Wyvern's Prince

  Urbanus was nothing but thorough when he’d been cheated of whatever he thought was his due. Venero’s brother had wanted to ensure his death, without getting his own hands dirty. Urbanus probably thought Venero was already dead.

  But Venero had a surprise for his brother.

  With any luck, Urbanus wouldn’t discover the truth until it was too late.

  The only good thing about the wedding was that Urbanus had built a remote castle, specifically to enjoy the pleasures of his new wife in privacy. As soon as Venero had heard about the castle, he’d known it offered him a chance. Sooner or later, the happy couple would return to the city of Regalia, and somehow, he was going with them.

  Urbanus’ new bride just might be dumb enough to help.

  Venero had heard the hammering and the felling of trees, the lugging of stones and the long hours of construction. That the new palace was being built in the same region of Regalia where Venero had been dispatched just added to his conviction that Urbanus thought him dead.

  Or powerless.

  It had taken every bit of strength and resolve that Venero possessed, but he had made it to the castle by the day of the wedding. He doubted there would be another opportunity for release anytime soon, so he had to seize this one. He was exhausted when he hopped onto the path leading to the gates and took a moment to survey the creation. The new castle was a tall, slender tower and he grimaced at his certainty that the bridal suite would be at the top.

  There’d been no time to delay, much less to rest. Venero had slipped through the gates, squirmed under a door, and started the ascent in the quiet castle. There were servants in the kitchen, but not many of them by the sound—and they weren’t very happy with their situation, either.

  He had been a third of the way up the endless winding stone staircase when he had a stroke of luck: a maid hurrying past with a basket of provisions was too busy grumbling to pay attention to her surroundings. Venero leaped as she passed and landed in the basket, then quickly hid beneath the folded cloth.

  It was a bumpy ride, but one that saved him a lot of trouble.

  He thought about kissing the maid in his relief.

  Then he remembered the antidote and wondered if it was worth a try to seduce her. If Urbanus could have planned true love, Venero would have given the idea more consideration. His brother would have been amused to match him to such a woman, but surely there was something that escaped the control of his family’s magical powers.

  The maid abruptly unlocked a door at the summit, heaved a sigh, and pushed the basket inside just as another woman called from below. He still might have given it a try, but someone called from the foot of the stairs. She swore and locked the door again, leaving him alone.

  The enormous draped bed told Venero that he had reached his destination.

  It also reminded him that the maid might scream if he revealed himself. If she told Urbanus there was a toad in the palace—and why wouldn’t she?—Venero would be caught. Urbanus would guess which toad, and this time, he wouldn’t leave Venero’s demise in doubt.

  He’d only need a rock.

  With a shudder, Venero slipped beneath a carved bureau with so many drawers that there was only just space beneath it for a toad. He caught his breath as he hunkered there in the shadows. He closed his eyes for a moment, but didn’t dare fall asleep.

  He could sleep in Regalia city.

  The maid returned and made the bed with fresh linens, then opened the doors to the balcony. He could smell the forest far below.

  Soon, the newlyweds would arrive.

  Venero needed a plan.

  * * *

  Venero was beyond impatient by the time he heard the Starpod land in the bailey. Should he charm the bride? Should he encourage her sympathy? Or should he provoke her? Or should he just hide in her belongings?

  Moments later, a woman entered the chamber accompanied by the fragrant maid. The maid bustled around the chamber, turning down the bed and opening the doors to the balcony even wider. Venero could see her clearly, on the far side of the room, but only the bride’s shoes. The maid unpacked a small bag, leaving a fine chemise on the bed. The bride stayed beside the door.

  There was no other baggage than the small bag, which the maid didn’t put down. It defied Venero’s belief that a bride would arrive with only the clothes on her back, but maybe the rest hadn’t been brought to the chamber.

  Maybe it wouldn’t be.

  Maybe Urbanus distrusted his bride.

  Or wanted her close to naked most of the time.

  Either way, hiding wasn’t going to work.

  Gemma still hadn’t moved from the door. She seemed to be very still. Venero crept forward to steal a glimpse of her. Maybe that would help him decide on a plan.

  The shocking thing was that she was beautiful.

  Venero was hardly immune to feminine allure. In fact, he considered himself somewhat of a connoisseur, but he had never seen a woman as gorgeous as Urbanus’ bride. He felt a sudden—and very inappropriate—interest in his brother’s new wife.

  She was blonde and blue-eyed, curvy and of just the right height for a man to tuck against his side. She was exquisitely pretty.

  She looked demure.

  It didn’t seem unreasonable to imagine that she might be fertile.

  Of course, she was a dragon shifter.

  The expression on her face didn’t hint at vast intellectual powers. Venero recalled his earlier theory and thought both Gemma’s expression and her situation confirmed it. Such a royal beauty must have had many choices of suitors. Why accept Urbanus?

  Maybe her father had insisted upon the marriage.

  But then, any woman with a bit of spirit would have protested a match that she didn’t want herself.

  She examined her wedding ring with apparent fascination, smiling as she turned it so the faceted stone caught the light. She giggled when it flashed. She repeated this gesture over and over again. The maid had to ask her three times whether she needed anything else before she appeared to understand the words, then she just shook her head.

