whilst in the middle of pouring wine.
He nearly spilled it all over Kraigan’s lap.
“I’m sorry, Majesty, but you were speaking to me?”
No, the human behind you. “Yes, to you,” Dravick said. “Aaron, my usual servant. Where is he? Is he ill?”
Some of the servants hadn’t been present at breakfast, and while Dravick couldn’t speak for lunch, Aaron must not have been there either because another servant had to come to Dravick’s rooms with a trolley. At the time, Dravick had been curious, but he’d let it slide, assuming that Aaron had been caught up with something else and had not been present when the food order had come in.
Now, he found himself worrying. Where was he?
The servant shook his head. “I’m sorry, Majesty, but I don’t know where he is. We couldn’t find him. I think he went to bed though.”
That answer did not sit well with Dravick. “You claim to not be able to find him, but you assume that he is in bed?”
“Jason was in bed this morning as well,” he said, pointing out the brunet who was serving tables.
“What was wrong with him?” Kraigan demanded, cutting into the conversation.
The poor human looked between his king and one of the dragon warriors. His mouth parted, and he looked as though he was trapped. “I...he said he wasn’t feeling very well. We could all see it in his face. He was sick. He slept in for the
morning, but when Aaron didn’t show up for the lunch shift, he got up and decided to help. He’s been good like that.”
Jason was clearly well liked amongst the servants. Kraigan just returned to scowling, both at Jason, who struggled to keep up with refilling water and wine goblets, and down at his own plate.
Dravick wanted to let this go, he really and truly did. He wanted to be the sort of man who trusted his lover enough to let him be for a day. What would Aaron think if Dravick demanded they be joined at the hip at all times? It was ridiculous.
Dravick thanked the servant and sent him on his way, but he could eat no more than a few bites of his potatoes before he wiped his mouth and set down his napkin.
When he pushed his chair back, he caught the attention of the rest of his men.
“What’s the matter?” Novik asked, getting to his feet.
Dravick looked down at Novik’s hand. The man seemed ready to follow Dravick wherever he needed to go, but he also held on to his mate's pale hand, offering Adam comfort even when he was not thinking about it.
Dravick wanted to do this on his own. Just because he was a king did not mean that he was a child or that he could not handle himself in his own nest.
“Stay with your mate. I’ll return shortly. No one move,” Dravick snapped when it looked as though Lightning and Tatsu were about to get to their feet.
Dravick wanted to be alone, and he meant to be alone. If he needed help in finding Aaron, he would come back for them.
And he would be coming back soon if he could not locate the servant quickly.
Dravick went back to his rooms, just in case Aaron happened to go there after Dravick and his men had left. No. He wasn’t there. Dravick searched out their usual meeting places, spots where they came together, even though they could not speak because they had also been public areas.
All the same, it had been nice to sit in his garden during the few warmer months of the year, enjoying a book or working at a table while Aaron stood by, ready to serve him more tea, or even just being there.
