Chapter 3 A Wife For The Throne

☆RHAZIEN☆

I watched her from across the carriage. She had been trying very hard to stay awake, her eyes blinking open every few seconds, but the darkness and the motion of the journey finally won. Her head fell back against the cushion, and her breathing became slow and even.

I studied her face, wondering what a simple human girl was even doing in a world full of vampires, dragons, and dangerous beings. She was too fragile for a place like this.

But she was exactly what I needed.

I had gone to that auction house tonight for one specific reason: I needed a wife. My past experiences with women had been disastrous. I wasn't good with them at all, mostly because I had killed my first wife. She had been a vampire, and she had been sent to kill me first. I never loved her. I met her around the time I took the throne a year ago. Back then, she seemed pleasant enough. She spoke beautifully, and she was highly intelligent. Because of that, I assumed she was fit to rule beside me as my queen, and so I married her.

Little did I know, she was an assassin. I discovered her plan and ended her life before she could end mine. To this day, I still do not know exactly who sent her. She refused to speak and would rather have died than betray her employer. I assumed it was the vampires, since she was one of them, but deep down, I had a feeling they were not the only ones involved in the plot.

After that betrayal, I stopped trusting women entirely. The only way I could know for certain that a woman was trustworthy was if I bought her. A slave could not easily plot a rebellion, and a human possessed no magic she could use against me.

I shifted my gaze back to the girl. Her head was lolling from side to side as the carriage rolled onward. It occurred to me then that I hadn't even asked for her name. I knew nothing about her, only that she belonged to me now.

My life had become incredibly complicated since my father's death. Taking the throne of Cinderpeak had placed a massive target upon my back. I was the third child in a family of five. My two older brothers were twins, and by tradition, one of them should have become king. But on his deathbed, my father bypassed them completely. His final decree was that I, Rhazien, would take the throne.

My brothers hated me for it.

To secure my position and keep them from challenging my right to rule, my father's final command was that I must be married. When I killed my first wife, the throne became vulnerable once more. My brothers were waiting for any excuse to claim I was neglecting my duties. Buying a human girl to fill the role of queen was the quickest and safest solution to protect my crown. She would be submissive, quiet, and harmless.

Suddenly, the carriage struck a massive rut in the road. The entire vehicle jolted violently.

The sharp movement made the girl jump awake. The side of her head smacked against the glass window with a loud thud.

"Ouch," she muttered, rubbing her temple with a frown.

I looked at her small frame. If she kept sitting over there, she was going to bruise herself before we even reached the estate.

"Come sit beside me," I ordered. My voice was firm.

★ALTHEA★

The pain in my head instantly woke me up. I was still groggy with sleep when the Dragon King spoke, telling me to move across the carriage and sit beside him.

A wave of wariness swept through me. I didn't want to get any closer to him. But he was my master now, and I couldn't exactly refuse a king who had just paid one hundred thousand gold coins for me. I didn't know whether he beat women. My vampire father, Varro, had been extremely abusive, and I knew from experience that appearances meant very little. A person could look kind and handsome on the outside, yet be worse than Lucifer himself beneath the surface. Rhazien looked cold, but I had no idea what he was capable of when angered.

I rose unsteadily, bracing myself against the swaying carriage as I crossed to his side. I sat down on the cushioned seat beside him, leaving a small distance between our bodies.

The sleep still weighed heavily upon me. My eyes kept wanting to close, and my limbs felt as heavy as lead.

Rhazien noticed how much I was struggling. Without saying a word, he reached out, placed his large, warm hand against the side of my head, and gently but firmly guided it onto his shoulder.

I tensed immediately. I didn't like being touched without warning, so I tried to lift my head again.

But his hand remained where it was, holding me in place with surprising gentleness. I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off before a single word could leave my lips.

"Not a word. Sleep."

His voice was low, deep, and rumbling through his chest.

It was strange. As though I had been enchanted by the command itself, all the fight seemed to leave my body. The warmth of his shoulder and the heavy robe draped around me made it impossible to stay awake. I stopped resisting, allowed my weight to rest against him, and drifted back into a deep, dreamless slumber.