The Dragon King's Pet (Dragon Brides Book 3)

by Loki Renard

  Casimer’s head shot back and he looked at Lazarus in surprise. “She was yelling at you? Why?”

  “I had cause to thrash one of the maids. Your pet took exception to that. She came to me and launched into a tirade as to how it was not my right to lay hands on the maids.” Lazarus smirked. “She threatened me—and then the change overcame her. It was quite something to see.”

  More shocked by the events than either of the men, Mika was showing signs of clear distress now, her cries mournful and confused. She cast her head about, flapped her wings uselessly, and looked toward him with great golden eyes that held so much emotion. In spite of what had clearly been gross misbehavior, Casimer felt sorry for her. The first shift could be frightening, especially if it happened without warning. It sounded as though she had lost control of herself and spontaneously taken her flight form. Having no idea how she had gotten there, she had no idea how to turn back. It was a matter of becoming calm, but of course, her fear prevented her mind from stilling enough to take her walking form again. She would not understand words, he wagered, so he was left only with action.

  Casimer shifted, his regal flight form flowing to opulent white dragon. He comforted the frightened female, covering her with his wing and snorting softly against the side of her neck. Mika pressed close to him, folding her wings tight against her body and nuzzling under his jaw with an expression of pure relief. He was twice her size, which allowed her to hide entirely beneath his wing, something she seemed to be glad of.

  It took more than an hour for her trembling to cease. Casimer stayed with her, his eyes closed, his head tucked under his wing, dozing as his pet snuggled with him.

  Finally he felt her slip away, the warmth where her body had been dissipating quickly. He looked down and saw that Mika was utterly naked, curled up on the ground, fast asleep.

  Casimer took his walking form too, scooped her up in his arms, and carried her exhausted form to his bedchamber. She would sleep for a long time, he wagered. Full-blooded dragons undergoing their first change slept for a day or more following it, and she was mostly human. Who knew how her physical form would react to the violent changes it had been subjected to. To his immense relief, her breathing was coming steady and slow, and her pulse was likewise strong. She did not seem ill. She just seemed utterly exhausted.

  * * *

  “Everything is sore,” Mika moaned. She’d woken up in Casimer’s bed, relieved to find herself human again, but feeling as if her entire body had been run over several times. On closer inspection, there was not a mark on her skin. Everything was perfect and taut and toned just as it had been, but she felt like she should have been a pancake.

  “Your body has performed an evolution unlike any it was ever made to undergo,” Casimer murmured. “Pain is normal. Drink this and it will soothe the aches.”

  Mika sat up slowly and sipped the brew. It tasted like berries and regret, but the last part might just have been her own mood taking effect.

  “Is it always that hard?”

  “No,” he said. “It is like losing your virginity. The first time is painful. After that, it begins to feel good. Once you are practiced, it will come with ease and bring you great pleasure.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t know what that’s like,” Mika murmured, taking more of the brew. She felt awful.

  Casimer slid in next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into the sheltering curve of his body. He was largely silent, but she could feel the stern mood emanating from him, and she knew precisely why he was annoyed. Lazarus must have told on her.

  “You’re mad at me, aren’t you,” she said, looking up at him from under her lashes.

  “I’m proud of you for finding your dragon side,” Casimer said. “And I am utterly disappointed in you for the behavior you displayed to Lord Lazarus.”

  “He deserved everything I said and worse,” Mika said. “He thinks Lythia is beatable because she doesn’t have a title and happens to be a female. And she didn’t even defend herself while he did that to her.”

  “What if I told you Lythia needed that? What if I told you she had an appetite for it?”

  “What if I told you that’s a stupid idea,” Mika replied, annoyed. “She doesn’t need to be caned. She’s a sweet girl who always tries to please.”

  “She tries to please you, true,” Casimer said. “But Lazarus does not punish for no reason. And like you, Lythia isn’t always innocent. I have no doubt Lazarus did what he needed to do. You may not like it, but he was well within his rights, and you will apologize for your rudeness.”

