"Guinevere." Her father's voice carried across the hall. "You as well."
A surprise.
She stood. Her legs were steady, which she considered a personal triumph given that her brain had vacated the premises somewhere around the five hundred million mark.
The private chamber off the great hall was the one where deals were made.
The door closed behind them. The latch caught.
Maddox's six men stayed outside. So did Nicholas's three. All of them stared at Guinevere as she walked past.
She entered last. Both kings turned towards her. Their nostrils flared in unison. Lovely.
Her face turned scarlet. Two men scenting her in front of her father. She'd rather be chained in silver and walk across glass than be here.
King Lunaris sat at the head of the long table and gestured to the chair next to him. A first. She sat.
Only after she sat did Nicholas take the chair to his left. Maddox leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, and did absolutely nothing to sit down.
Nicholas noticed. His eyes flicked to the empty chair across from him, then to Maddox, then back to Guinevere's father. The choice not to sit was a statement, and Nicholas had just been told what side of the table he was on.
"Gentlemen," King Lunaris began, folding his hands on the wood. "The bidding in my hall was generous. I trust we can speak plainly here."
"I've been speaking plainly all evening," Nicholas said. "She is my fated mate. Her wolf knows it. Fated bonds are sacred and no amount of gold supersedes that."
"Really, Nicholas?" Maddox rolled his eyes. "Her wolf surged because you put your Alpha out on the table. Any unmated wolf in this castle would have that reaction. Bring me a kitchen maid. I'll prove it."
Guinevere's face heated even more than it already was.
"Very convenient," Maddox continued. "That your claim coincided perfectly with being outbid."
Nicholas didn't flinch. "I held my claim until it was necessary. I would have preferred to discuss it privately from the start. Your auction forced my hand."
"My auction," her father repeated, tasting the word. "Is that what we're calling a father securing his daughter's future?"
"Dragons and wolves have been separate for centuries," Nicholas said. "There is a reason for that. Our customs, our gods, our laws. She would be isolated on a continent surrounded by shifters who breathe fire. Is that what you want for your daughter?"
King Lunaris's expression was unreadable, but Guinevere knew he was calculating. Sentiment wouldn't be in his math.
"What I want," he said slowly, "is the best arrangement for Lunaris. Lunaris needs a son-in-law whose enemies become my enemies the moment the ink dries. Speak to that, gentlemen. The poetry can wait."
"Then you want me," Nicholas said. "A Lunaris queen on a Shadowfell throne unites the two most powerful packs in Nyros. Our children would carry both bloodlines. The political stability alone is worth more than gold."
It was a clean argument. Logical. Cold. Guinevere hated how much sense it made.
"Wolves strengthen wolves," he added. "The day she steps onto Velkaris soil is the day she stops being yours, mine, or Lunaris's. She becomes his. And his alone. You will not see her again.
Maddox pushed off the wall. The room's gravity shifted when he moved. She felt it. Both kings occupied space differently. Nicholas filled a room with authority. Maddox filled it with inevitability.
"Compelling speech, Nicholas. The only thing missing was an actual answer to a single question her father asked."
He pulled out the chair across from King Lunaris at the other end of the table. A power move. "Let me offer a different perspective."
He looked at King Lunaris directly. "You are surrounded. Stonehowl was your biggest threat, and I turned him to ash before you had time to muster a response. That is the speed at which I operate."
"You're offering protection through fear," Nicholas commented.
Maddox didn't look at him. "I am offering results. One of us brought fifty chests of gold and an urn full of your enemy. The other brought a speech."
"Let's be honest about what is happening in this room. Nicholas wants a treaty. I want her. The difference will matter to her one day, and I would prefer she remember which of us was clear about it from the start."
Nicholas's eyes flared gold. The temperature around him shifted, his Alpha aura penetrating the room.
Guinevere felt her wolf stir again. It rose, responding to his.
She blinked, swallowing it down. Twice now, her wolf had done that in response to his. Stunned didn't cover it.
