“And you. What kind of woman would allow a man to treat her like that? A dirty blanket pinned to the side of the mountain?” The queen arched a brow. She looked frightful.
Sadie opened her mouth, but words failed her. She took a deep breath as anger built inside at the thought of this woman presumed she had the right to scold her like some naughty kid. Why was she scared of her? Was it because she was “queen.” The hard looks and tone were nothing compared to when her father disciplined Sadie as a child.
“Well?” the queen demanded. “Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”
“What kind of woman am I? I’ll tell you what kind.” Sadie put her hands on her hips to hide their shaking. Nerves bunched her stomach and heated her cheeks, but she answered anyway. “I’m the kind that doesn’t put on airs. The kind who doesn’t care about the finery of a ceremony. Maybe you should reexamine what’s lacking in your own life, and figure out why it’s so important to you to be surrounded by material objects. You might have married for money and pretty things, but I didn’t. I prefer people to jewels, but then, that may be just me. You want to judge me? Go ahead. But do it somewhere else because we were in the middle of something more important than this conversation.”
The queen stared at her for a long moment.
Shit.
Maybe Sadie had pushed it too far. An apology was on the tip of her tongue, but she resisted the urge.
“Finally,” the queen answered, the word clipped. “One of you boys found an Earth woman with some dragon fire in her. When you’re shown any doubt, answer with that much conviction, but fewer insults. That passion for your choice will quiet the wagging tongues.” And then she turned her attention to her son.
Finn grinned.
“Come find me after you’re done here. We have important matters to discuss.” The queen touched her son’s cheek. “I’m glad you are well. Never act that foolish again.”
Finn nodded and opened the door for his mother. He shut it decisively behind her.
“What was that speech about?” Finn asked. “You had nothing to do with the tent choice. You could have told her that I insulted your honor by offering you such a poor ceremony.”
“She didn’t know that, and I’m sorry, but she pissed me off. Money isn’t everything. I’m not rich, and I’ve never been ashamed of it. I work hard. I pay my bills. I—”
“You are beautiful,” Finn put forth as if he couldn’t contain himself. “And you quieted my mother. I have never seen anyone win her affection so quickly.”
“That was affection?” Sadie gave a small laugh of disbelief.
“She said you had dragon spirit. That’s very high praise.” Finn pulled the draw string at his waist. “Now, don’t mention her again, at least not now. I believe we were in the middle of something very important.”
His eyes flashed with gold and Sadie cried out in surprise when he leaped for her. He gave another playful lunge and a growl. She took off running toward his bed and didn’t look back.
10
Sadie’s arm twitched as she tried shaking off the annoying tapping on her forearm. After a night filled with intense, mind-altering pleasure, every muscle in her body was relaxed, and the last thing she wanted was to wake from the pleasant fog of her dreams. But the tapping became insistent.
Sadie grumbled as she opened her eyes. She jolted in surprise, stiffening, as a woman’s face hovered over hers. Long, straight, dark brown hair had streaks of blue through it. Her hazel green eyes sparkled.
“Shh,” the woman mouthed. Her friendly smile looked more playful than threatening. She held up a fistful of clothing. “Put this on, and…” The unknown woman tilted her head toward the front door.
Sadie arched a brow. She turned to look at where Finn lay sleeping.
“Hello, Eve,” Finn said, not opening his eyes.
“Hey. I’m kidnapping your wife,” Eve answered. She dropped the clothes on the bed and stood. “Queen mother lifted the guards from your door. Otherwise, I would have done it sooner.”
Finn opened one eye. He appeared wide awake as he focused on her. “Do you wish to be kidnapped?”
Sadie gestured helplessly. “I—”
“Sure she does, Finn,” Eve answered for her. “You’re not going to make her stay cooped up in this place for another day, are you?”
“I do not make her do anything,” Finn answered.
“Smart man.” Eve chuckled. “Rise and shine, princess. If we don’t sneak out now, we’ll be roped into royal duties.”
Eve moved toward the kitchen and disappeared through the arched doorway.
