Dragon Lords Books 1 - 4 Box Set: Anniversary Edition (81 page)

P
ia looked
over the edge of the couch to where Zoran sat cross-legged on a floor cushion at the low dining table. His hands were threaded through his hair as he read some papers he’d brought home with him. He was unusually quiet and it was driving her to distraction. She was bored—really, really,
really
bored. She’d even started biting her nails, a habit she never had before this day.

“The queen came by,” she said to break his concentration. It didn’t get as big of a reaction as she’d expected.

Zoran knitted his brow, glancing over with only his eyes before turning back to the page. “I heard.”

“Oh, did you go see her then? Because she wanted me to tell you to go and see her,” Pia said, turning to kneel on the cushions so she could better study him. She laid her arms over the back of the couch, resting her chin on her hands as she waited for him to answer. He read a few more lines before speaking.

“I’ll take care of it,” Zoran answered, without bothering to look at her again. He continued to read and Pia watched him in silence for a long moment.

She would never tell him, but earlier that day she’d been so bored that she tried on all his formal tunics and pretended to fight with one of his swords. The sad thing was the imaginary creature she fought against won the battle. Though, her dramatic performance in the death scene was quite good, even if she did think so herself.

“Are we nobility?” She was all too aware of the effect his presence was having on her. Easily, she could recall the look and feel of his chest.

Zoran made a great show of sighing.

“The queen called you Lord Zoran and said I should ask you to explain it to me.”

“I’m trying to get this done, Pia. Do you mind if we talk about it later?”

“Oh, sorry,” Pia mumbled. With a loud sigh, she sank back into the couch and absently kicked her feet against the cushions.

Z
oran looked
over at the couch. Pia’s foot was lifted over the back, swinging in loud boredom. He tried not to smile. She’d been trying to get his attention ever since he’d walked in the door. Ignoring her wasn’t a tactic he would’ve thought of before now. It was working beautifully.

“Pia?” he sighed, forcing exasperation.

Her head popped back up from behind the couch, expectant.

“Can you do that a little quieter?” he asked, with a meaningful nod at her still dangling foot.

“Sorry,” she huffed, scrunching up her face. As she lay back down, he heard her mumble, “You try spending all day in this stupid house and see if you don’t get a little stir crazy.”

He was glad she’d stopped asking about titles and nobility. The truth was, he wasn’t sure he wanted to tell her she was a princess. He had no idea how she would react. If she were happy, he would worry that she would start looking at him for his title and not himself. If she were mad about it, he would worry that she wouldn’t get over it in time for the coronation. Of course, to be coronated, she’d probably need to know beforehand why a crown was being placed on her head.

Pia quietly stood from the couch and wandered around the house. Slowly, she circled her way closer to him, going into the kitchen before slithering out to stand behind his back. She lifted up on her toes, trying to read over his shoulder.

“Argh, woman,” Zoran said, spinning around to look at her. He leaned a hand on the floor behind him to support his weight. She was beautiful. Even without her little noises, she would’ve been distracting him with her presence. Every time he tried to read a line, he’d start imagining her naked body on the page and what he’d do to her if she’d only let him. Already, he’d restarted the same paragraph five times.

“Are you almost finished?” she asked.

“What is it you want?”

“I wanted to ask you something,” she said. “Are you still busy?”

Zoran’s eyebrow rose on his forehead. He studied her carefully, wondering at her forlorn expression. Was she pouting about his absence? Did she actually miss him during the day as he did her? A smile came to his lips as he looked purposefully over her body.

Pia blushed, denying instantly, “Not that!”

He shrugged. Was he busy? He looked back at the stack of royal documents needing his attention. Zoran needed to finish them. He doubted the king would take any excuse short of him impregnating Pia with a grandson. Since that wasn’t going to happen, he knew he should get back to work.

“I need your permission for something,” she rushed to keep his attention on her and not the paperwork.

That intrigued him. Zoran slowly turned to study her again.

Pia idly made her way past him to sit across the table. She crossed her legs as she lowered herself onto a comfortable cushion. Her eyes drifted to his documents, noticing a dragon on the top of the page—his dragon.

Pia hesitated. Instead of asking, she lifted her finger to ruffle the side of the stack of papers and inquired, “What are all these, anyway?”

“Work,” came the short answer. Pia gave a light grimace and drew her hands to her lap.

Zoran tensed. Oh, how he wanted nothing more at the moment than to crawl over the table and kiss the incredibly erotic pout off her face.

“Well?” he probed, feigning an annoyance he didn’t feel. He enjoyed their little games.