  Dumb as a rock.

  Venero recoiled when a creature padded into the chamber and mewed at Gemma. She gave a cry of delight and bent to scoop up the beast, which had fur of a familiar blue and green combination.

  A pavofel! Venero grimaced in distaste. That Urbanus’ bride had anything in common with Queen Arcana couldn’t be a good thing.

  The maid left with the small bag, muttering, then Urbanus himself rapped on the door and swept into the chamber. “My lady!” he said and bowed low over her hand. Gemma fluttered her lashes, and Venero’s heart clenched at her pretty vulnerability.

  He’d obviously been hopping around the forest too long.

  “I shall return shortly, my love,” Urbanus declared, bowing and leaving the room.

  She waved her fingertips at him. “Don’t take too long!” she called after him, her voice breathy and pitched high.

  The sound did strange things to Venero’s pulse. The sooner he got back to his real form, returned to the city of Regalia and indulged in some female companionship, the better.

  To his surprise, when the door was closed behind Urbanus and the lock turned, Gemma’s posture changed completely. She pivoted to stare at the door and Venero swore he could hear her attention crackle. She was suddenly alert and coiled to spring, so different from the bride playing with her ring that he blinked.

  What had happened? Instead of a silly and lovely bride, she looked over the room with a gaze as keen as that of a hawk on the hunt.

  No. Like a dragon on the hunt.

  Venero shuddered.

  Gemma dropped the pavofel, which leaped onto the bed and curled up there, eyes bright. She tried the latch surreptitiously, silently. She didn’t knock on it or demand release, but simply pivoted to study her prison. He had the sense that she looked for a weakness, or a vulnerability she could exploit.

  He eased forward, fascinated. Her eyes narrowed, but Venero
could see their furious glitter. Like faceted sapphires, or snow in the sunlight. He had a definite sense that she was dangerous.

  Gemma looked braced for battle, even though she carried no weapon. Her menacing expression made him retreat a little, for the sight reminded him that she was a dragon shifter.

  Maybe a hungry one.

  Did dragons eat toads? He had to think that they ate whatever they wanted.

  Her survey complete, Gemma marched to the balcony. She moved with the lithe grace of a warrior and Venero couldn’t help watching her. She examined the space quickly. Efficiently. Venero understood what she was looking for, because in her place, he would have been looking for a means of escape, too.

  Gemma looked over the rail to the ground below and he guessed that she was judging the distance. She looked up to the peak of the tower, then strode back into the room. She tested the strength of the pillars of the bed, silently opened drawers, peered behind mirrors and drapes and appeared to inventory the contents of the chamber with calm purpose.

  He was surprised to have anything in common with her.

  Urbanus would be even more surprised.

  Come to think of it, Gemma reminded him of Arista.

  But the way her head turned and her eyes lit at the sound of the key in the lock as the maid returned was pure dragon.

  The strange thing was that his inappropriate attraction to his brother’s bride hadn’t diminished a bit. In fact, he was even more intrigued by her—and more aroused—then he had been at first glimpse.

  That must be the result of having been enchanted for so long.

  He would have liked to have watched her disrobe, but the maid bustled her behind a screen, complaining of the draft from the balcony.

  Funny how he had a lot more interest in soliciting a kiss from Gemma than from the maid. Maybe she could help him. Maybe she’d do it willingly. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask. He didn’t think for a moment that she was his true love—he was sure there wasn’t one, in fact—but a kiss from Gemma would suit him just fine, even if it didn’t change his form.

  Venero reviewed his possible plans. He didn’t think he could win the sympathy of a dragon warrior. Given her fierce expression, he wasn’t sure Gemma could be charmed. She looked like she’d take a challenge and run with it, though.

  Venero smiled. Provocation, it would be.

  And maybe a kiss for luck. His heart skipped at the prospect. Venero hunkered down to wait for his moment.

  * * *

  Finally, the worst was over.

  Another bride might have thought otherwise and believed the pageantry of her wedding to have been the highlight of the day, but Gemma wasn’t a typical princess. She hated the fuss of royal functions and had barely endured her mother’s obsession with her dress and her hair and every little detail. After the endless ceremony and the meal were finally completed, she and Urbanus had flown to a private palace in Regalia in his Starpod.

  He liked when she was foolish. He expected just about nothing from her and had no interest in actually talking to her. Any concerns she might have had of liking her husband or feeling sympathy for him had been dismissed.

  She disliked Urbanus. Deeply.

  Killing him would be easy.

  Gemma had smiled and simpered at him, congratulating him on his skills, but really, he was a mediocre pilot. She’d have tossed him back to the flight academy before she let him fly even the worst heap in Incendium’s fleet.

  All the same, she was married to him.

  But not for long.

  There was only the dirty work to be done, but Gemma preferred seduction and slaughter to ceremony.

  The only complication was that the smell of the Seed was almost overwhelming. Gemma hadn’t expected to be so influenced by it, much less to be distracted by it. The entire party from Regalia had reeked of the Seed on their arrival on Incendium, and Gemma had had a hard time keeping her desire in check throughout the day. The scent awakened her dragon and kindled her desire for lots of hot sex. She’d kept herself from ravishing Urbanus so far, but the longer the event was delayed, the more taut she felt.

