King Beast - Vicious Flames

Chapter 18

Smoke escaped from his flared nostrils. "Welcome to your forever."

Her forever?

She turned and surveyed the expanse in front of the castle again, her gaze following the winding path that snaked its way to the ominous entrance where they stood, the same path her carriage had climbed before, to bring her here.

A detail, not tiny, had escaped her attention earlier —the dragons. How did she miss them?

Each massive gray pillar flanking the path was, in fact, adorned with a colorful dragon sculpture on the top.

Painted in vivid hues, the dragons breathed life into the stone. Some appeared regal, their heads held high, while others seemed to be sleeping. The craftsmanship was remarkable, capturing the essence of these mythical creatures in all their fearsome glory.

"I didn't notice the dragons..." she trailed off.

The eerie dragon-pillared path, the castle cloaked in that shroud of ashy mist and the Lord belonged to her.

When no answer came, she glanced behind her shoulder and realized why.

Zerberus had simply walked away from her!

Rude!

Curse him.

"Wait!" Odette chased after him, his natural stride too much for her to catch up with without running.

Since he didn't try to pace his strides with her much shorter ones, she had to half-jog to keep up. Did he try totire me so I wouldn't keep talking to him?

She reached him when he was almost well inside the monster he called home. "Wait!"

Their footsteps echoed off the stone floor as they passed through an entry chamber and then into a vast hexagonal room with long tables arranged in lines. A smaller table rose from a stony platform at the far end of the room. The wall was covered in intricate carvings of eerie birds, twisted vines, and malevolent flowers; another time Odette would have touched that ancient art.

"You didn't notice the dragons because they weren't there when you arrived earlier," he explained with a reptilian monotone. Ah! So, he did hear her when she had mumbled that question yet decided to be a rude cold-blooded beast and ignored her.

Her hand clenched at her side. "Did you ask your people to redecorate your castle for me?" She wanted to irritate him just as he did. He didn't seem to find the need to answer her as he just stared at her.

"What am I supposed to do here?" She asked before he would leave again. She needed answers.

He didn't need to think. His answer came swiftly. "Please me."

How dare he? "I'm not a concubine!"

He snorted, another whiz of blue smoke out. "Nay. You certainly aren't." Was that an insult?!

She took a deep inhale to calm herself. Snapping at him would not help her cause.

"But we will not spend all our time in...doing...um," She stuttered, he lifted a white eyebrow.

"Kissing." Brilliant remark, Odette. "You will have things to do..." Like raiding villages, stealing sheep, she kept that part to herself.

He frowned and pursed his lips.

"Won't you?" She said sheepishly.

"That I will. I do now."

She decided to be diplomatic; besides, she didn't think she could keep chasing him. "But what am I supposed to do with my time when you are so busy with your dragon lordship things?"