“Any chance you’d just give me permission without knowing?” Pia asked. His expression said that it wasn’t likely. “All right, I want... “

Zoran smiled, growing unbelievably aroused by the way her mouth moved when she talked. His stomach tightened and his leg muscles were ready to pounce at the slightest command from his brain. He couldn’t take much more of this. His hands itched to touch her. His mouth throbbed with the need to kiss her.

Swallowing, Pia was completely unaware of the effect she had on him. She considered her words carefully. “I want to touch your weapon.”

His grin grew, as did his desire. Slowly, he stood. Pia followed suit. A soft look of hope came to her innocent features. His manly “weapon” stirred to eager attention. What exactly was she asking him? To his disappointment, her next statement answered that question. It wasn’t the answer his hard cock wanted.

“
J
ust the throwing knives
,” Pia hastened, seeing his look and taking it for displeasure. She laid a pleading hand on his arm. She shivered, very drawn to the handsomeness of his eyes. Every time she thought of them, she got chills. “I wasn’t allowed to bring my set on the ship and had to leave them behind. Apparently they thought I’d, I don’t know, take out all the insipid brides or something.”

In truth, Pia had to sell the antique set to get to the Galaxy Brides’ corporation headquarters to see the doctors. But it was true they didn’t let her take her cheaper backups on board. This was the first time she’d been without a weapon for an extended period of time and she felt exposed without one.

“Please,” she begged. She bounced in jittery excitement. “It’s been making me crazy staring at them all day and not being able to do anything. I’ll go mad without something to keep me busy.”

“Knives?” His hand lifted to stroke her cheek. She blinked in surprise at the touch, almost startled, and he drew away.

“It’s polite to ask before taking,” Pia explained. “I would never dream of touching another fighter’s weaponry. I mean the knife I used the other day wasn’t anything special, the blade was misaligned and the hilt, anyway… If not for the demanded etiquette, I wouldn’t have bugged you about it. My father...”

She stopped suddenly. Zoran saw the look on her face and frowned. Something inside her wavered, but she lifted her chin proudly.

“Give me a kiss,” Zoran said instead, a grin curling his devilishly handsome mouth.

Pia’s brows furrowed.

“Just one.”

Pia swallowed and didn’t move. His eyes were staring boldly into hers. Her mouth pressed shut and she denied him. With a shake of her head, she said, “Don’t change the subject.”

“Can I at least kiss you?” he murmured seductively, drawing closer still.

“Please,” Pia said, staring at his full mouth. Then, shaking herself, she added, “I’ll take good care of them.”

“I can’t supervise you just now,” Zoran answered at last. He glanced back at the documents. “I am expected to finish and return these by the morning, but I’ll show them to you later.”

Pia wrinkled her nose at him and grumbled, “I don’t need supervision, tyrant. I know what I’m doing.”

“I don’t want you hurting yourself.” He crossed his arms in a very commanding way that was full of authority and power. “I keep all my weapons very sharp and ready for battle. Maybe I could get you a child’s set to begin with.”

The offer had been genuine. Pia was genuinely ticked off. Her face turned a bright shade of angry red. Her mouth fell open at the audacity.

“Yeah, you do that and I’ll shove that child’s set right up your stubborn—”

“Pia,” he warned.

Her mouth snapped shut and she glared at him. Suddenly, she smiled agreeably, “Husband?”

Now Zoran looked worried.

“Is this my house, too?” she asked, her voice sweet.

Stiffly, he nodded, very afraid.

“Fine, if you are going to be a tyrant, so will I. In many societies I have seen, the wife runs the household, and if I have to get used to your culture, you have to get used to my ways. And I’ll make you as crazy as you make me. You are to pick up after yourself. No more leaving laundry on the floor, no more dirty boots in the front hall. You’ll rinse your own swamp mud out of the shower. That was really very gross—”

“Pia,” Zoran interjected.

“Huh?”

“Are you finished? I really need to get back to the documents.” His eyes devoured her.

“Zoran, what part of this are you not understanding? I’m going crazy in this house,” she cried. “Please, please,
please
, let me go outside.”

“Open,” he yelled at the door. Pia turned her eyes to the front door. It slid open. He waved at it. “Have fun, try not to get lost.”

Zoran sat back down at the table, pretending to ignore her.

Pia glared at his downturned head. “You know what I mean. Program my voice into it so I can leave during the day.”

“And what will you do?” he asked. To the door, he called, “Shut!”

“I’m going to get a job,” Pia answered, carefully. She drew her finger in absent circles around the table. “You’re gone all day so it’s not like you’d even notice.”

