Free Dragons Against Them (Kingdoms of Fire and Ice Book 2) by Kyra Jacobs Page A

offered me a drink of water, and—”
    She narrowed her eyes. The water. It must have been tainted.
    “And how do ye feel?” Still his gaze commanded her attention, just as his questions demanded her answers be voiced. Was she under a spell even now?
    “Sore. Stiff. Angry .”
    Jaxon responded with deep, rolling laughter. “I like a woman who is no’ afraid to speak her mind.”
    “Oh? And here I thought that was perhaps why you had drugged me—to keep me from speaking my mind sooner.”
    “No, it was to keep you from seeing the path to Weston. I suggested a blindfold, but the others thought this a wiser option.”
    “Weston?” Rosalind knew of no such place.
    “Come, I will show you. We will visit the well first, so you may cleanse the dirt from your hands and face. I have no clean clothes to offer ye, as we are hardly alike in size, but my mother is sure to have a gown ye may borrow.”
    He rose to his feet and offered her a large, calloused hand—a welcome change from the usual incessant royal pretenses offered by the servants in her former life. Though her private bathing quarters she did indeed miss. And while she was still furious at being drugged and carried off like a hunter’s bounty, they were petty matters in comparison to the throne she sought to reclaim.
    Magic—it was magic she sought, which could send Adelaide back to wherever she’d come from. Until such magic was found, Rosalind would endure what she must to acquire it. Hopefully, Jaxon would lead her to another in their clan able to do more than transform into a dragon and convince unsuspecting foreign lasses to drink sleeping potions.
    She placed a hand in his. “Your mother? Is she the town seamstress?”
    Jaxon chuckled, the sound less bold than before as he helped her to her feet. “No, and I dare say ye should no’ address her in that way if ye wish to remain among us.”
    “Oh? And why is that?”
    A flash of white greeted her as his smile widened. “’Tis no’ the way to address our queen.”

Chapter 10
    Z ayne stood in the scroll room at Forath Castle, reading the message he’d penned for his mother. It was answers he sought today, as he was certain Adelaide would soon rise and demand to know them as well. Answers that she rightfully deserved and might help to soothe her worry.
    Footsteps sounded in the hall, and Zayne quickly rolled the parchment closed to keep his inquiries from view.
    “Homesick so soon?”
    He held his tongue at Tristan’s taunting. Instead, he secured the scroll’s edge with melted wax, pressed his royal seal into the pliable red substance, and handed it to the castle’s head scribe before finally turning to address the son of his royal host.
    “Wherever Princess Adelaide resides, so too becomes my home. My mother, however, I do miss dearly when I am away.”
    He offered Tristan a cursory smile and walked from the room. Much to his chagrin, Addie’s twin fell in step beside him.
    “And your father?” Tristan asked.
    “Rarely do I miss him. The feeling is mutual, I am afraid.”
    “Perhaps if you spent more time learning the ways of his kingdom and less luring women into bed, your circumstances would be different.”
    Zayne offered him a second smile instead of the fist he so longed to plant in the prince’s smug countenance and kept his pace leisurely. This was not a discussion he wished to reach the ears of his betrothed, as it would only serve to distress her further. That her twin could not sense her vexation was highly frustrating. Though from the frequent petulant quips Tristan had offered since his arrival, Zayne sensed insecurity buried deep within the prince. Insecurity bred from something greater than Zayne and Brom’s unannounced arrival yesterday.
    “I see the rumors of my lust-filled youth have extended beyond the land of Edana. And while not entirely false, they have always been and continue to be greatly exaggerated.” Zayne lowered his voice and extended an elbow playfully