Chapter Twenty-Two

Idropped down on the castle bridge with Amara in my arms. The guards didn't stir as I helped her to her feet and watched as she straightened her dress.

She was obviously nervous.

Her pulse was racing, and her hands sweating. I stopped her from fidgeting and lifted her chin with my fingers. "Are you okay? You seem very nervous."

She gave me a crazy look. "Of course, I'm nervous. Your mother hates me, and I'm walking into a room full of dragons. Female ones that your mother wants you to be with."

"Amara," I hissed. "Don't worry about anyone in that room but me. Don't take anything my mother says to heart. No one will disrespect you if I'm there. We'll eat and leave. I don't have the energy to deal with much of my family, or The East Kingdom. It's exhausting."

Amara tucked a stray piece of blonde hair behind her ear and took a deep breath. "Okay," she whispered.

Interlacing her fingers with mine, we walked over the bridge and toward the castle. The halls were empty, besides the smells of the different dragons that roamed the halls since the merger.

I wouldn't be surprised if my mother had put single royal females in my hallway out of spite. Not that I planned to stay there with Amara. If she was happy with it, I wanted to stay at the cabin until I was officially King.

I couldn't stand the thought of living under my parents' roof with Amara. It made my skin crawl. I didn"t need my mother"s prying or their input on our relationship.

We descended the stairs, Amara pressed against my side, where I could hear the chatter from the dining hall. Outside of the door, I stopped Amara, bent down, and kissed her.

It was enough that I knew the other dragons would smell us on one another. "Stay calm. They can smell your fear."

Amara cringed. "That's really creepy."

"It is, isn't it?" I said, opening the door to the dining hall.

It was large, but it looked like Mother bought a new table to fit all of our visitors. Mother noticed us first, and I didn't miss the annoyed look that Amara had come along. As if, I wouldn't bring my mate to dinner?

"Dorran," she said, standing to greet me, but I waved her off, helping Amara into her seat next to mine. "Well, okay then," she chuckled. "Glendora, you can bring out the first course. Dorran finally made it."

Glendora came out of the kitchen with two other serves and three push trays of food.

Amara gripped my thigh under the table. I glanced around to see what was causing her unease, and Georgina sat diagonal from us, staring daggers at me. I guess she is pissed about our time at the restaurant.

Glaring back at her, she finally turned her gaze when my mother hit the side of her wine glass and Glendora made her way around the other side of the table.

"I'm so glad everyone made it down. We're so very happy to be able to share our home with our neighbors of The East Kingdom in their time of trouble."

I grabbed the stem of my wine glass and eyed the king of The East Kingdom. He tossed a smile down my way, but I easily ignored it, by leaning down to whisper to Amara.

"We're out of here right after desert."

Amara took her wine glass and smiled up at me. "Not too much," I warned her. "If you get too tipsy, I'll have to take you up to my bedroom—,"

"Dorran," my mother's voice sliced through my sentence. "Did you have something to say?"

I cleared my throat, noticing my brother smiling beside her. "Yes, I was just sharing with Amara how thrilled I am that our kingdom is growing."

Her eyes narrowed, but she played it off. "Glendora is bringing by our salads, our entrees will come next. Please do not hesitate to ask for anything during your stay. I know you want to repopulate after the battle took most of your city. We hope that we can help you do that."

My mother sat down and sipped her wine. "Glendora, your Uncle said you've been searching for your mate for some time. Maybe you'll find him here in our kingdom?"

She gave my mother a clipped smile. "Not everyone is as lucky as Dorran to find their queen so easily." Every set of eyes turned toward Amara, whose skin burned red in the spotlight.

"You looked beautiful at the ball, Amara. Dorran found you so fast. I was sure you two had met before." The sarcasm in her voice hit my chest like a sledgehammer.

The bastard.

"I met her weeks before the ball. I just wanted to claim her in front of the kingdom, so everyone knew their chance had ended. But there are plenty of unmated dragons in our kingdom. My brother is of the royal line because I know that's so important to you, so there is plenty of other sperm to impregnate the females at this table—,"

The Queen of The East Kingdom gasped under her breath and turned her eyes toward her salad. "Dorran, don't be crude," mother chuckled. "We are here to help them while they rebuild their kingdom."

I tipped my wine glass toward her. "Of course."

The second course, our steaks, came and went.

The home stretch.

"Amara," Mother said. "I'd love to meet your mother since my son marked you so quickly."

Amara had too much to drink.