“You don’t need to work. We don’t need the money.”

“Oh, but I do need to work,” she rushed. “I’ve never been as useless as I have been these last several days. If you’re not going to let me divorce you, then you have to give just a little. Otherwise, you will have a neurotic mess on your hands and not a wife.”

“And what exactly are you going to do?” Zoran asked, standing once more and striding forward to tower over to her. She shivered and inched away from him in nervousness.

“I—I don’t want to tell you,” she said, backing further away. “You’ll only laugh at me.”

Zoran grew worried.

“I’m going to talk to the dressmaker,” she lied. “I’m pretty handy with a...needle.”

“Really?” Zoran mused as if he thought sewing wasn’t too bad and it could have been much worse. “I’ll speak to the seamstress tomorrow for you. I don’t think she’s looking for an apprentice, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.”

Pia scowled. She had no intention of speaking to the seamstress. The only thing she’d ever stitched up was her own hide. “Never mind, I would rather do it myself.”

“She doesn’t speak your language.”

His logical tone frustrated Pia even more. This conversation wasn’t going as she’d hoped. All she wanted was to use his knives and to go outside to do it.

Zoran turned back to his documents. Giving her an expectant look, he asked, “Was there anything else?”

Pia glowered hotly at him and stalked away.

P
ia smiled
, watching the slight spark as she hit two wires together. The front door slid up. It had only taken an hour for her to find the controls in the wall and reprogram the door. The hole she’d dug in the side wall was unfortunate, but didn’t her husband say it was her house, too? And why couldn’t she dig a hole into the wall of her house if she wanted to? She’d hoped it wouldn’t come to sneaking out, but Zoran really left her no choice.

She wore the boots he’d given her, a pair of the more serviceable pants and a cotton shirt. Her outfit was all black, matching the mischievous stealth-like mood she was in. At her waist was her tyrant of a husband’s throwing knives. Hey, she’d asked him. It wasn’t her fault he was stubborn and forced her to resort to borrowing without permission.

Child’s set, my blackhole! The nerve of him.

Turning down the hall in the direction she’d seen Zoran walk in that morning, she looked around. Their apartment adjoined a long red hallway. As she made her way, she noticed portraits, statues, and tapestries decorated with subtle beauty. She ignored them all, not really interested in fine art except as landmarks for direction.

Coming to the first turn, she frowned. The halls looked the same, only the decorations were different. Seeing a small panel on the wall with strange carvings, she looked at all four corners. Three were the similar in design, one was different. She tried the hall with the different symbol.

She got lucky. The hall led her down a straight path, past several closed doors and a shorter hallway. She kept going straight and hit upon the front gate. Sunlight streamed through the opening. The guard on duty looked her over, stopping to stare at her hair. He seemed to have heard about her, because he merely nodded his head and allowed her to pass without speaking.

Pia narrowed her eyes and made a face behind his back. These stupid Qurilixian, Draig, whatever they called themselves, and their hair fetish. She cursed them all with baldness.

Going into the soft haze of the triple suns, she took a deep breath of air. She instantly felt better. She was in a courtyard. Glancing up in surprise, she realized she lived in the small mountain she’d seen from the festival ground. From the ground, because of the angle, you couldn’t see the windows or balconies adjoining the homes. They were carved so that even from a distance they looked just like a mountain cliff. It was truly an impenetrable fortress. Pia was impressed.

A path went down one side of the courtyard to the forest. Another split off to a tiny village nestled in the valley. The red earthen streets were carved to perfection and the town looked very tidy. Pia walked slowly away from the forest. Past the village she could see the edge of the festival grounds and the platform where she’d first met the king and queen. The tents were all gone and the field looked barren.

The villager’s homes were of rock and wood, so that even the poorest of families appeared to be taken care of—or they were shooed out of the city so they didn’t dirty the streets. Pia detected some of the villagers down below. They wore light linen tunics and all had long hair. Pia touched her short blonde locks, hating how she was suddenly self-conscious about them. Taking a tie from her pocket, she pulled her hair back into a small ponytail.

Suddenly, she heard the telltale strike of metal to metal. She smiled mischievously. Today was her lucky day. Lifting her shirt, she took out the knives hidden in her waistband and bounced them lightly in her hand. It was time to have some fun.

P
ia grinned
at the surrounding men. It hadn’t taken long for her to draw a crowd. At first, everyone had stared at her from a distance—especially her short hair—in wonderment. Then, when she took her knives and began to throw, the men had gathered around to watch her. They nodded their heads in grudging respect of her skill, and soon no one cared that her hair was short or that she was a woman invading their practice field.

