The Claiming of a Virgin King (15 page)

“
Because,” Dragan said,
and his voice was soft now, soft like when they lay in bed
together, darkness around them, whispering and touching. “We both
know that your love will be elsewhere. For someone
else.”

William closed his eyes. “What are you
saying, Dragan?”

“
That I do not wish to
part from you now.”

He kept his eyes closed. “Our
agreement was that I would be with you until we sailed for the
capital.”

“
I know.”

“
That was the terms we
agreed on.”

“
And I will not renegade
on them,” Dragan said. “But I do not want to give you up after
that, William. I want you to be mine.”

Such a persuasive thought and for one
moment William was caught up in it. He imagined spending every
night with Dragan. Waking up with him every morning. Lying in his
arms whenever he so desired. But then he thought about the capital,
about the court, about his people… “It would never
work.”

“
Why?”

“
Because.”

“
Ah, William,” Dragan
sighed. “At least come up with a better excuse than that! It would
work perfectly and you know it. The two of us together? A melding
of both our people? It is the perfect solution for the end of the
war.”

“
My people…the
court…”

Dragan let go of his hand and pulled
him into his arms.

He was so warm!

So solid!

How, William thought for the very
first time, and with something that felt like panic, was he going
to deal with walking away? With never seeing Dragan
again?

It will hurt.

The thought slammed into his mind and
he almost winced.

There was no denying it now. Leaving
Dragan, parting from him, was going to affect the king in a way he
had never thought it would. That was fact.

“
My people,” he repeated
again. “The court…”

“
Your people?” Dragan
asked. “Your court?” He placed a kiss on William’s head. “In the
end, they will do as their king, and their
general
, do.”

And again, William did not want to
ask, feared what the answer might be, but was unable to stop
himself. “And what is that?”

“
Live together,” Dragan
replied softly before placing another kiss on him. “Love together.
For in the end, my king, what else is there but that?”

Chapter Fourteen

Dragan was in a curiously excited
mood. He had been for the past twenty-four hours ever since he and
William had sat on the heated boulder outside of town. That mood
had only increased this morning when the intelligence he had been
waiting for had finally arrived, and was likely to increase further
before the day was through.

Because everything was coming
together.

All the hard work of the past weeks
reaching fruition.

And Dragan was ready for it…well, most
of it at least.

The king on the other hand? He frowned
slightly as he hurried across the open space of the town and
towards his house. The king was another thing entirely.

Their conversation
yesterday had been, Dragan had to admit, a little premature. When
he’d thought it through, and Dragan had thought about it
constantly
, accepting
his feelings for William in the same, easy way that he had accepted
the desire, he had imagined they would talk after the plan came to
its climax, not before.

But William had sat there, looking all
pink and flustered, and a hot rush of longing had spread through
Dragan to the point where he was unable to keep his thoughts to
himself any longer.

He had declared himself before
thinking to do otherwise, and now everything was out in the open,
and now it was all in the king’s hands.

Dragan had no idea what the king was
going to do.

He knew what he
wanted
to do.

Knew what the king desired.

But whether he was strong enough to
admit to that, to fight for it, was another matter entirely.
Because Dragan was not so removed from the mainland that he didn’t
realize what an outcry their relationship would cause. The everyday
people, those who were more interested in living their lives in
peace and safety, would probably accept it. Certainly, those on the
islands would. But the others? Those in the capital, not to mention
those in the north who had lived through the horror of the war? It
was entirely possible that they would not be as accepting, and if
the king lost their support?

Dragan frowned as he hurried past the
shopping area. Considering what might happen if the king’s people
were split. A civil war perhaps? Doubtful, not after the pain of
the past few years. But William’s position might become vulnerable.
He might even lose his throne.

Dragan suspected the king would not
entirely be bothered by that, not on a personal level. The king had
no real desire to lead, but did so only because he felt he must.
But the affect on society? It would be huge. William had no heir
and there was no obvious person to take his place. The most
charismatic characters, those that might have challenged him, had
been lost in the war, or were even now still trying to fight it.
And those who were cowering below the capital? No one would accept
them. Dragan was sure of that.

And so, what were their
options?

To brazen it out. That was what Dragan
had decided. They would return to the capital together.

Victorious.

The war finished.

Maylor and his army travelling away
from this world never to return.

And the king would
announce that. Tell them all that they were safe. That together he
and Dragan had rid their world of its greatest enemy. And there was
no need to announce his relationship with Dragan. But over time,
when people saw them together they would know. And slowly but
surely they would accept it, because they would
have
to.

That was the only option.

Whether the king was going to be
willing to do it though. Whether he was going to be strong
enough…that was not yet decided.

They had made love last
night, not
fucked
, loved one another, their bodies pressed tightly together,
saying with touches and kisses what could not yet be said with
words. At the end of it Dragan had held William close and whispered
how beautiful he was, how much he loved for him, wanted him. The
words fell easily from his lips, because Dragan had accepted that
love days past. His feelings for William had developed shockingly
quickly, but they were there, and it had never occurred to him to
try and deny them. That was no his way.

