Chained to old wounds

The Dragon King’s Substitute Bride

CH17

Morgan

Adrenaline surged through me as my body fell forward from the force of his pull. I reached into the robe, drew my sword, and swung quickly at his wrist. He released me, but he wasn’t quick enough to completely dodge my follow–up swing. A surprised yelp escaped his lips as a crimson stain blossomed across his chest. I backpedaled, raising my blade into striking form and keeping my eyes on him.

He stumbled back, pressing his hand to his chest. His face contorted in a mixture of pain and fury.

“You…you little human!” he roared. “You dare attack a dragon prince?”

“How dare you attack the queen,” I spat back, my voice surprisingly steady despite the rapid thudding of my heart. “You have treason in this world? I don’t think pops will appreciate you putting your hands on his extraordinary daughter–in–law.”

Keiji glared at me, his eyes blazing with rage. He looked down at his bleeding chest and then at the blade in my hand.

Then, he licked the blood from his hand and smirked.

“Fiesty,” he said. “You’re wasted on my brain–dead brother.”

“The heavens must know something you don’t,” I smirked. “Or something you do.”

He laughed. “Tsuneo won’t wake up.” He licked his lips. “You’d be better off aligning with me, you know? A young woman like you wasted on a comatose idiot? The pleasures-

“You can stop there before you make me sick,” I said. “Next time you get the bright idea to touch

I’ll take your hand and then your head if I have the chance.”

me,

He chuckled and walked around a cart. “We’ll see how long you can remain loyal to your so–called husband.”

I glared at him. “I don’t have a thing for crazy, sore losers: What’s your problem with Tsuneo? He’s in a coma.”

He sneered. “He shouldn’t have been born.”

I thought back to Tsuneo’s words about his mother, Keiji was younger, but how much younger.

CH17

“You want to be king,” I said. “Aren’t you missing something for that to happen?”

“It’s only because he was born first,” Keiji said. “When he finally dies, you’ll see.”

“See?”

He smiled and drew a line of sparkling light across his chest. The wound closed, and his robe sewed itself back together.

“Do come home soon, future wife. Father will be looking to have dinner with the family. Perhaps you’ll start to understand.” He chuckled. “All that talk about whose queen you are is far more complicated than they say.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you?

“Who else?” Keiji asked. “The man who can’t speak, the grieving father-”

“How about a historical record.”

His eyes narrowed. “You could actually enter the queen’s study?”

“Chosen by the heavens and blessed by the Phoenix,” I said.

He chuckled. “You have no idea what that means.”

“No, but you do. And right now, that’s even for me.

He chucked. “Father is right, you are extraordinary…”

I didn’t let down my guard. My heart hammered in my chest, and he chuckled to himself, walking away. The floor pulsed beneath my feet in time with footsteps, I was sure. It wasn’t until I saw him on the stairs that I sheathed my sword and tumed back to the gateway. I walked through the gateway and sank onto a large boulder nearby. Relief washed over me, momentarily eclipsing the fear that had been coursing through my veins.

Keiji was going to be more of a problem than I first thought, and there was no doubt in my mind. that he had something to do with Tsuneo’s coma. I’d deal with him, but for now, I wondered if Ael would bring enough people and enough horses to haul everything out of the foyer.

It felt like it had been hours since my run–in with Keiji when Ael and others dressed the way they had been from the Trial came down the steps. They murmured among themselves, and I looked up

at Ael.

“Your Majesty? Are you

alright?”

I noddest and stood, realizing that I had been chating

“Can you give me a crash course he to move eating crate asked.

Ael noted. “Every crate has a tether by He pulled one out and showed it to me. “When you have it, you can command it to move sy

in

I nodded and went still an the thersheld of the mer I pulled my word and came through slow. I looked around. I see a set edge on the stairs but no one else. I grabbed the first

et

rethes kex I could see and willed the cart Boat and the gateway. I bumped into the gatewaY genth I winced and huffed. I could hit myself. 1 my hand on the crate and walked through the mirro: with it before handing off the key. His eyes were wide. They murmured, and someone burst

into tears

put

“There’s a lot more, so I hope you brosight enough horses.”

It took hours to move everything from the foyer into the cave and even longer to haul it all out of the cave. Ael had organized a whole lesion of caravans to move the supplies, though. I rode back to my hometown with him, watching the sunset in the distance.

“After we drop everything off… Could you take me somewhere?”

“Of course, Your Majesty. Where would you like to go?”

I pulled out the journal that Tsuneo had given me and handed it over to him.

“Do you recognize any of these names?

bie tour the book and smirked. “All of them. Each of these businesses is attached to an outpost.

od to go to the bank. Are there multiple banks on that list?”

” by reperate une bank: Kinryu Trust. It’s in Gold City.”

| geised. I recognize that name. My father once told me that, at the first opportunity, he would kalf to move the money inside the family vault to that bank so it could be better invested than Alligdy sitting safely somewhere. But getting an account there took connections, time, and wealth Pe de family just didn’t have

Xay

I need to make a stop at my family’s houpe first.”

Herdded “I

suppose this would be the point in time in which you get to see your family again.”

CH17

Yes, it was, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. He pulled out one of the caravans from the Trial. It tried not to shiver at the memories that washed through my mind, but he stopped me from getting inside. One of his subordinates came over and cast a wave of light over the caravan. The wood lost its old look and started to gleam like it was freshly polished. The intricate details turned bright gold and jade. I realized then that the horses I remembered from The Trial were no longer there. In their place were more horses like the one from the forest. Each of them had a different color to their glittering coat, and they all looked at me as if they knew me.

“Magical horses? Is that really necessary?”

He smiled and bowed to me. “You are the first queen in centuries. This is tame… and I am under strict orders from the king himself to take care of his extraordinary daughter–in–law.”

I sighed, knowing that this was going to be a very long day.

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