Pia smiled to herself. It was the same everywhere she went. Warriors were easily won over with a little show. She tossed the last of Zoran’s knives at the throwing post and turned to look at the small crowd.

“Any challengers?” she called to the men. The men smiled in return, glancing around their ranks.

“I’ll take that challenge, my lady,” one of the soldiers said. He was a scruffy looking lad with long lips and an easy smile.

“And you are?” Pia questioned.

The man bowed gallantly before her, his nature effortless in its good humor. “Hume, my lady.”

“Well, Sir Hume,” she said loudly, an impish grin lining her features. “I hope you don’t mind losing to a woman.”

The surrounding men howled with laughter. Hume waved his hand gallantly at them, completely unconcerned.

“If I have to lose,” he said most courteously. He took up her hand and bowed low over it. “Let it be my heart to one as lovely as you, my lady.”

Pia smirked, not taking any notice of the gallantry. She snatched her hand away and waved him back as she went to retrieve her blades. The crowd laughed louder at the man’s bold banter and the lady’s firm dismissal of it.

Pia walked up, lifting the hilt to Hume in offering.

“No, my lady,” he murmured graciously. His eyes sparkled. “By all means, you go first.”

A
gro cleared his throat
. “Excuse me,
Draea Anwealda
.”

Zoran turned up from the papers he was still trying to get through. He lifted a finger before concluding the last sentence with a slight sigh. He hadn’t been able to read the documents the night before. He kept thinking of Pia, and the boring trade agreement couldn’t compete. With a sigh, he reached over to a nearby table and grabbed a pen. He quickly signed his name before handing the documents over to a waiting soldier, saying, “Deliver these to the king immediately.”

The man nodded and was off.

Zoran stepped out of the small one-room building, which he loosely referred to as an office, onto the practice field. Smiling, he nodded at Agro. “What brings you out?”

“Ach, the wife is pregnant and she’s kicked me out of the house again,” the man said, waving a dismissing hand as if it were no big deal. “She says I make her crazy, but I tried to tell her she’s always crazy at this time.”

Zoran chuckled and began walking toward the far end of the field to the village. He’d seen the man’s slender wife. She was the only person who could make this giant tremble with fear.

Agro was a monster of a man with two green eyes that were currently blackened with matching bruises. He had an easy smile that was always full of mischief. He’d grown up around the four princes, knew them well, and was well liked by them in return.

“She do that to your face while kicking you out?” Zoran asked, motioning to the black eyes and still chuckling.

“Ach, no! That was your brother, Ualan. He was a bit testy at the Breeding Festival and needed to vent,” Agro said. “And I might have said a few things that aggravated him.”

Zoran’s smile faded slightly.

“So how’s your new blushing bride?” Agro asked. Zoran wondered at the man’s roguish grin. He was up to something. “Word is she hasn’t been out since the wedding. You keeping her tied up somewhere?”

“Ah,” Zoran waved the question away.

“I see it’s true you disfigured her,” Agro said with a smirk.

Since Agro was like a brother to him, he let the insolence pass.

“I don’t know why you would’ve done it. She has a glorious color to her hair. When the sun hits it, it’s like spun gold,” Agro said.

Zoran nodded, but then, taking in what the man revealed, he stopped and frowned. When had this man seen Pia outside, in the sunlight? He hadn’t been there when he’d introduced her to his parents at the festival and the festival night was just that—night.

Unhampered, Agro continued in his mischief, “Yeah, she’s a beauty all right. Not like Yusef’s little firebird who’s all vigor and flames. No, your wife is all air and light. Why, those eyes of hers, what would you say are they brown? Green? I couldn’t rightly tell. Ah, it doesn’t matter—”

“What are you talking about?” Zoran asked when it became clear the man intended rambling on until he stopped him.

Agro grinned.

“Where is she?” Zoran demanded hotly, his face snarling. His stomach tightened into knots and he placed his hands on his hips.

“Ah, so you don’t know that your wife’s gone and joined the military?” Agro questioned needlessly. “And that the men seem taken by the beautiful woman who, I might add, throws better than most of them. Plus, she has a smile so straightforward that it makes their single hearts melt.”

“Joined the...?” Zoran began in confusion. In order to join, she’d have to get his permission. “What are you going on about?”

“She’s practicing right now with the men,” Agro said, motioning Zoran’s attention to the growing group of soldiers around the knife post.

