Chapter Seven

A week later, I was done weeding the garden of the small stuff, but there were still larger plants to remove, including a few trees. And then there would be the pruning. It was a long process, but satisfying. It helped that the progress was easy to see. Not so much with the Dragon King.

Every night, I ate dinner with him and pushed him a little further. If I was lucky, I got a twitch—either eye or lips. But usually, he just stared at me. Flirting with someone that stoic can get exhausting. Depressing. I started to feel like a pervert. But it had become a game for us. Or at least for me. It was the only way I could keep going. I had to look at every response as a win. I think the King was amused too, deep down. When I didn”t start teasing him right away, he”d say something to prompt it. But that was the only encouragement I got.

Then I passed by him in a corridor.

It was just after sunset, and I was on my way to my guest room to shower and get dressed for dinner. Sweaty, smeared with dirt, and shirtless, I wasn”t paying attention to those around me. Nor did I think anything of my state. It was how I usually traversed the castle at dusk. No one seemed to mind. Why would they? But then I saw the Dragon King.

That white hair was hard to miss. It drew my stare like a beacon. He turned his head and locked gazes with me. As usual, King Shaleros wore a neutral expression. But then his gaze lowered. I stumbled to a stop, instantly aware of my filthy, half-dressed state. Bowing, I slapped my tunic to my chest, then held it there when I straightened.

“Master Sebastian,” the King said.

“Your Majesty, please forgive my appearance. I”ve come from the garden.” I started to pull on my tunic.

“It doesn”t bother me.” He motioned for me to stop with his hand. “It”s proof of your labor and thus, should be worn or rather not worn, proudly. The Gods know it has been ages since I”ve gotten so . . .” His stare traveled over my chest.

“Filthy?” I said the word in my naughtiest tone, then grinned and puffed out my chest.

The King”s stare went lower, then up again, sending my heart into fluttering and tightening my nipples.

This was why I kept trying. My response, not his. Just one look, not even a hot one, and he had me perking up like a teenager with their first crush. And I acted like a teenager in other ways too. Not the least of which was the way I teased him.

“You”re always welcome to join me in the garden, Your Majesty,” I went on, waggling my brows. “We could get dirty together.”

A horrified choking sound came from the Litoto man whom the King had been speaking with, and the two Dragon knights on guard duty cleared their throats, but King Shaleros only cocked his head at me.

“It might be good for me to get my hands in the dirt,” the Dragon King surprised me by saying. Then he frowned. “Where are your tools?”

“Oh, I leave them in the garden now. Well, under the colonnade beside the garden. I figured no one was going to bother them. And I didn”t need the plans today. I”m just finishing up the weeding, so the foundation has been revealed, but I”m not onto planting yet. There are still larger invasive plants to remove.”

“The foundation? Do you mean the fountain is cleared? You can see the fountain?”

“Yes.” I glanced back the way I”d come. “Would you like to see it? I haven”t filled it with water yet, but I washed it off and polished the marble. It looks beautiful.”

“Yes, I think I would like to see it.” The King looked at the Litoto and asked, “Was there anything else, Tach?”

“No, Sire.” Tach bowed, pulling in his beautiful wings. “Thank you. I”ll see to it that the grain is distributed.”

I watched the man leave, my stare drawn to the glimmering eyes in his flight feathers.

The Dragon King cleared his throat.

I jerked my stare back to him. “Sorry, Your Majesty. The Litoto of Latur fascinate me. Those wings are so pretty.”

King Shaleros frowned slightly as he stared after the departing man. “I suppose they are.” He made a huh sound, then headed off toward the garden.

I hurried after him.

By the time we got outside, night had fallen, and the moon hadn”t risen. The King had no problem navigating the garden despite the darkness, and I used him as my beacon, following the pale cape of his hair down the path I had uncovered. The King”s knights remained at the colonnade, one facing us and the other facing in. I knew their faces, but not their names. I only learned the names of the Dragon knights when the King spoke to them, which was rarely, at least in my presence.

Halfway down the path, I realized that I may not be welcome on this outing. Just because the King wanted to see the fountain, it didn”t mean he wanted me beside him while he did so. Why would he? This was his mate”s garden. He probably wanted a moment alone to reflect on her without a pervy human ruining it.

So, I held back as King Shaleros continued to the center. He circled the fountain, gracefully stepping over the rays of stone stretching out from it, then stopped directly across from me. With him facing me, I felt doubly invasive, and I started to leave.

“Don”t go,” the Dragon King said. He didn”t look at me. His stare was on the star.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” I whispered. The moment felt heavy, too weighted to speak at full volume.

A little wrinkle appeared between the King”s brows. “Sometimes, I wish I could remember what it felt like to love her.”

Gods, that cut me to the core. I had to fight back tears, and I”m not a crier. There was no love in this man, but there were other things. His voice was not toneless this time. It held longing and loneliness, and those two together formed an arrow sharp enough to pierce my heart. My whole being trembled for the King. In pity, sorrow, and my own longing. Now, more than ever, I wanted to see him smile. But now I wanted it for him, not just me.

“Was the star an important symbol for her?” I asked.

King Shaleros looked up at me and the stark hollowness in his eyes was like salt in the wound he had just opened in my chest. “Yes. She loved the stars.” He looked up to contemplate the sky. “Almost as much as she loved her flowers. She often said she felt like she was caught between the two, ever looking up and down.” He frowned. “Unless I was near. Then she only looked at me.”

I knew exactly how she felt.

“Then this was a way of combining two of her great loves.”

“Yes.” The King returned his gaze to the fountain. “Given to her by her greatest love.”

“How lucky she was,” I whispered.

The King”s stare narrowed. “Lucky? She”s dead.”

“Death comes for a lot of us, Your Majesty,” I said. “It”s the risk of living. For humans, it”s the price. But it”s not how long we live that makes us fortunate or not. It”s how we live. It”s who we live our lives with. How they love us. And your mate was loved. She was loved greatly. I can see that, even if you can”t feel it anymore. And that is very fortunate indeed.”

His lips parted, but he didn”t speak for several long moments. Just stared at me. At last, he said, “I think she was loved greatly, as greatly as she loved me. I think . . . it felt . . . bright. Warm.” He slid his stare upward again. “Like her stars. Sparkling and yet soft. Is that what love feels like?”

“That”s precisely it, Your Majesty,” I whispered, not because the moment felt heavy, but because if I spoke any louder, my voice would break. As my heart was breaking.

The King”s throat worked as he looked back at me. “Do you think I was lucky too, Sebastian?”

“I”m sure of it. I think you”re still lucky.”

“Perhaps in a bad way.”

“Well, that”s the great thing about luck. It can change in a heartbeat.”

The Dragon King pressed his lips together, showing more emotion than I”d ever seen from him, then motioned at the fountain. Water gathered in the air, swirling down into the star-shaped basin. Rapidly, it filled, droplets combining to rise up the sides. Then the King bent and pressed a button. Machinery whirred, powered by magic that had lain dormant for a long time. But, thank the Gods, it still worked. Bubbles appeared in the center of the star, just a gentle frothing that created peaceful music. Within a few seconds, water flowed out from the points of the star, filling channels in the low walls that extended from the fountain. Those channels fed the flower beds.

“An irrigation system,” I said in wonder. “I hadn”t realized.”

“Yes.” He turned in a circle. “I hope this makes things easier on you. The fountain will need to be filled, of course. Unless it rains.”

“It does make things easier. It really helps. Thank you, Your Majesty.”

The Dragon King stared down at the fountain and whispered, “Lucky. Yes, maybe she was the lucky one.”