Dragon Lords Books 1 - 4 Box Set: Anniversary Edition (35 page)

N
adja peered around the bathroom
, eyeing her new prison of gilded bars, and began to cry. The nightmare hadn’t ended, only morphed into this cruel joke of fate. She was truly a princess and she despised Olek for it.

Olek had been silent as he led her into the entry of the castle palace. Wrought iron gates lifted high over the entrance leading into the side of a large mountain. From the distance, the mountain had appeared like any other, so Nadja was amazed to find a palace camouflaged within it. Wide domes allowed light inside the tunneled path of red rock. Then, entering a front door of thick oak, they came to a series of passageways.

The deeper they walked into the mountain palace, the more trapped she felt.

The castle was as picturesque as she would have expected a palace to be. It was clean and decorated with tasteful paintings and sculptures. Tapestries hung on the walls, alongside banners with the emblem of the royal dragon. Nadja was quiet as Olek led her to his wing, the part he called their home.

When he opened the front door with a short voice command, Nadja stepped inside one of the most gorgeous dwellings she’d ever seen. The richness of it only dejected her more. She was supposed to have a modest five-room cottage, not a large wing of a palace.

As a prince, would Olek be naturally domineering? She had yet to meet royalty who wasn’t. Would he treat her like an object he possessed and controlled? Had she found freedom from one controlling nightmare only to step right into another one? From father to husband.

She kept her eyes averted as they walked, refusing to remember anything that happened the night before in the tent. Truth be told, her wanton actions mortified her. And the fact she’d acted in such a way with an obvious stranger humiliated her even more.

Her whole body wanted to fight, to scream at him, but life had taught her it wasn’t wise to yell at the man who held the power. She’s already let her anger slip after the ceremony. It had been a foolish lapse. Negative emotions were best dealt with quietly and kept bottled in. Then, and only then, could Nadja render a dignified response, and avoid being put into punishment.

Olek’s home was decorated with the dark green of his royal colors combined with a cream marble that bespoke of refinement and elegance. Water trickled over natural rocks in a giant indoor fountain in the front hall. It created a pleasant background noise and was home to the plants growing in its watery crevices.

Next to the fountain was a circular living area, filled with high-backed, comfortable chairs. A marble fireplace had been carved into an inlet in the stone wall. The large overhead glass dome allowed light through. With the push of a button, a thick curtain would swirl around the dome to darken the home.

An exotic fish tank acted as a transparent wall between the living room and the kitchen areas. Tiny bug-eyed blue fish swam in absent circles, blinking their eyelids and picking at the underwater lettuce growing in their tank. A huge red sucker fish adhered its oversized mouth to the side. Gradually, it changed color to pink and then to yellow. Its teeth worked against the glass as it ate.

Lush plant life hung tastefully from the ceiling in the corner of the living room, vining its way to a sun room off to the side. Nadja sighed, wryly thinking that she had indeed gotten her little garden. It brought her little pleasure. If there were gods controlling her fate, they had a very bad sense of humor.

A second fish tank with dark blue waters, which was harder to see through, separated the bathroom from the main living area. It made up about a quarter of the actual walls in the room. From her vantage point in the natural hot spring tub, she watched the tank. Occasionally, she would see the fin of what looked like a two-headed shark swim by.

The red bathroom had been carved from the mountain. The tub came up in the middle of the floor, rising from the ground and bubbling with constantly warm water. Nadja couldn’t find a drain, but did find a button on the wall that showered water down from the ceiling into the center of the bath.

There were the normal amenities expected on a primitive world—toilet, sink and a counter that curved around the circular walls with a long mirror over it. Beneath the countertop were numerous cabinets, some with towels and others with toiletries. With a turn of a knob, the light would dim and brighten as filters moved into place to block the outside light being directed inside.

Nadja had seen her bags in the front hall. Someone had brought them in from the Galaxy Brides’ ship. She would unpack later and settle in. If she was being forced to stay as Olek’s wife, then she was going to make things exactly how she wanted them. If he became annoyed with the way she rearranged his things, he might change his mind about keeping her.