“Should we be worried that she was watching us sleep?” Sadie asked.
“Eve means no harm. She’s probably excited to have another female in the palace. She’s been begging me to marry for a long while now.” Finn smiled as he reached for her shoulder to give her a light caress. “She is right, though. The queen will have you fitted for dresses and listening to etiquette coaches all morning. Then there are the historians, and meeting the elders, and—”
“I’m coming, Eve.” Sadie shook a leg as she tried to untangle her feet from the covers.
The clothes Eve brought her were surprisingly Earth trendy. The soft leggings had a bright dragon pattern on them, and the dress was more of an oversized black t-shirt. The woman even supplied clean underwear. When she glanced back at the bed, Finn was watching her dress with a goofy smile on his face. “What?”
“The queen will hate that you’re dressed like Eve,” Finn answered, not appearing at all worried.
“Ready?” Eve called, coming out of the kitchen holding a goblet. She took a drink before setting it down on the mantel.
“Almost,” Eve glanced around for her bra.
Eve reached toward the couch and then held up the lacy undergarment. “Looking for this?”
“Yes, thank you.” Sadie grabbed the bra and threaded her arms into the t-shirt to put it on under her clothes. Considering all the strange things she’d been forced to accept, this interchange with Princess Eve was one of the least odd.
Eve politely turned her attention away. Finn did not. He sat on the bed, staring at her as if fascinated by her strange ritual.
“This open bedroom, living room, house plan will take some getting used to,” Sadie stated. “I’m not sure I like the bed being out on display like it is.”
“I tried to tell him that was weird for a palace,” Eve offered. “But apparently, several of the suites are set up like this.”
“Kind of loft New York apartment, only less industrial,” Sadie observed.
“Mm, I miss New York.” Eve gave a wistful sigh. “They have this little rundown food truck with the best hamburgers known to man.”
“Hackfleisch Rectangular Garden?”
“Yes! You know it?”
“I did a story about their burgers a couple of years ago,” Sadie said. “So good.”
“Right? I dream about that burger.” Eve held her hand over her chest and gave another sigh. “I miss fast food so much—going to get fries and shakes at three in the morning after a gig.”
“I bring you burgers,” Finn said from the bed, as if not to be left out of the conversation.
“You don’t understand the complexity of burger shopping,” Eve dismissed. She hooked her arm through Sadie’s. “My shoes might be a size too big for you, but I brought you some sandals.” She motioned to the floor by the door.
Sadie slipped her feet in. The fit wasn’t too off. “I’m taking that to mean they don’t do hamburgers here?”
“No. They’re all healthy—fresh fruit this, blue bread that.” Eve opened the door. “I miss bacon. And diner coffee. And cheese fries. Oh, what I wouldn’t do for a plate of cheese fries with bacon.”
“I could go for a pizza,” Sadie said. It was what was supposed to be on her menu schedule for today—a pie from a Russian-ran pizzeria, and then later one from a local music venue in downtown Oxford.
“Now you’
re talking!” Eve exclaimed. “Pizza for breakfast, you are my kind of girl.”
“You’re a princess?” Sadie asked, eyeing the blue hair. “I have to admit that you don’t look like I pictured a princess would look.”
Eve touched the locks. “I hid my tiara.”
“Hey, don’t keep her too long,” Finn called. “I wish to—”
“Oh, that reminds me, I almost forgot to tell you. Your brother needs you to meet him in an hour at the council chamber. Something about the rumors that you and Ivar took an unsanctioned trip and tried to abduct a village of…” Eve attempted to speak the local language, before finishing “which I think translates into low-class, diseased women.”
“I’m not diseased!” Sadie gasped.
Finn held the blanket around his waist and made his way from the bed toward the front door. He gripped the covers with one hand and placed the other on Sadie’s arm. “I promise I will see that this affront to your honor is stopped at once. There will be no more rumors about my bride.”
“Uh, thanks,” Sadie said, unsure about the fierceness of his response.