  The touch of his lips on the back of her hand made her simmer.

  She hoped he wasn’t expecting her to be a timid virgin.

  It didn’t seem to matter that she didn’t like him. The Seed filled her senses and made her ready to claim it.

  Gemma could only hope that her senses returned to normal once the deed was done.

  When the maid left the second time, Gemma was alone for a precious few moments. There was no telling when Urbanus would return, so she tried to forget her lust and studied the chamber with care.

  Her dragon didn’t like that Urbanus had brought her to a private palace. Her dragon didn’t like that the door had been locked behind her. Gemma didn’t care for the fear in the eyes of her husband’s servants, or his smug assurance that she must be desperate to consummate their nuptials. Her dragon didn’t like her odd sense that she was being watched.

  Gemma particularly didn’t like that there was so little in the room that could be used as a weapon when she was in her human form. She felt out-maneuvered.

  By a man who was a mediocre pilot.

  No, he’d gotten lucky. The palace had been recently built and was scantily furnished. He hadn’t thought much beyond the bed.

  And she’d out-maneuver him before the evening was done.

  Gemma exhaled. She had to make Urbanus forget her dragon nature, the better to surprise him when it mattered.

  She stood alone on the balcony outside her bridal chamber, waiting for him. Her long fair hair was still braided into a single plait, and the hem of some sheer bit of nothing chosen by her mother fluttered around her ankles.

  She posed herself and let her heart fill with her hatred of her new husband.

  The shadowed forest spread beneath the balcony where she stood and the night sky sparkled with stars. It was funny how Regalia seemed to be so much more remote than its sister planet of Incendium, how its forests seemed darker and its solitudes deeper. Even though Kraw had shown her all of this, she hadn’t grasped how isolated it was until she stood in the palace herself. The absence of communication systems and the lack of her own computational devices made her feel naked. Vulnerable. She could have fallen off the edge of the universe.

  Where no one would hear her scream.

  At least she had her fighting skills to rely upon.

  Never mind her dragon powers to rely upon. A woman who wasn’t a shapeshifter would have been completely at Urbanus’ mercy. Gemma remembered the royal family’s reputed taste for spell casting and her spine straightened just a little. She wouldn’t be beguiled.

  Her plan was perfect, after all. She would seduce Urbanus and when he slept—as men always slept in the aftermath—she would kill him to avenge Arista. She would then shift shape and flee this remote palace, returning by night to the Starpod that Farquon had supplied and hidden at her command.

  By the time the sun rose in the royal court of Incendium, Gemma would be gone, her destination unknown, her mission complete. She’d return only when her son’s egg had to be delivered to the royal nursery. By then, she had to hope that the diplomatic storm would have spent its course.

  It would be easy.

  It would be over soon.

  Maybe she should take Farquon with her for company. Gemma would decide when she was back on Incendium. If he was there at the hidden Starpod, waiting for her, she’d invite him along. If he wasn’t, she’d continue without him.

  In a way, the remote location chosen by Urbanus was a benefit. There were fewer people who might witness her departure than would have been the case at the main palace. There were fewer who might come to Urbanus’ aid, if he called for help.

  Maybe he facilitated her scheme without even knowing what he did.

  She smiled as Felice wound around her ankles, her tail flicking. The creature always knew when Gemma was agitated, no matter how well she hid it. Gemma bent and pic
ked up Felice, stroking her brilliant blue green fur as she nestled close. Felice’s eyes were bright green and she was of considerable size for a domestic feline, as well as a skillful predator. Felice sat on the rail surrounded by Gemma’s arms and purred contentment. The sound and the vibration was soothing.

  “Is this the part where you live happily ever after?”

  Gemma spun at the sound of an unfamiliar male voice. That the words were tinged with scorn made her eyes narrow. The chamber was empty, the candles flickering and casting shadows on the walls. “Who’s there?” she demanded.

  “No one you know,” continued the voice. There was no sign of movement in the chamber. “Call me a friend.” Then he chuckled, as if nothing could be further from the truth.

  Gemma was both intrigued and annoyed. What kind of chamber had she been assigned, that another person could be hidden within it? What game was Urbanus playing? Had she been watched as she washed and changed by someone other than the maid? It didn’t sound like the maid’s voice.

  No, the voice sounded masculine and audacious. Challenging. The maid had been both female and meek.

  The owner of this voice wasn’t meek at all. Gemma was intrigued.

  “A friend would show himself,” she challenged.

  “Maybe you just can’t see for looking,” came the reply.

  Gemma dropped Felice and stepped into the chamber. She scanned every nook and cranny, peered into the shadows and up at the rafters.

  No one.

  “Don’t you believe in happy endings?” Gemma asked, hoping to fool him into revealing his location.

  “No, but then I don’t believe in true love, either.”

  “Why not?”

  “It doesn’t exist.”

  “What a terrible thing to say to a new bride.”

  “Even if it’s true?”

  “It’s not true. If it was, we couldn’t each have a HeartKeeper.”