Chapter 6

Augus

The moment Linda's name left my lips, I was startled by my own outburst.

I couldn't fathom why I'd suddenly called out for her. Perhaps it was nothing more than instinct in that fleeting moment.

Once I collected myself, I quickly ordered them to keep their distance. I couldn't care less about whatever was happening outside. All I wanted was absolute silence around me.

I loathed the sound of those humans chattering away—like insects buzzing around my head, endlessly grating, utterly detestable.

I didn't even need to ask what they were squabbling about. It was nothing more than jealousy, all of them vying for my favor. Humans were so shallow, willing to sell their very souls for the smallest scrap of advantage.

Still, if I were honest, I believed Linda had done nothing wrong. That female slave had dared to dream of bearing my offspring—didn't such presumption deserve punishment? The mother of my future heirs should be a beautiful, powerful dragon, not some lowly human.

"Your Highness, Lady Linda has taken the slave to her chambers."

Ike suddenly pushed the door open.

Within the castle, everything but the most important matters requiring my decision was left to Ike. We worked in seamless harmony—he was more like the old steward of the estate.

Except...

I looked at him—not with the eyes of a duke, but with the gaze of a dragon prince.

He lowered his head at once, dropping to one knee in complete submission.

"Do you have nothing better to do? You feel the need to report something so trivial?"

Impatience crept into my voice. Ike had clearly lost his senses. She was merely a slave—where she was taken, who scolded or struck her, what did any of that have to do with me? I required only that she remain alive, so that I might continue to take from her. Were it not for the fact that her body aided the restoration of my dragon power, she would have vanished from this world long ago.

"Forgive me, Your Highness. My mistake."

Ike bowed low, speaking with the utmost deference.

I did not punish him. Though he was my subject, in this human world he was the only one I could trust.

I lay down alone upon the bed and closed my eyes, preparing to rest. I needed three hours of sleep each day, while Ike stood guard beyond the door. There were far too many in this world who watched me with hungry eyes.

But it wasn't long before I realized something was wrong tonight.

Usually, sleep claimed me the instant I shut my eyes. Tonight, I tossed and turned without a shred of drowsiness, my mind horrifyingly alert.

What was happening to me?

A familiar face suddenly surfaced in my mind. It was that lowly slave, watching me with those deep blue eyes, her cheeks flushed—just as she looked every night when I pinned her beneath me.

And now I finally understood. I needed her to restore my dragon power.

"Ike," I called out. "Bring the slave to me."

"Yes."

Ike moved slower than before. As I waited, my body began to burn, and I could only stand at the window, relying on the cold air drifting in to ease it.

At last the door opened. I turned, and the slave was already sitting on the bed.

She still wore her usual tattered rags, hopelessly out of place against the silk sheets. I couldn't help but frown.

Hmph. When had this woman grown so bold? She had seated herself on the bed before I even gave the command! Such insolence!

But I had no time to reprimand her. My body burned with feverish urgency, desperate for the relief only she could bring. I moved toward her eagerly, hoping to catch that familiar scent that always calmed me. One breath of it, and I would be restored at once. I wanted to tear away her clothes and let that fragrance wrap around me completely.

Yet the moment I raised my arm, I froze.

The stench was unbearable.

The clean, sweet scent she usually carried had vanished without a trace, replaced by a foul reek—like a dead rat, enough to turn one's stomach.

Damn it! How could this be? What had she done?

I couldn't hold back the question. I swore that whatever she had smeared on herself, it was the most idiotic act in all the world.

She seemed frightened by me—I saw her pupils quiver violently. Those soft, pink lips parted and closed, yet no sound came out. It struck me then that her mouth wasn't especially large; I couldn't imagine how she managed to swallow me.

My patience had run dry. All I wanted now was for her to make herself clean.

I ordered Ike to bring in a bucket of ice water. Heating water in the castle took time, and I could wait no longer. Besides, her body was hardly delicate—bathing from a bucket was already an enormous privilege.

"Get in and wash yourself clean."

As expected, once I gave the command, I saw astonishment flash across her face. She dipped her hand into the water before me, but only for an instant before pulling it back out.

She stood there, unmoving. I fixed her with a questioning look.

Those unusual blue eyes turned to meet mine, and I thought I glimpsed a hint of pleading within them.

Suddenly I remembered the night before—how she had lain beneath me as I gripped her throat and drove into her, her gaze bewitching, moaning as she begged, "Slower, please, I beg you, my lord Duke."

I couldn't wait. I was already fully hard.

So I asked her scornfully, "What are you pretending for?"

It was hardly her first time. She was a slave, not some convent nun.

I rose, seized her by the hair, and thrust her down into the water. I had to teach her a lesson. Only then would she understand that my commands were not to be defied.

I watched her thrash in the water until, with a great splash, she finally steadied herself. She looked up at me, golden strands plastered to her cheeks, those blue eyes dripping and clouded as though veiled in mist.

A sudden irritation seized me. Humans were so pathetically weak. I was certain that with the slightest pressure, I could snap her neck in an instant. How could such a creature possibly be my destined mate? What a ridiculous joke.

I tossed her the blanket lying nearby. I wanted her to dry herself, then serve me so this night could end all the sooner. My patience was gone.

She took the blanket and wiped herself down as I'd commanded. But soon I noticed she was trembling.

Was it the cold? I nearly laughed. Lowly human indeed—reduced to this by nothing more than a cold bath.

I was about to mock her when the slave suddenly listed sideways and collapsed straight to the floor.

Fainted?

I stepped forward and nudged her arm with my foot. No response. It was then that I finally felt her body—burning hot, far beyond anything normal for a human.

This fragile slave had fallen ill.

The realization struck me.

"Ike." I didn't know what had come over me; my body moved with sudden urgency. "Send in the physician."

Ike quickly brought the castle physician. I cut short his bow and pointed to the slave on the bed. "See what's wrong with her."

"Duke Augus, she has caught a chill and contracted humoral fever," the physician said gravely. "Her body must be cooled tonight, or she will die."

Die? As I'd thought—humans were truly useless.

"Then treat her now, as fast as you can."

I ordered it. Not out of concern for her—only that the slave could not be allowed to die yet.

"Yes."

The physician approached the bed. He seemed hesitant, standing there a moment before suddenly beginning to strip off her clothes.

"What are you doing?"

I cut him off sharply.

The physician startled and dropped to his knees, answering with the utmost caution, "My lord Duke, I must remove all her clothing and wipe her down with linen cloth."

Strip her bare? An image of the slave's naked body beneath those rags rose unbidden in my mind. That was, aside from her eyes, one of the few parts of her that could be called lovely. Every night in bed I couldn't stop myself from ravaging her skin until it flushed red and bore my marks.

At the thought, a groundless anger surged through me. I might not care for the slave, but she was my possession, and I would not tolerate another man laying hands on her.

"Get out!" I pointed to the door and commanded coldly.