“Ok, we need to get going before the queen finds us. We’ll be outside in the village, Finn, don’t worry.”
“Don’t take it personally,” Eve said as she led her out of the door. “They thought I was a mutant because I color my hair blue. My husband told me they were worried our children would end up with blue hair.”
“Oh, how many do you have?”
“None. I’m not ready for motherhood.” Eve pulled the door shut and motioned that they should head down a long stone hallway. “Maybe someday. But I’m sure that’s part of the problem. The people are worried about compatibility and having babies with mates that these rumors about you being diseased are manifestations of their fears. Jenna, who married the cat-shifter prince, Rafe, has not had children either. So they think all human women are broken.”
“I’m not ready for children,” Sadie said. “Nothing about my life says kids. I travel. I live out of hotel rooms.”
Eve gave a glance back at Finn’s room. “So, you’re not sure you’re staying?”
“I don’t know. It’s a lot to take in,” Sadie answered.
“I get that. The way I look at it, Qurilixen is like a foreign country. People on Earth evolved differently depending on their environments, right? Dark or light skin, light or dark eyes, various biological features and adaptations, different languages and customs. The shape-shifter people evolved into human dragons and cats. Their ancestral tribe struck out exploring, discovered this new territory through a portal, and there you have it. A medieval-like society with dragon-shifters and cat-shifters running around.”
Sadie thought about Eve’s simple yet perfect explanation for the way things were on Qurilixen. “That actually makes me feel a little better.” She glanced around the halls. “This palace looks like a cross between a medieval castle and the Roman Empire. The sculptures and paintings I’ve seen in the palace look like they belong in the museum. I feel like if I touch something alarms will go off. Just don’t tell me they have gladiator fights.”
“Not that I’ve seen. It’s all very civilized, or at least it has been.” Eve led the way, absently touching items as she walked by them. Her fingers glanced over a woven tapestry, making it flutter against the wall. The embroidered scene depicted flying dragons fighting tiny human men.
“You say that like things are about to change.” Sadie lifted her finger to touch a sewn dragon. It felt wrong making physical contact with something so magnificent. She withdrew her hand. “Is that what they look like fully shifted?”
“None that I’ve seen. The men look more like dragon men than full blooded medieval dragons. The queen doesn’t shift in front of me, except to do that eye flashing thing when she’s irritated. My husband told me that Queen Galina is one of the last female dragons born and her fiery temper runs hotter than any dragon-shifter man if you get her riled up.” Eve grinned. “You like fine art? Come check this out.” She quickly turned a corner and pointed up into a small alcove.
Sadie looked up at the painting and laughed. Stretched black velvet had been painted to depict a semi-truck with a floating head behind it. Plastic gemstones decorated the cheap gold-colored frame. “Is that a velvet trucker Elvis?”
“I found it for sale in New Orleans and had to have it.” Eve laughed harder. “I hung it here as a joke and didn’t say anything. I think everyone’s too afraid of offending me to take it down. Makes me laugh every time.”
“That’s almost too hideous to hate,” Sadie said.
Eve laughed harder. “I like you. I hope you consider staying. This family could use more human women in it.”
“What about your Earth family? Do they know where you are?”
“The only family I need is here,” Eve said. Sadie guessed by the woman’s expression that there was more to that story, but didn’t pry. “Is that why you want to go back? Family?”
“My mother. We don’t see each other a lot, but we talk on the phone about once a month. I’m not the stay in one place type. I like moving around.”
“Aw, well, no worries. You don’t have to decide right now.” She paused as the sound of footsteps approached and pulled Sadie into the Elvis alcove to hide and pressed her finger to her lips. She waited until the sound moved away before glancing around the corner to check if the coast was clear. “They’re gone. Come on.” She continued down the hall. “Trust me when I tell you not to go around saying your doubts too loudly while you’re here. It will cause a lot of problems. They’re into the whole will of the gods, fated mate thing.”
“And I take it you’re not convinced?”
