Feel the Burn (Dragon Kin #8)(39)

But before he could burn them all to ashes that he would roll around in like a pig rolled in its shit, Dagmar’s mate joked, “Maybe you should f*ck him, Kachka. It might loosen him up a bit.”

When Gaius’s head snapped around, Dagmar squeaked a little, then dropped into a crouch, her arms over her head. He appreciated that. Because he unleashed a ball of flame that sent the gold dragon flying out of the room and over the banister outside.

“Owwwww!” the Gold cried out when he hit the hard stone floor below. Gods, that poor floor took a lot of abuse.

“Feel better now that you hurt another?” Kachka asked.

“Shut up.”

“King Gaius,” Dagmar said, standing. “Please. Allow me to show you to another room. Your own room.”

“Yes. Horse gods forbid some royal should be forced to share anything with another.”

“Shut up,” Dagmar snarled at Kachka. Then she took in a deep breath, let it out, and stretched out her arm. She motioned to Gaius with a twitch of her fingers. “Please, my lord. This way.”

Gaius stood, trying to pull the fur covering around his bare ass. But none of the Riders would move. So, he yanked, sending them all flipping to the floor.

Feeling sadly triumphant over that, he wrapped the covering around his waist and allowed Lady Dagmar to show him from this room and these ridiculous people!

Dagmar placed him in a room beside Annwyl’s.

“King Gaius, I am so sorry—”

“No, no,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “No need to apologize, Lady Dagmar. This was not your fault.”

And it wasn’t! Gaius wasn’t lying or trying to ease her discomfort. It really wasn’t Dagmar’s fault.

It was Kachka’s!

“Would you like me to order water for your bath?” Dagmar asked.

“Actually, I think I’ll go out to one of the lakes.” He needed to shift to his natural form. He needed to feel water against his scales. He needed to be away from here!

Dagmar nodded. She’d lived with dragons long enough now to understand. She stepped out into the hallway and peered in both directions. She finally raised her hand. “You. Boy. Come here.”

A young boy ran over and Dagmar gestured to Gaius. “Please escort the king to the lake that Prince Fearghus likes to use.”

“Aye, my lady.”

“And make sure to stop by the gates and get some clothes for his majesty as well. He’ll need them when he’s done bathing.”

“Aye, my lady.”

Gaius moved into the hallway, stopping by Dagmar’s side long enough to nod down at her. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Anything you need, King Gaius.”

Normally, Gaius would never need so much use of his title, but at the moment . . .

Gods! That woman!

Kachka was pissing in the chamber pot, sighing loudly from the pleasure of it. She’d drunk much the evening before and was glad she hadn’t pissed the bed.

Honestly, she didn’t remember getting in bed with the dragon. Or bringing the others with her, but she truly did not see the big deal of it all. Riders shared beds. The winters on the Outerplains were brutally cold and sharing beds for warmth was typical. Yet these Southlanders acted like it was the most outrageous thing one could do.

Whatever. Let the dragon be pissed at her. She didn’t care. Life was too short for such bullshit!

Deciding she wouldn’t worry about it for one more second, Kachka was about to stand when the door slammed open again.

“What is wrong with you?” the tiny Northland female bellowed from the doorway, her pale face red with rage, her entire body shaking like a small dog’s.

Kachka glanced around. “Nothing,” she replied honestly. “Why?”

“Why would you all get in bed with him?”

“Because we were tired.”

“And drunk,” Zoya Kolesova volunteered as she got to her incredibly large feet. She’d tried to sleep in the bed with them, but there just hadn’t been enough room for her, so they’d rolled her off and onto the floor. Like a thousand-year-old oak chopped at its roots, she’d gone over, and never woke. Not even for a second. She slept like the dead.

Nina Chechneva rubbed the sides of her head. “Very drunk.”

“I don’t give a battle-f*ck!” the Northlander raged. “He is a royal and an ally of this court and every last gods-damn one of you will treat him with respect!”

“I do not think—”

“Do I make myself clear!” Dagmar Reinholdt briefly closed her eyes behind those small round pieces of glass. “Because I swear,” she finally said, her voice low, but oddly more terrifying than when she was yelling, “by all reason, that if you don’t, I will personally hunt down each and every one of your kinswomen and kill them, starting from youngest to oldest until I’ve wiped out your entire f*cking bloodlines. Do I make myself clear?”

Zoya sauntered up to the Northlander. “Look, little person, I—”

“Do I make myself,” and the Northlander’s head tipped to the side a bit before she finished with, “clear?”

Zoya and the Beast locked eyes for a very long time before Zoya finally looked away and nodded. “You make yourself clear.”

The Beast looked at the others and they all nodded in agreement.