Free Dark Prince by Michelle M. Pillow Page B

I’ll stick with these. I don’t care if I never see another dress again."
    "That might not be possible. Dresses are required formal attire at the palace. If we ever go there, you’ll have to have a gown."
    Olena shuddered dramatically.
    "Come on, wife, you must be hungry," he urged.
    "I don’t care if we never go to the palace," Olena mumbled under her breath.
    Yusef led the way to the kitchen, hiding his grin at her distasteful look.
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
     
    Yusef and Olena spent the evening chatting about non-important things until it got late. She still refused to tell him her name, though he had tried several times to trick her into revealing it. Seeing her yawn, Yusef urged her to bed to get her strength. Yusef again spent the night alone on the couch.
    Yusef found, to his pleasure, that his wife had a quick wit, an open laugh, and a smile that curled easily to her beautiful lips. Her bold emerald eyes shone in constant mischief, even when she did nothing. It made him curious to discover everything about her and at the same time perfectly content to know nothing.
    To Olena’s horror, she kind of liked him too. His dark eyes penetrated as if they saw everything and would reveal nothing. His smile was slow to come, but it was genuine. He was laid back, easily taking her jokes in stride, never taking offense at her impishness. He was polite and mannered. He treated her like a lady.
    Since she had recovered almost completely by the next morning, aside from a slight glow to her skin that wasn’t at all unappealing, he took her to the village like promised. Yusef wore one of his casual black tunics with the dragon emblem and Olena wore his baggy clothing over her thin frame. Several people stopped to stare at them. Olena grinned widely at the attention, not discouraged one bit. Yusef watched her reactions from the corner of his eyes.
    Olena thought the Qurilixen village very nice--for a barbaric race in the middle of nowhere. Her husband--she giggled silently at the thought – appeared to have the biggest house on the edge of town. It was a short walk from the village, but a pleasant one through a wide open road of forest. Yusef didn’t touch her as they strolled, but there was an easy companionship between them carried over from the night before.
    The village was spread out over a valley, close to where the marriage festival had taken place. Olena noticed that all the tents had been taken down. The field looked barren without them.
    "That is the royal palace," Yusef said pointing to a giant mountain at the edge of the village.
    "Where?" she asked, craning her neck to see up the spiraling of cliffs to the top.
    Yusef laughed, his accent becoming thick, as he said, "The mountain."
    "I don’t see a palace," Olena answered skeptically. Again she moved her head around to eye the mountain.
    "It’s hidden inside the mountain," Yusef replied. "There, see where that man just came out of the side?"
    "Yes," she drawled. It almost looked as if he came straight out of the rock.
    "That’s the front gate. The four Princes designed it to be an impenetrable fortress," he continued. "This village is under the protection of the House of Draig."
    "Smart," Olena mused wryly, not noticing Yusef’s frown at her sarcasm. "That way, their noble backsides are protected while all these villagers take the brunt of the enemy’s wrath." She shook her head in distaste. "No matter where I go, royalty is all the same."
    A courtyard surrounded the palace fortress, close to the surrounding valley. Olena detected men on a long practice field to the side, training for battle.
    "Why do they train in human form?" she wondered aloud, nodding her head. "Wouldn’t it make sense to shift for battle?"
    "It would," Yusef answered, still stunned by her easy acceptance of his Draig form. "But not all the wives know of the shifting and --"
    "You don’t want to scare them by a show of battling dragons," she broke in with a nod. "Too bad. I would really