  “Okay,” Mika said, chewing her lower lip. “I’ll do it—under one condition.”

  “You are not in any position to be calling for conditions,” Casimer warned. “But you may make a request.”

  “I want you to give Lythia to me. As my servant. Please. Lazarus is too cruel and I need a companion of my own. So I don’t have to distract the other maids. Or at least, distract them less.”

  “You want your own serving maid, pet?”

  “I don’t want a maid,” Mika said. “I mean, I don’t want someone to boss around.”

  “I know,” Casimer smiled. “You want someone to get into trouble with. I do not know if I should give you a partner in crime, pet. But…” He held up his hand before she could launch into pleas and protests. “I will grant your wish if you are able to make a full apology to Lord Lazarus.”

  “I didn’t do anything to him, except tell him the truth,” Mika said, her eyes narrowed with obvious contempt. “You know I’m only going to apologize to stop him from getting Lythia again.”

  “I know you’re going to do it, which is all that matters,” Casimer said. “Sometimes a royal must act diplomatically.”

  “You mean sometimes a royal must lie. Like calling me a royal, when in reality I’m your toy. Your pet.”

  “You’re as much a part of this royal family as anyone ever has been,” Casimer replied. “You sleep in my bed, you have my ear…” His voice softened into a low rumble. “And my heart.”

  “What…” Mika stared at him, her eyes suddenly welling. “Are you…”

  “I love you, my sweet little naughty pet,” he said, pressing a kiss first to her forehead and then to her lips. “I have loved you from the beginning.”

  “I love you too,” she said with a little sniff. “Thank you for… helping me when I got stuck in the dragon form. That was the strangest thing I’ve ever experienced. I was so scared. I couldn’t think properly, my brain was so strange…”

  “That is the part of you which is forever and always dragon,” Casimer explained. “It will become easier for you to think and shift over time. You did very well, Mika. It could have been a much more traumatic event. You could have given into your hunger. You could have flown into the distance. You could have done a hundred things, but you waited for me. That is why I am giving you Lythia. Because although your shift came at the cost of losing your temper at Lord Lazarus, you were obedient in that form.”

  “I was, wasn’t I,” Mika smiled. She didn’t say that she’d been far too scared to even think about attempting flight, or getting something to eat. The experience of being clad in scales, of having great wings that flapped awkwardly had not been a pleasant one, and she was not looking forward to repeating it. If she never took her dragon form again it would be too soon.

  “Mhm.” Casimer kissed her head, stood up, and scooped her from the bed. She stood there as he wrapped a gown and shawl about her shoulders. “Let’s go make that apology, pet.”

  * * *

  Casimer took her into the den of the douchebag himself. Mika still did not like Lazarus one bit, and the thought of apologizing to him was hateful. The thought of being punished by Casimer in her aching state was even less pleasant however.

  The Lord Lazarus stood before her looking dark and serious. He was not an unappealing man, but Mika did not care for him at all, so his handsome qualities were irrelevant. He also failed to hold a can
dle to Casimer.

  “I am sorry, Lord Lazarus, for…” She paused and gathered her resolve. “For speaking to you with such disrespect. I am sure it was very traumatic…”

  “Mika…” Casimer’s low growl warned her.

  “I am sore… I mean, sure, that it wasn’t appropriate, so I’m sorry about that.”

  “That was not an apology,” Lazarus said bluntly.

  “What do you want?” Mika scowled with frustration. “You hurt Lythia. I got angry at you. I’m apologizing because he’s making me, not because I’m sorry. I’m not sorry.”

  “Well, at least she’s honest,” Lazarus said with a sigh. “I am sorry, sire, I do not think there will be anything gained here.”

  “Remember, Mika. It is not just your fate that hangs in the balance,” Casimer hissed in her ear. “You are embarrassing me, but more than that, you are depriving Lythia the joy of becoming your servant—though that might be for the best, given your behavior. You do not deserve a servant, pet. You deserve a thorough thrashing, and a gag, as you apparently cannot contain the spite of your tongue.”