I sensed it. I felt it through our bond. Over a mouthful of food, which was oddly adorable to me, but not so much to my mother, Amara laughed. "My mother died when I was young. So did my father. My step-monster raised me, or tolerated me, if you want to call it that. I think you can go without meeting her. She'll suck you dry, trust me," she said.

Every dragon at that table stopped eating and stared. Amara chuckled before taking another bite.

"Wait a second," Georgina said. "Are you the waitress from that burger joint?" she asked with disdain. She hadn't even connected the dots.

Amara waved her steak around on her fork with an adorable smile. "That's me."

Georgina's gaze turned toward me. "You marked a ... waitress. I knew she looked familiar."

That was it. My dragon unexpectedly broke free, forcing me to my feet, fire bubbled up my throat and out of my mouth, catching the chandelier on fire.

My father jumped up, and ran around the table, wrapping his arms underneath mine; he began to haul me out of the dining room with the help of my brother.

By the time they shoved me against the hallway wall, my dragon had backed off, and I took a much-needed breath.

"Holy Dragon Creator, Dorran, what was that?" my father screamed. "Why do you do this to your mother, son? She is going to have a stroke by the time she's one hundred and fifty because of you. You know our insurance doesn't cover fire when it's on purpose!"

I slipped my fingers into my hair. "I didn't want to come to this," I hissed. "You forced me."

Dad put both hands on his hips and closed his eyes. "Why can't you just go with the flow like Damien?"

Damien chuckled, his white-blond hair glistened from the amount of gel he had in it. "Yeah, Dorran, like me."

"Shut up," my father said. "Now, I need to get in here and make sure you didn't set anyone on fire."

He left me in the hall with Damien. "You're such the black sheep, Dorran. I just love that about you."

I swatted his hand away from me and hid my smile. I walked back into the dining hall, finding Amara crawling from underneath the table. I helped her up, swiping my palms down the skirt of her dress.

She looked distressed, her fingers coming up and touching my mouth. "I thought you could only shoot fire when you were in your dragon form."

"Is that what they are teaching in school nowadays?"

"Can I see your dragon," she whispered.

"Of course. He'd love that."

My mother's icy stare sliced at me from the opposite side of the room. "Well, aren't you going to apologize to the table for ruining dinner?"

I pulled a piece of food from Amara's hair. "No, I don't think I will. If Gwendolyn—,"

"—Georgina," she corrected.

"Whatever—wants to apologize to Amara for being rude, then yes, I will accept it. But I don't owe her or anyone an apology. You've had your nose in the air since I marked Amara—,"

"That is not true," Mother said.

"I grow tired of this," I said with a sigh. "If you need me, think of someone else that can do the job, and ask them. We're leaving now."

I guided Amara out of the dining hall, and back toward the bridge. Her footsteps weren't quick enough being tipsy, so I lifted her into my arms and hurried up the steps.

My irritation was so thick that I almost didn't catch the smell coming from my room. It was someone's scent that seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn't place it.

Amara squealed when I took a sharp left and opened the door with my shoulder.

A hooded figure stood at my nightstand, their face shadowed so I couldn't see it, and they wasted no time before running toward the window and climbing onto the ledge.

"Stop!" I shouted, but they jumped and disappeared into the air.

Amara clung to me; her eyes rounded as she just noticed the same thing I had. That person disappeared. Vanished into vapor.

Several guards from the castle bridge raced into the room behind me. "What is wrong, Dorran?"

"Someone was in here," I said softly. I turned and my face must have been ashen because they glared. "Whoever it was jumped into the air and disappeared."

One of the guards cleared his throat after several seconds of silence. "You're sure? You didn't have too much to drink—,"

"No," Amara said, pointing a finger in his face. "I saw it, too."

"That's saying a lot," he mumbled.

I sat Amara down and walked over to my nightstand. There was nothing in it. The only thing I ever put in it was mail. What did they want? Did they take something? Were they planting something?

My brother pushed through the guards. "What happened?"

"Nothing," I said, reaching for Amara's hand. "We're going to the cabin. I want you to send three guards up there—,"

"Who would want to get up there, Dorran? After you set the chandelier on fire?"

Someone that could evaporate and apparently fly.

But that person wasn't a dragon. They were too small. Whoever it was had to be human-ish.

"Just do it, Damien," I said, picking Amara up into my arms.

I walked toward the balcony and stared down at the ground below. They hadn't fallen because they wouldn't have walked away from it. Amara clung to me. "What did they take?"

"I don't know," I whispered, my wings spreading out in preparation for flight. "But I'm gonna find out."