Page 29 of The Dragon Queen

I would assume so.

Inferno was quiet for a while, probably communicating with Khazmuda and Talon before he spoke to me again.TALON SAID YOU SHOULD HIDE IN THE DINING ROOM OR HIS STUDY BEFORE HE ENTERS. THAT WAY, YOU CAN OVERHEAR HIS CONVERSATION.

I can’t get to his study. It’s in the section of the castle that the butler patrols.

THEN THE DINING ROOM.

I would have to enter the kitchen and quickly do my part of the meal before I slipped away. There were so many girls on staff that it was easy to blend in and disappear.I’ll do that tonight.

I’LL LET TALON KNOW.

I’ve noticed something and wonder if he’s noticed it too.

WHAT IS IT?

I haven’t seen a single dragon. I pass by windows all the time, and not once have I seen one in the sky. Maybe they don’t have the dragons anymore?

TALON SAID HE’S NOTICED THE SAME THING.

What does that mean?

HE DOESN’T KNOW. BUT THERE’S NO WAY BARRON WOULD JUST RELEASE THEM.

If they aren’t in the skies, then where could they be?

Inferno was quiet for a while.GET CLOSE TO BARRON, AND YOU’LL FIGURE IT OUT.

My heart was in my throat the entire day, my pulse pounding in my temples, the nausea in my stomach. I was scared to put myself at risk, especially in the presence of such a foul person, but I’d been in the castle for a week and had learned nothing. The only way I would accomplish anything was by getting closer to the king. So, it was either this…or become one of his concubines.

I appeared in the kitchen like I did every evening to prepare for dinner. The head maid usually had me prep the food that would be used in cooking, so I washed and prepared all the vegetables, the tomatoes used for the soup and the other vegetables that would be served with the meat.

I knew I couldn’t slip out of the kitchen like this on a normal basis, so if the conversation I overheard was uneventful, I’d have to wait some time before I made another attempt. Otherwise, the maids would grow suspicious.

When everyone was occupied, I left the kitchen and entered the dining room, which was vacant. The plates and silverware hadn’t been placed on the surface yet. It was a large room with a grand dining table down the center, big enough to serve twenty guestscomfortably. There was a large mantel in the room, and against the walls were built-in bookshelves. Below were a couple of cupboards, big enough for me to fit inside.

I opened one of the doors and realized it was full of books.

I glanced at the door before I grabbed them by the stacks and shoved them into open spaces in the bookshelf, stacking them on top of the others and forcing them to fit. If anyone paid attention, they would realize it didn’t look as neat as it normally did, but I suspected no one would notice enough to question it.

I crawled inside the cupboard and closed it, light coming in through the crack in the door. I was crammed inside the small space as I waited, seeing one of the maids come in and set the table, and then, twenty minutes later, the food was presented.

I just had to wait a little longer.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

I’m in the cupboard in the dining room. The food has been served, so he should be here?—

“Dinner is served, Your Majesty.” A man in a uniform similar to mine, except he wore pants instead of a dress, came into view through the crack in the cupboard. He pulled out the head chair at the table.

My pulse was loud in my ears, the anticipation heavy. I’d only known Barron’s character through tales, but now I would have a living being to go with the personality. I would know my enemy’s face, and if I saw it in battle, I would know to burn him.

He appeared in the crack, a man lean in the legs but heavy in the stomach. Dressed in a charcoal-gray uniform with goldornamentation, he approached the chair and slowly lowered himself as his butler pushed in the chair.

He was accompanied by a woman I assumed to be his wife and two younger men who must be his sons.

They pulled out their own chairs and sat down.

In just one second, I already knew much about Barron. If Talon were king and I were his wife, he would have the butler pull out my chair rather than his. He would never sit before me, always sit with me as an equal. Now it didn’t surprise me that Barron had concubines, considering the lack of respect he showed his wife, the mother of his sons.