Well
, she thought bitterly.
It’s not like I wanted any of this. I’d rather Olek led me to a little shack with a hole in the roof and made me peel potatoes all day like the wives on Gringen. I would have definitely been happier doing that.

Her tears began anew.

O
lek sat
on one of the high-backed chairs, miserably drawing absent lines along the sides. He detected the strange sadness coming from the bathroom, radiating off his wife onto him. She refused to speak to him, but he saw the outrage in her every step as he’d shown her the castle. When he opened the front door to his home, he’d hoped for a small smile or a gasp of pleasure. He’d worked hard decorating his house in hopes of pleasing his someday bride, as did all the princes. She didn’t even glance around. It was as if she didn’t care.

A deep ache filled him and he sunk lower into his chair. This wasn’t how he envisioned married life. He wanted his home to be a sanctuary. As the ambassador of the Draig, he had battles and negotiations and threats of battle to deal with nearly every day. It was stressful. The safety of his people depended on him.

To his surprise, Nadja came out of the bathroom. Her hair was wet around her shoulders but brushed back from her face. Her smaller body swam in the folds of his robe. Her eyes and nose looked red and Olek frowned to see it. She’d been crying. He hadn’t heard her though, only felt her pain.

“Where’s my room?” Her voice was nearly as hollow as her eyes, as she gazed past him. She waited patiently, not hurrying him for an answer.

Nadja shivered.

“Fire,” he ordered. The fireplace lit.

Nadja barely blinked as she glanced at the flames. “Does everything work on voice command?”

“All but the overhead lights.”

“My room?” Nadja repeated the request, breaking off any conversation he might start.

“Our room is this way,” Olek stood to grab her bags for her and led the way.

Nadja said nothing as she silently followed him down a short side hall near the front entryway.

Taking two steps up, he led her into a massive oval room. A large bed sat in the middle, lowered so that it was only a short step up from the floor. Like the bathroom, this room had light tunnels carved and scattered throughout the ceiling.

Another, smaller fireplace had been carved into the wall. A fur rug lay in front of it. On one side of the room, down two steps, was a circular closet with a balcony window that looked out over the countryside. He always thought the private view breathtaking. If his wife was moved, she didn’t show it.

Nadja crossed over to the bed. With a stiff hand, she drew back the green coverlet embroidered with the royal emblem of the fierce dragon. “I’m taking a nap.”

Olek watched her crawl into the bed and turn her back toward him. There was nothing welcoming about that declaration. There was nothing to their interaction at all.

This couldn’t be right. The gods didn’t make mistakes…did they?

“I’ll be working in my office if you need me,” Olek said quietly. “It’s located next to the kitchen.”

“I won’t need you.” Nadja stared at the fireplace.

Her words tore at him. He dimmed the overhead lights to let her sleep. As he walked away, he heard her mumble, “Fire.”

The orange of flames lit the walls of the short hall from behind him. He took a deep breath and kept walking, leaving her alone.

“
O
pen
.”

“Exit.”

“Unlock!”

Olek looked up from his stacks of documents and frowned as his mind was pulled from its task. He rubbed his hands through his hair in frustration and quickly smoothed the locks down, brushing the side plaits over his shoulders. What was his new wife up to?

“Let me out, you…”

Nadja’s words were lost under a muffling of sound as they tapered off into an angry growl. He stood and moved around the haphazard pile of papers on his desk to see what she was up to. Hearing her continued muttering, he easily guessed her short nap was over. Too bad sleep didn’t seem to improve her mood.

Nadja faced the large front door as if she were about to attack it. Her hair was pulled back into a large bun at the nape of her slender neck. She wore a silk blouse and slacks, both her own clothing from her bags. Her short boot tapped impatiently on the marble floor as she stood, hands on hips, glaring at his front door.