  “I’m sorry that my behavior caused her pain,” Mika said, still rebellious. “Lazarus, next time you have a problem, you should…”

  “Mika!” Casimer thundered her name.

  “Okay, I’m sorry!” Mika tried yet again, certain that she would not be given another chance. “I’m sorry for speaking to you with disrespect, Lord Lazarus. I do not understand your reasoning, or your actions, but that does not entitle me to speak to you without any respect. I hope you will accept my apology.”

  “Knowing the challenge it was for you to give it, I accept it,” Lazarus replied. It was impossible to read his expression. There was a glimmer in his eye that could have been anger, or amusement, or both. Mika didn’t really care. She just needed to get out of the man’s presence without starting another incident that would get her into trouble.

  “Thank you,” she said stiffly. “That is very kind of you. But if you ever try to kill Casimer, I will stop you.”

  Lazarus stopped and stared. “What is she talking about, sire?”

  “Is that what this was about?” Casimer turned to Mika with a stern look. “Did you start this trouble with Lazarus because of what I told you about preventing kings from becoming world eaters?”

  “You told her I would kill you?”

  “I did not tell her you would kill me,” Casimer clarified. “I said the king’s bodyguard would turn his sword on the king.”

  “Well, he’s your bodyguard, isn’t he?”

  “Lazarus is a lord of this land, the highest among them. He is not likely to turn his blade on me as long as I do not show signs of devouring the city.”

  “I still won’t let him, even if you do,” Mika said. “I’ll steal his sword and…”

  “You will find the flat of the blade meeting your rear if you even mention such a thing again,” Casimer lectured her roughly.

  “Well, sorry for saving your life!”

  “It won’t be my life. I will have died, pet. My walking form will no longer exist. What will remain will be pure dragon. This is complex, I know, sweet pet, but you do not have to concern yourself with it. You certainly do not need to threaten Lazarus over it. Now go back to our chambers and wait for me.”

  “Oh, well, uhm… sorry…”

  “Go tell Lythia she is to be your personal servant too. And please, the both of you, stay out of trouble for at least as long as it takes me to finish this conversation.”

  “Thank you!” Mika burst into a beaming smile. “Uhm, thank you both, I guess,” she added with a glance underneath her lashes at Lazarus. “Okay, I’m going now, before I start another diplomatic incident.”

  * * *

  “That was, I think, the most adorable thing I have ever seen,” Lazarus chuckled. “That little human scrap threatening me to protect you. She loves you fiercely, sire.”

  “And I her,” Casimer replied. “Just as well for the trouble she causes. I am sorry, Lazarus, but she seems to have picked you as her prime enemy.”

  “I will sleep with one eye open,” Lazarus said with a gruff laugh. “Your pet may yet become dangerous, sire.”

  “She is many things, Lazarus, but she is not a danger to anyone besides herself.”

  “She has aspirations, sire. She has the blood of a world slayer in her veins. I know you call her your pet, but she has a dragon form. She has a strong defensive streak. Look how she came for me first when her little servant friend was punished, and just now, again. I do not fear her, not yet, but do not think that pretty little thing will stay harmless, or even little, for long.”

  “What are you saying, Lazarus?”

  “I am saying what many have been saying. That Mika shows every sign of becoming much more than a pet—she shows the promise of something more.”

  * * *

  “Thank you so much, ma’am!” Lythia threw her arms around Mika’s neck and pressed a grateful kiss to her cheek. “This is the first promotion I have ever had. I promise I’ll serve you well.”

  “You don’t have to serve me,” Mika said, feeling a little uncomfortable. Though her family had been more than rich enough to have servants as she was growing up, her mother had never allowed them. Not in the sense of having live in people to perform every task anyway. Lythia was her age; being served by her had always felt very strange.

  “Of course I have to serve you. You’re going to be princess!”

  “You mean queen?”