“Oh, no, I am,” Eve corrected. “I am right where I was meant to be—married to Kyran. When you know, you know. And when dragons know, they genuinely know. I might miss singing with my band on stage and eating hamburgers whenever I want, but that would be nothing compared to the heartache of losing my husband.”
Sadie hid the pain that washed over her. She could see how much the woman adored her husband when she talked about him. Sadly, Finn had already warned Sadie that she wasn’t his fated mate, or true love, or whatever one wanted to call it. The attraction between them was fierce and powerful. Even now it hummed through her body, causing her toes to curl and her breathing to deepen in anticipation. But lust was not love, and Finn wouldn’t fall in love with her.
“I didn’t invite you out this morning to put pressure on you,” Eve said. “It wasn’t even my intention to get into all of this, but now that we have I have to say something.”
“About?”
“The portal.” Eve stopped walking. She touched the leg of a statue and ran her finger along the stone calf. “It’s important that we do all we can to keep it open. Selfishly, it’s my only way to visit Earth, or else I might get homesick. Not so selfishly, it’s the only hope the shifters have for survival. I know it must sound horrible—their going to Earth like cavemen to capture brides and drag them back here. But it’s not like that. When a dragon man knows, he knows. It’s nature, and biology, and chemicals, and fate, and I can’t explain it very well, but it is real. I have yet to hear about an unhappy marriage. I wish there were a way to visibly show what I’m saying so I can prove how real it is. Like a ray of light joining two people. Or twinkling stardust raining over a couple’s head whenever they are near each other like fairy powder.”
They neared a barred gate with metal spear tips linking the bottom. It was lifted a few feet off the ground. Beyond the gate were two closed wooden doors.
Eve hummed thoughtfully to herself. “I’ve never seen these doors shut before.”
As they approached, two guards stepped out of the shadows. Eve pointed to a row of knobs on the wall. “See these?”
Sadie nodded.
“Show Princess Sadie the barrier,” Eve commanded.
The guards looked at each other and didn’t readily move.
“Ah, come on. I know you all hea
rd about my run-in with the guard shield.” Eve laughed, before turning to Sadie. “It’s like an invisible electric fence. I walked right into it. Zapped the hell out of me, threw me to the floor, knocked me unconscious, and blistered the tip of my nose, so I looked like one of Santa’s reindeer.”
One of the guard’s mouth twitched as if he tried to hold back his amusement.
“Oh, go ahead and laugh,” Eve told the man. “It was funny.”
Finally, one of the guards leaned over, plucked a pebble from the ground and tossed it toward Eve. The stone hit an electrical wall and entered the force field. Zapping noises and small bolts of energy flashed lighting up the area. Sadie gasped as she jumped back.
“Just be careful when trying to leave the palace,” Eve instructed. She reached to push at a stone in the wall. The transparent shield tinted with blue. Eve stepped into the blue light, showing Sadie it was now safe to cross, before dipping under the half-raised gate and going forward. “Thanks, fellas.”
“We are not supposed to let anyone leave,” a guard said, not stepping aside.
“Under whose order?” Eve demanded.
“Lord Montague,” the man answered.
All pleasantness faded from Eve’s expression. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to dictate the freedoms of a princess of the House of Draig.”
They again shared a look, but still didn’t move.
“Step aside by royal order. I will not ask again,” Eve insisted.
The men spoke softly to each other in the Draig language before one opened the front door. Eve took Sadie by the arm and led her past the guards and out into the sunlight.
“That Lord Montague sounds like a real character,” Sadie said, watching the door to the palace shut behind them. The green daylight turned Eve’s blue hair into an even deeper shade. It reflected off her face and neck, giving an almost cinematic quality to her skin tone.
“He’s an asshole,” Eve stated, direct and to the point. “I’m convinced he’s behind all the rumors being spread around about Earth and the portal stops. He has been lobbying to get them shut down since before I came here. So what if a few dragon men decided they wanted to move away from home? It’s their lives. They’re the ones making the decisions and taking the risks. They should be able to leave if they choose.”
Mischievous Prince Page 8