“Sneaking out?” he asked, unable to hide his amusement at the scene.

Nadja kept her back to him so he couldn’t see her face, but her posture changed and became more poised. After several measured breaths, she turned to face him.

Olek witnessed the red tint to her cheeks and took it as anger. He had hoped that by letting her sleep, she would wake in a more reasonable frame of mind. It didn’t seem to be the case.

Nadja, who clearly had been planning on sneaking out, until the door refused to budge, replied, “I didn’t realize I was a prisoner. I wanted to get out of this house and go for a walk.”

“You are not a prisoner, solarflower,” Olek said softly, moving toward her. Oh, how he wanted to touch her. “Is that what you think it means to be royalty?”

She didn’t answer.

“Nadja,” he continued, emboldened by her silence, but not her stern look. “We are not prisoners here. You are as free as any other. I know the stories from other cultures where royalty isn’t allowed certain privileges, but we are not so strict. You can have a life. We do have to live by example and we do live to serve our people, but we are not prisoners to them.”

“So I have a job,” Nadja concluded darkly. “What is it? Holding your crown at ceremonies or wearing an outfit to match yours and smiling pretty for the cameras so we get nice photos in the newspaper chips?”

Olek grimaced.

“I don’t want that life, Prince Olek,” Nadja said. “I want a simple life. I want a garden.”

“We can live simply.” Olek lifted his hand to the atrium. “And there is your garden, solarflower. I’ll build you a hundred of them if it makes you happy. I’ll turn our whole home into a garden. If you want a cottage home, I will build you one in the forest. If you want the mountains, I’ll build you one there too. We can vacation there. If you want the stars, I’ll find a way to give them to you. I want you to be happy, Nadja.”

“You think you have all the answers.” She sighed, her eyes remaining hard. “You really have no idea. You have this romantic notion of what life is—stars and mountains. Anything can be bought including a wife.”

Confused by the low words, he stepped forward to better study her face. What was she trying to hide? “What was this really about? Are you trying to disappear from someone or something? Are you in trouble?”

Nadja tensed at his perceptiveness. She refused to meet his eyes. “No.”

Olek detected the falsehood instantly. She really was a bad liar.

“If you were, you could tell me,” Olek persisted. “I will stand by you, help you. My family will stand by you. You are one of us now.”

“I told you no. Don’t make me repeat myself or this will be a very tedious conversation.”

“Fine.” He kept his expression diplomatic, but inside he wanted to sigh and throw up his hands in frustration. “Keep your secret for now. But I hope one day soon you will come to know that you can trust me with it.”

Nadja turned back to the door, effectively cutting off the conversation. Enunciating her words, she demanded, “Open this door.”

“It’s not a good idea to wander about without an escort.”

“You mean a prison guard?”

“Open,” Olek instantly commanded. The door slid up to let her pass. “It’s easy to…”

Nadja strode out without a backward glance.

“To get lost,” he finished.

Olek sighed, at a complete loss. He felt helpless. Nothing he told her seemed to make her happy. Nothing he offered made her smile. Sighing, he fought the urge to follow her. He turned back to his office and the pile of work on his desk. He knew the first step of negotiating an understanding between two troubled people was a show of trust. And that is exactly what he would do. He would show Nadja he trusted her, even if she didn’t trust him.

N
adja was lost
. Not that she really cared. She was sure if she kept wandering around the red stone halls someone would run across her and force her to go back to Prince Olek.

To her complete embarrassment, her dreams had been of him, naked, touching himself and touching her. The desire still burned in her mind and body. She had thought she’d be able to face him, but the second she turned to look at him heat rushed over her and she found it hard to breathe. He was dressed as he had been that morning in his formal green tunic. His long hair was braided down the sides, though the locks looked as if they had been slightly tousled.

Sweet agony! He was achingly handsome to look at. Her heart fluttered in a trill of excitement at the mere thought.

What is this really about? Are you trying to disappear from someone or something? Are you in trouble?