  “No, there’s only ever a king,” Lythia said. “It’s not like where you came from here. There is only one monarch in the entire realm, and the line of male dominance must not be broken. So we always have a king. The woman a king marries isn’t a queen. That would make it sound like they were equals or something.” Lythia’s nose wrinkled at the very thought. “If the king takes a bride, she becomes a crown princess.”

  “Well, whatever you people call it, I’m not going to be princess,” Mika said. “I am the king’s pet. I am lower than you in the hierarchy.”

  “That isn’t true,” Lythia said, shaking her head. “He may call you his pet, but you have his ear in a way nobody ever has. There are nobles very jealous of you. The whispers are that you are the most powerful woman in the realm. You’re his princess in everything but name.”

  “Really…” Mika mused slowly. “That’s… interesting.”

  “It could be dangerous,” Lythia said, her sweet face serious. “A lot of the nobles don’t like that the king is spending so much time with you. They think he is being influenced by a human, just like your father and grandfather were. There are people who think that humans are tricksters…” She trailed off, a devious expression on her pretty features. “I’m sorry, I’m talking too much, aren’t I?”

  “No, you’re talking just the right amount,” Mika said. This was interesting. She had noticed that Lazarus didn’t like her, of course, but the others weren’t so easy to read. They smiled and nodded and moved on. They treated her precisely the same way they treated the little Rafikins that lazed about the court, occasionally stopping for a kind word or two, but otherwise ignoring her.

  “Casimer could be in real trouble if he got too close to you,” Lythia said. “The nobles could rebel.”

  “So that’s why he hasn’t had sex with me…”

  “Yes. You must not let the king mate with you,” Lythia said. “It will bring ruin to everyone.”

  “Oh, my god,” Mika gasped, clasping her hands to her face in shock. “I never knew.”

  “Casimer will not tell you this,” Lythia added. “The nobles believe…” She hesitated and looked at Mika under her lashes. “I should not say what they believe.”

  “Please,” Mika begged. “Tell me. I have to know. I don’t know anything.”

  “It’s something really important,” Lythia whispered. “It’s something…”

  * * *

  “Something more,” Casimer said. “You mean…”

/>   “I mean your bride. I mean princess of this realm,” Lazarus said. “You must admit, sire, your connection with her is much more than a captor and his captive. When she was first taken, it was not even certain that she would live in the castle. Yet now she sleeps in your bed each and every night. You spend every free moment with her…”

  “I am training her, Lazarus. I do not deny my affection for her. I do not deny having love for her. She is beautiful, lively, even brilliant in her own way. But she is not suitable to be crown princess.”

  “I am glad to hear you say it,” Lazarus replied. “There would be a rebellion among the nobles if she were to take that rank, I can assure you. They may accept her as a pet, perhaps even as a concubine, but they would never consent to be ruled by such a creature.”

  “It is not the nobles I seek to please,” Casimer said, his voice coming in a growl now. “If they wish to waste their hours in idle chatter, they may do so, but Mika’s rank and station is not up to them. It is up to me.”

  “Of course, sire. I apologize for angering you.” Lazarus bowed his head.

  “You do not anger me,” Casimer replied. “Never think that. Your loyalty to me matters above all. I know you are trying to warn me of unrest. But know this too, Lazarus. I will deal with any dragon, noble or not, with ultimate harshness if they should question my bond with Mika. This is not the human realm. I do not need permission from those who fall under the span of my wing to take a mate.”

  “Of course, absolutely, sire,” Lazarus replied quickly, keeping his eyes lowered now that the king’s ire was piqued.

  “She has taken her flight form, Lazarus. She has found the skies. This is a day of celebration. We will not mar it with talk of insurrection, will we.”

  “No, sire.”

  Casimer did not fail to notice the slight bitterness in Lazarus’ tone. Though the man had always been loyal, there was no doubt that he had something at stake in the matter. With no heirs, Casimer’s throne would most likely fall to Lazarus if anything should befall him. If Mika were to become crown princess, and if she were to produce heirs… well… that would complicate matters.