William had sighed softly, burrowed
against Dragan, but he had no whispered words of love back. He was
not ready. Dragan accepted that. Would deal with it for now. But at
some point…

He sighed and picked up his pace. His
house was in view now and Dragan was eager to get home. The
knowledge of what was about to happen thrumming though him. Because
of that he had been out and about all morning, readying his people
for what was to come, making sure all was in place and good to
go.

The plan was about to reach
climax.

The end was near.

And Dragan grinned slightly as he
thought of it now, because the plan had not been his idea. He
wished it had been because it was beautiful in its simplicity. It
had actually been Ulie who had come up with it, and once he had
Dragan had been shocked by how perfect it was. A way to end the war
with very little bloodshed. A way to deal with Maylor once and for
all.

He reached down and fingered the
bracelet on his left wrist. It was hot now, jarring almost against
the cold around him. Soon it would begin to glow and
then…

“
Dragan?”

He looked up, spotted Lei and frowned.
“Lei? What are you doing here? You’re not at your post.”

“
I know,” Lei said. “But I
have news.”

“
Speak.”

“
It has begun,” Lei
said.

Dragan sucked in a tight breath.
“You’re sure?”

Lei nodded. “I have
already evacuated my people. The docks are completely clear
and
they
are
coming.”

“
I thought we had a few
more hours,” Dragan said.

Lei shook his head. “They had some
lead ships that were not obvious. They slipped past the sentries
somehow.”

“
How long until all
arrive?” Dragan asked.

“
Any moment
now.”

Dragan clamped a hand on Lei’s
shoulder. “Your bracelet is active?”

“
They all are.”

“
Then get to your post,”
he said. “And get ready.”

Lei turned and hurried off. Adrenaline
began to pump through Dragan and he hurried too, because this was
it, this was what he had worked towards for these past weeks. The
ship was prepped and ready would be launching any moment now, and
the tech… the bracelet seemed to hum against his skin. It was ready
too.

“
Time for the end,
Maylor,” he whispered. “Time for the end at last.”

He picked up his pace and raced
towards his home. It was time and then some to tell the king what
was about to happen. That the plan did not involve travelling to
the mainland for one very simple reason.

In the end it had always been about
ego. Maylor believed he was unbeatable. Believed he was right. And
so a word here, some false intelligence there, and it as easy
enough to make his eyes fall on the islands.

Maylor had stayed away for one reason
and one reason only. He believed their stasis units were a threat.
Worried that Dragan would find a way to get him, and his people,
inside of them.

That
was the only thing that kept him on the mainland battling the
king’s armies.

Dragan had always known that he would
much rather be here, battling Dragan. It burned him that Dragan
ruled where he did not. Dragan had no doubt that Maylor would like
nothing better than to finish him before going on to finish the
William’s armies.

It would make perfect sense in his
twisted mind.

And so the traitor…

And so this…

Maylor, and the vast majority of his
army, were coming because they thought the stasis units were lost,
broken, unusable And because of that, because of the plan, before
the day was through they would be leaving.

Back to the stars and away from this
world at last.

Chapter Fifteen

Something was happening. William was
sure of it. Had been since he had awoken to an empty bed and a
whispering house.

He paced in the feasting hall,
awaiting Dragan’s return, though in truth William would much rather
have been out and about, finding out what was going on, trying to
gather some sort of intelligence. Only, he knew, king or not, that
if something was happening, if Dragan was up to something, that the
people on these islands would not talk to him of it. King he might
be, but Dragan ruled here, and so William had no choice but to
await Dragan’s return and demand some answers.

And that moment was now.

The door opened.

Dragan walked in.

He was wrapped in his winter clothing,
little bits of frost stuck against it, and he
looked…excited?

“
Dragan—”

“
You need to come with me,
William,” he said.

“
What’s going on?” William
demanded. “Things are…”

“
Coming to a climax,”
Dragan said. “And you will see soon exactly what I mean. But for
now I need you to put on your furs and come with me.”

“
Come where?” William
asked. “What’s happening here?”

“
Do you trust me?” Dragan
asked.

William frowned. Why was
Dragan asking him this? What was coming to a climax? The thoughts
raced through his mind and he tried to get a grip on it all. But,
and this thought rang true and clear, he
did
trust Dragan. There was no doubt
in his mind about that. Over the last weeks spent on this island.
Over all the time he had spent with this male, it was clear. “I
trust you.”

“
Then come, my king,”
Dragan said. “And ready yourself for the making of
history.”

William grabbed his furs from the
chair that he had left them on, pulled them on quickly, and
followed Dragan out of the door. A land craft was waiting for them.
It was the same craft that had taken them on their island
tour.

“
Where are we going?”
William asked as Dragan set the craft in motion.

“
To the east coast,”
Dragan said.

“
Lei is there?”

Dragan nodded. “Lei and a few others.
The rest have all been evacuated.”