How did he suspect?

She walked faster, taking several turns without paying attention.

Nadja hadn’t expected him to guess her secret so soon. How else could she answer, but to lie?

If you were, you could tell me. I will stand by you, help you. My family will stand by you. You are one of us now.

His words had caused her to tremble, but she’d hid her vulnerability. She was sure when he knew the truth he wouldn’t be so willing.

Nadja desperately wished she could believe him, and make him understand. But, being who he was, Nadja was even more afraid of telling him who her father was. Surely as a prince he knew of the Medical Alliance for Planetary Health and its staff. No one said the words “Medical Mafia” out loud, but people knew. She saw it in their faces. They knew.

If word got out she was one of “those” Aleksanders, Olek and his family could be embarrassed and scandalized. They could ship her back in hopes of avoiding public dishonor. They might ship her back to avoid attracting her father’s certain kind of wrath.

Gripping onto her dream with both hands, she whispered, “This is not the path I wanted.” Then, stopping at the end of a hall, she frowned. This really wasn’t the path she wanted. She was fairly confident she’d been there before.

At the end of each hall were little carved squares with markings on them. Nadja deduced they were encoded directions. Staring at the mark, she couldn’t read it and couldn’t begin to translate it, so she ignored it. She continued on, turning aimless corners, stopping to look at the sculptures and paintings. The palace was almost as decorative as a Reggum art museum. It was exquisite, though Nadja would never have admitted it to anyone, as she snarled at the lovely pieces.

“Princess Nadja?”

Nadja froze, the title irritating her to no end. When she turned, she saw the queen and instinctively moved to curtsey.

“No, no,” the queen insisted lightly. A pleasant smile spread over her features. “Do stand. We only save such things for public ceremonies. Our people like to watch our old customs, but it doesn’t mean we have to live with all of them every day.”

Q
ueen Mede glanced
over her shoulder to the hall she had just come from. Her oldest son’s wife had indentured herself as a slave and her other two sons’ wives were being just as stubborn. It was most distressing. At least Olek had some luck with his blessing. This morning, before her shock, Nadja had appeared quite taken with Olek and that gave the queen hope.

Aside from Nadja, who knew the truth of what she had become and was hopefully accepting it, the other princesses had no clue they’d married royalty. It was just as well. Queen Mede understood that it was hard to see past the crown and her sons wanted to be sure their wives chose for themselves, without the added attraction of money and power.

“Is Olek with you?” the queen asked when the woman didn’t readily speak.

“No,” Nadja answered flatly, turning stiffly back to the painting.

The queen realized she couldn’t have been more wrong. Nadja was as discontent as the others. What had the gods done?

The princess’ tone hardened, as she said with a private laugh of irony, “He’s working.”

“Working? Again?” The queen sighed. “I had hoped he would take a few days off now that he was married.”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Nadja answered. “I would rather he kept himself busy.” Her tone lowered and she mumbled something that sounded like, “and away from me.”

“Away from…” the queen repeated in confusion. “Nadja, are you…?”

“I am fine.” Giving another curtsey, the woman said, “If you would excuse me.”

“Wait.” Queen Mede desperately wanted to get to know her daughters and Nadja was the only one her sons would allow her to see just yet, as she was the only one who knew the truth of her station. “What are you doing just now?”

“Getting myself lost.”

“May I keep you company?” The queen started to reach forward but hesitated. The woman’s posture did not welcome affection “I could take you shopping in the village. We could get whatever you needed. The Galaxy Brides porters didn’t deliver many bags. I’d imagine it must be difficult deciding what to pack when embarking for a new planet you have never seen. You will need to be fitted for new gowns and shoes.”

Nadja took a deep breath. The queen eyed her silk blouse and slacks without malice. Slowly, she nodded, “All right. I wouldn’t mind some fresh air.”

“Wonderful!” The queen gave a small press of her hands to the princess’ shoulders. “I cannot wait to show the people one of my new daughters.”