Maddox noticed. His eyes moved to her for half a second, then back to King Lunaris. He didn't react. The fact that he clocked it and chose to ignore it said more than a reaction would have.
"The matebond claim," Lunaris said, steering the conversation back. "Both of you have made it."
"You saw her wolf respond to me," Nicholas said. "Then and again now."
"I saw her wolf rise," Lunaris corrected. "Proximity to a powerful Alpha can trigger that. It is suggestive. Not necessarily proof."
Nicholas's composure cracked for the first time. A fraction. Barely visible. But Guinevere caught it because she had spent her life reading powerful men.
Her wolf didn't say mate. But that didn't necessarily mean he was lying. Fated matebonds in she-wolves didn't always announce themselves until early twenties. Considering she just turned twenty, there was a chance she just didn't know.
"And your proof, Drakencrest?" Her father turned to Maddox.
"Fire." The word landed like a closed fist. "Your daughter held my flame in her hand. She is a wolf shifter. Wolves burn. She didn't. That is the matebond between a dragon and his mate. It's extremely rare. The fact she can channel my flame before marking makes it even more rare. Every scholar on Velkaris will confirm it."
Lunaris leaned back in his chair. She watched her father's face and saw it. The shift. Imperceptible to anyone who hadn't studied him for two decades. He had already decided. Everything after this was theater.
"The dragon fleet remains stationed within range of Lunaris for no fewer than five years. Open borders. Trade rights through Velkaris waters. And my daughter will be permitted to return for state visits."
"Annually," Maddox said.
"Quarterly."
"Twice a year. With a full dragon escort each way. And she comes home if she ever asks to. Not if I permit it. If she asks to."
Lunaris paused. "...That is not standard."
"It is now."
"Drakencrest. The terms are accepted."
Nicholas stood. His chair didn't scrape. He rose with the kind of control that said every muscle in his body wanted to do the opposite. "You are making a mistake, Lunaris."
"I have made many. This will hardly be the worst."
Nicholas looked at Guinevere for the last time. His eyes held something she couldn't name and didn't want to.
"If he hurts you, you have a wolf army across the sea that will burn a continent to retrieve you. Remember the name Shadowfell. Remember that I offered first."
"She will not need to remember either, Nicholas. And burning is a funny thing for a wolf to threaten to a dragon," Maddox said calmly. "But the offer is noted."
Nicholas turned and walked out of the room. The door closed behind him.
Maddox looked at her. His expression was unguarded for exactly one second before the mask came back. In that second, she saw recognition. He remembered the shivering girl who had told him to stay hidden. He remembered her walking out to protect him.
"She leaves with me now."
"Then we are concluded." King Lunaris stood without ceremony. There was no hug or acknowledgement. She honestly wondered why she was even included in this conversation at all.
Maddox extended his hand to her, open palm, and waited.
She swallowed, looking at it. Then at her father, whose expression was more stern than called for.
She stood and took his hand. His fingers closed around hers, and they walked out of the room together. Six men fell in behind them like a wall.
They passed through the great hall. Heads turned. Goblets paused halfway to mouths. Cassian stood from his chair, then sat back down when King Lunaris's voice carried from somewhere behind them. Tyler caught her eye and held it until she passed.
Sold, sealed, and delivered. At least the dress was pretty.
The night air hit her when they stepped through into the forest. It was below freezing, and she was without a cloak.
She tried to pull her hand away, assuming that was for show. His grip on her fingers tightened. It wasn't unpleasant. Just surprising. So she held hands with the man she'd hidden to protect, who could have turned them all to ash. A king who had burned an army before he ever learned her name.
The person who'd essentially bought her at an auction she didn't sign up for. But her wolf was calm and there was no rope or silver.
She lost track of time at one point. They walked at least a mile into the forest. It was unexpected that there were no horses, but then again, these were dragons.
A rustle in the leaves caught her attention.
Her head snapped in the direction of the sound.