“Perhaps,” Lyria said, picking up her hoop again, “but the princes have declared that two of us must remain with you at all times. That countermands whatever order you might make.”
Dareena silently cheered Lyria for that. Soldian looked absolutely furious, but there was nothing she could do. A wave of gratitude swept through Dareena as she looked upon her least favored lady-in-waiting—she didn’t think Lyria truly knew what was going on, but at least she knew something wasn’t right. She prayed that Soldian wouldn’t take to more drastic measures to get rid of her, but then again, Lyria was strong. All dragon born women were trained to fight to some degree, and though Dareena didn’t know if Lyria could outfight a trained assassin, she knew she would not be taken down easily.
Soldian made Dareena pick up Rantissa’s discarded embroidery hoop and continue working on it. She made Dareena stab herself several times in her fingers—a punishment, Dareena knew, even though she had done nothing. Agony zinged through her every time one of the needles bit in deep, but the wounds healed over almost instantly, which seemed to frustrate Soldian further. Dareena wondered if this was a side effect of being the Dragon’s Gift, if it was her elven blood, or if merely carrying a dragon babe imbued her with this ability.
“I think it’s time for you to put that down,” Lyria finally said, reaching for the embroidery hoop.
“No,” Dareena said mulishly, trying to pull away.
“My lady,” Lyria said, exasperation coloring her voice, “there is no point in doing embroidery if you are going to bleed all over the cloth.”
“Who cares?” Dareena snapped as she struggled with Lyria. “It isn’t as if I’m going to give this to anyone anyway!”
The door opened, and relief swept through Dareena as Alistair walked in. “What is the meaning of this?” he demanded, his amber gaze taking in the scene.
Lyria abruptly stepped back. “I was merely trying to stop Lady Dareena from hurting herself,” she said. “She’s stabbed herself with the needle several times.”
Alistair frowned as he approached, noting the blood spots on the cloth. “It’s not uncommon for people to prick their fingers while using a needle,” Soldian said, sounding perfectly reasonable. “How is Lady Dareena going to get any better if she isn’t allowed to practice?”
“She was practically stabbing her fingers all the way through,” Lyria snapped, glaring daggers at Soldian. “Or are your weak human eyes too blind to see that?”
Soldian’s cheeks colored. “I am merely supporting my lady’s wishes. Something you obviously have trouble doing.”
“Enough,” Alistair said, his voice uncharacteristically hard. “Ladies, you are dismissed. I would like to speak to my mate alone.”
Lyria nodded and left the room without a word. Soldian did the same, but Dareena knew she would slip back in as soon as Alistair turned his back.
“Dareena,” Alistair said, joining her on the couch. He pulled her into his arms, the look on his face tender but troubled. “Please, tell me what is the matter. Drystan said that you scolded him earlier for no real reason, and he is quite upset.”
“Nothing is the matter,” Dareena said, watching out of the corner of her eye as Soldian slipped back inside, invisible once more. “I simply wanted to be left alone for a little while.”
“I can understand that,” Alistair said. He leaned in close and nuzzled her neck. “Do you still want to be left alone now?” he asked, nipping at her sensitive skin.
A bolt of desire hit Dareena, only heightened by the sensual tone in Alistair’s voice. He kissed a path up the side of her neck, then took her mouth, sliding his tongue inside. Dareena reveled in the taste of him, wanting so badly to reciprocate. She burned with both lust and anger, knowing that Soldian was standing by and watching, just waiting for the right time to strike.
Dareena hoped that Soldian would simply make her sit there, inert, while Alistair tried to get her to respond. Instead, she made Dareena bite down on Alistair’s tongue, hard. The coppery tang of blood rushed into her mouth as Alistair cried out, recoiling.
“What is the matter with you, woman?” Alistair roared, his eyes blazing with anger. “Have you gone mad?”
“I did not give you leave to kiss me,” Dareena said, her lips curling back into a sneer. “A gentleman should not make improper advances upon a lady.”
“Improper?” Alistair sputtered, his face coloring with rage. “After what the three of us did together, I am very interested to know your definition of ‘improper.’”
Heat bloomed in Dareena’s core as she remembered how she’d let Alistair and Drystan take her together. The idea of her getting up in arms over a mere kiss was silly indeed compared to what she’d allowed them to do to her. “I only let you do that because I was bored,” Soldian made her say. “To be honest, I never liked having sex with you or Drystan anyway. Lucyan is the superior lover. I should have just chosen to marry him.”
Plumes of smoke poured from Alistair’s nose, and Dareena could see his chest swell with fire. She half wondered if he would incinerate her on the spot, but she knew Alistair would never harm her, no matter what she did or said to him.
“You’re not making any sense,” he said gently, once he’d finally gotten himself under control. “My brothers and I have slept with enough women to know when one is faking. And it was your idea to choose all three of us instead of picking one. You were the one who found that prophecy, and it turned out you were right. The dragon god wanted this to happen.”
“The only reason we are doing it this way is because the three of you were too weak to stop your father from destroying the kingdom,” Dareena said in an acid voice. “If you had stood up to him early on, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
Alistair shook his head. “I don’t know what has gotten into you, Dareena, but clearly there is no reasoning with you right now,” he said as he stood.
His movements were stiff, but beneath the anger etched into his features, Dareena could see the hurt and betrayal. Her heart ached so fiercely for Alistair she wondered if it was being torn in two.
“I cannot believe that you would do or say these things, but perhaps I did not know you as well as I thought.”
“Clearly,” Dareena said, “or you would have already figured out that the babe I carry is not yours.”
Alistair froze. “What did you say?” he whispered.
“I was already pregnant before I came to Dragon’s Keep,” Dareena declared. “By a stable boy in Hallowdale I met for weekly trysts. Why do you think I was so eager to be Chosen and took all three of you to my bed so readily? I needed to cover up the truth of my pregnancy.”
Alistair looked at her as though she’d lost her mind, and Dareena secretly crowed on the inside. “That’s impossible,” he said. “I noted your change of scent when we went to Elvenhame. There is no way you were pregnant before you arrived.”