She giggled and twirled away from him. He wanted to hit her.
“You know, King Gaius, with you visiting, an outside dignitary and all, we really should have a dinner in your honor with—”
“Dancing!” Izzy cheered. “There must be dancing!”
“Of course!”
Her queen and cousin quickly forgotten, Izzy ran back toward the castle. “I’ll get everything started!” she called out.
“I don’t need dancing,” Gaius informed Princess Keita.
“I know,” she replied coolly, her hand patting his bare chest. “I know.”
He watched her walk off. How the Northland chieftain, Ragnar of the Olgeirsson Horde, tolerated that wench as a mate, Gaius would never know.
Deciding not to worry about it, Gaius began to get dressed. He was pulling on his chain-mail shirt when he realized that the queen and her daughter were still standing there, staring at each other. They hadn’t said a word in all that time, so he’d forgotten about them completely.
But, with a nod to each other, they suddenly walked away together.
“Where are you two off to?” he asked.
“Training rink,” they replied as one.
“Huh,” Gaius said, before he shrugged it off and finished getting dressed.
Kachka caught the wood bow that her sister tossed to her as she made her way into the Great Hall.
“What’s this for?” Kachka asked.
“They are having dinner tonight in honor of your Iron.”
“He is not my Iron, Elina.”
“Whatever. The Cadwaladrs will be attending.”
“So they need more meat.”
“Exactly. Up for a hunt?”
Kachka was always “up for a hunt” so she didn’t bother to say as much and instead replied, “Need to eat first.”
Her sister nodded and they walked to the table. They’d barely gotten their seats before the other Riders arrived and began eating. The kitchen staff rushed to get more food on the table, especially once the other dragons came in.
They were mostly eating in silence until the gold dragon walked to the table. He seemed fine now, after his morning getting tossed around by the Iron King. “Greetings, my kin!” he happily announced, his Northland mate following behind him. “How are we all doing this beautiful morning?”
There were grunts from his sisters and abject silence from his brothers. But that had never stopped the Gold before.
“It is a beautiful day, isn’t it?” He stood behind Marina Aleksandrovna and reached over her to grab one of the warm loaves of bread from the table. Marina, as any Rider would expect, yanked the dagger from her belt and slammed it into the table, only missing the Gold’s human hand because dragons were quite fast.
The Gold held his hand against his chest and stared at Marina. “Woman, have you lost your mind?”
“Get own food,” Marina warned.
Tatyana rolled her eyes. “We discussed this,” she reminded them all. “In the Southlands you do not have to defend your food like a wolf defending its carcass.”
“He was still too close.”
Dagmar Reinholdt sat down at the table with a sigh. “It’s like eating with my brothers again.”
“At least your brothers have some manners!” Gwenvael walked around the table to find another seat and easier access to the food while Marina yanked her blade from the table and slid it back into her belt. The entire time, she never stopped eating.
Once seated, Gwenvael eyed Tatyana. “You dress like the other Riders, but your accent . . .”
“I’ve been trained in the ways of the Southlanders,” Tatyana explained. “I know many languages and the etiquette of many cultures. There are a few of us among the Riders. We relay information from the Anne Atli to those we—”
“Conquer?” Dagmar asked.
Tatyana smiled. “Of course not. We prefer the term—”
“Destroy,” Zoya volunteered.
Tatyana gritted her teeth before snapping, “Why are you here, Zoya Kolesova?”
“Because you need me!” she cheerfully replied.
“Like wolf needs fleas,” Nina Chechneva muttered.
Gaius walked into the hall. His hair was soaked and he wore a chain-mail shirt to go along with his grey leggings and brown boots. As human, he looked . . . exceptional. Why couldn’t he be human? Why a lizard? It was unfair.
“Ladies,” he greeted. Elina smiled up at him and Kachka kept eating.
Exceptional or not, he was still a spoiled royal who couldn’t have a few extra people in his bed.
“We have to go hunting because of you, royal,” Kachka accused.
The dragon snorted. “You don’t need a reason to go hunting, Rider. So don’t put that on me.”
He reached between two of the Southland royals, ignoring the glares as he did so, and grabbed a loaf of bread. “Before you two go, though, you may want to check out the training ring.”
“Are you suggesting my sister needs training?”
Elina’s head popped up. “Do not come at me. He did not say me.”