Zoran frowned, storming forward. He told himself it wasn’t possible. Pia was locked safely away in their home. There was no way she could have gotten out.

Agro watched the prince in curiosity. He knew Zoran well enough to know he wouldn’t like his beautiful new bride around the rowdy soldiers without him.

Zoran came around the group of men and froze. Hume was throwing his knives at the post. Pia, his wayward wife, was standing next to him, clapping good-naturedly as the man hit his mark.

Zoran’s limbs tightened in outrage and, for a moment, he couldn’t move.

Pia laughed as Hume copied her throw and hit her marks. A bright smile came to her face as she glanced around. She missed the hard countenance of her husband at the edge of the crowd.

Hume, his wide lips grinning from ear to ear, teased, “Would you like to try again, my lady? I’m trying to take it easy on you.”

“Hume!” Zoran shouted.

Pia jolted in alarm at the gruff bark. She blinked in confusion. All eyes turned to Zoran at the noise, except Pia who glanced over at Hume.

The soldier stepped forward and bowed to the prince, as he answered, “Yes,
Draea Anwealda
.”

“Since you have so much energy, lead these men through a march of the east field course,” Zoran commanded.

“Yes,
Draea Anwealda
,” Hume said, instantly calling out orders.

P
ia trembled
, seeing how all the men stood at attention, only to solute Zoran at the order to march. She’d thought he’d be off guarding something. Her heart hammered in her chest as she watched her husband. Instantly, she took in his authoritative pose. He wasn’t a guard. He was the commander. How could she have missed it?

The men filed into an orderly line and jogged off without giving her a backwards glance. Zoran stared hard at her, clearly trying to control his anger. Agro, who watched Pia’s stubborn expression from behind him, slowly slipped away, grinning like a fool.

Pia swallowed nervously when they were left alone on the field. Unable to come up with a single thing to say, she forced a tight smile and turned to go gather the knives from the post.

“Don’t you move,” Zoran said. His tone was soft but there was no doubt that it was a command.

Pia froze, despite her instinct to run away as fast as she could. She kept her back to him. A grimace purposefully formed on her features as she waited.

Zoran took a slow step toward her. Pia tensed. He continued past, grabbing his knives from the post. Clenching them in his fist, he marched back to stand in front of her. His arm rose, motioning to a nearby guard, who was passing, to come to him. He handed the knives to the man and ordered that he put them in his office. The guard bowed and obeyed, leaving the couple once more alone on the field.

Pia looked Zoran in the eye while she waited for him to speak.

“Who let you out?” he demanded after a long, hot pause in which he glared at her.

Pia frowned at his hard tone, growing evermore irritated with him. She’d been having fun until he showed up and ruined it. Bitterly, she said, “Don’t you mean to say, how did I escape my prison?”

“Pia.” His eyes narrowed.

“Warden,” she said insolently in the same tone. She crossed her arms over her chest and mimicked his militant stance.

“Do you think this is a game?” Zoran asked.

“It’s your fault I’m out here,” Pia said. Her brow rose on her face, daring him on into a fight.

“My fault?”

“I asked you nicely to let me out of the house during the day. I wouldn’t have needed to sneak out behind your back if you hadn’t forbidden me from throwing your knives. I tried to reason with you, tyrant.”

“I told you no!”

“I’m not your pet. I’m not one of these men you can order about.”

“You are my wife,” he said, as if that one thing gave him the right to be angry.

“This is all I know how to do, Zoran,” she proclaimed waving her hand about the field.

“I thought you could sew,” he answered with a dark snarl.

“And I thought you were a royal guard, so I guess we’re even. I only told you I could sew to try and get out of the house.” She uncrossed her arms and put them on her hips. She took a menacing step forward. Poking him defiantly in his rock-hard chest, she added, “I’m sick and tired of you, Zoran, and your macho, controlling attitude. Either you get your act together and resign yourself to the fact that you didn’t marry a homemaker, or give me my divorce. The choice is up to you. But I’ll not be kept a prisoner anymore.”

As she screamed the word “divorce” at him, he glanced around. A few villagers were gathered below them, pointing and watching the royal couple in awe. He saw Agro, a frown on the man’s lips, as he tried to usher the curious onlookers away.

Pia wasn’t concerned with the villagers. She was too mad. Zoran’s eyes flash with a golden fire, as he shot forward and grabbed her arm. Tugging her behind him, he began leading her away from the field.

Pia stumbled, tripping over her feet as she tried to dig her heels into the ground to stop him. When that didn’t work, she jumped and landed on his back. Her arm wound around his neck as she squeezed.