Kachka stared at her. “I am what?”

Gaius briefly closed his eye, trying desperately not to laugh. Kachka had been around the Southlanders long enough to know exactly what Gormlaith was asking her; she was just being difficult. Because she could.

“This is Kachka Shestakova,” Gaius began and he kept going, through each and every long-winded Outerplains name ever invented. If he thought he could get away with it, he’d have added more to their names just to see how long it took his fellow royal to snap.

Unlike Queen Rhiannon and her offspring, Gormlaith held out for the entire length of introductions, never once interrupting or complaining.

To be honest, Gaius was a little disappointed. He honestly preferred Keita the Viper’s snarled “shut up with all that shit!” before she flounced away in her flowing dress and bare feet.

When he was finished, Brannie gazed at him, as if she couldn’t believe he’d bothered, while the two Mì-runach appeared half asleep.

“Well,” the lady said when Gaius was finished, “it’s lovely to have representatives of the Outerplains among us.”

“Is it not?” Zoya asked. Loudly. “Everyone loves when Zoya comes!”

“Because there is usually grunting,” Kachka whispered to him.

Gaius snorted and Gormlaith’s eyes locked on him. “Yes, well . . . just follow the servants to your rooms. We’ll send up water for baths and something to tide you over until the feast.”

“Where’s Aidan?” Brannie asked.

“Who?”

“Your son?”

“Oh, I have no idea. In the Northlands, I suppose. Are you a friend of his?”

“He brought us here. He went off that way,” she added, pointing toward the caverns.

“Oh. Did he?” There was that lying smile again. “How lovely. It’s been too long since he’s come home.” She gestured to the human servants, prompting them to follow. “Just let them know if you need anything else.”

As they walked up the stone stairs, Brannie leaned over to Gaius and whispered, “Don’t stray too far away from my side, Gaius.”

“Even while I bathe?” Gaius teased, then he immediately cringed. “Some days you really do look like your mother. Especially when you glare at me like that.”

Aidan had his second oldest brother on his back and his sword over his head. He had every intention of impaling the bastard right through that thick skull of his, but his mother walked into the cavern before he could.

“You bring the king of the Quintilian Sovereigns Empire here and you don’t give me any warning whatsoever?” she snapped.

“And hello to you, too, Mother. Long time, no—”

“Shut up! And, Harkin, get off the floor! What is wrong with you?”

“Me?”

She walked back to the cavern entrance and yelled out, “Airmid! Cinnie! Get in here!”

“No Orla?” Aidan asked about the youngest of their kin.

“I don’t even know where she is.”

“That’s good. That’s very nice. A concerned mother, as always.”

Cinnie came in first. She was in her dragon form, but she had several gold chains around her neck and rings on her talons. He’d bet anything she’d been rolling around in a pile of gold. She really loved doing that. Kind of like a pig in shit.

“Where’s your sister?”

“How would I know?” Cinnie glanced at Aidan and back at her mother. She hadn’t seen him in at least two decades, and it was clear she didn’t care.

“Well, get into something beautiful. That pink dress you have should work.”

“What for?” She again glanced at Aidan. “For him?”

“No. King Gaius is here.”

“The Rebel King is here? Oh! Is he handsome?”

“Missing an eye, but tolerable. And still unmarked, from what I understand,” his mother said eagerly. “We’ll toss you and your sister at him and see what happens.”

“You’ll never be queen,” Aidan felt the need to point out. “He rules the Empire with his sister. She’s his queen.”

“Ewwww.”

“Not like that, you idiot. And if I were you, Mother, I wouldn’t waste my time throwing any of your offspring at the king.”

“Why not? Both my daughters are high-born enough for the usurper of Thracius’s throne.”

Aidan took a moment to crack his neck, relieving the tension that had been building there since he’d first stepped into the marshes surrounding his parents’ territories. “First, you have three daughters. Just as you have three sons. Let’s keep that in mind, shall we? And second, you may not want to refer to Gaius as a usurper to Thracius’s throne. At least not in front of him. I’m relatively certain that will insult him and make Rhiannon extremely paranoid about you. With good reason. And third, Gaius is only here to get access to the Western Mountain Dwarves. Not so that you can throw your daughters at him.”

Lips pursed, his mother narrowed her eyes on Aidan. “You call him Gaius? He allows that from some worthless little Mì-runach?”

Aidan slowly nodded his head and replied, “Yes, Mother, I missed you, too.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Gaius didn’t know how long he slept on that soft bed in his room, but he felt a hand caressing his bare chest and immediately grabbed it.

He was really relieved when he opened his eyes and saw Kachka grinning down at him.

“Thank the gods it’s you,” he sighed out.

“I am good fuck.”

“That’s not what I mean . . . mostly.” He raised himself up on his elbows. “Did you see the way Gormlaith was salivating at me? She wants me for her daughters. Something I’d like to avoid.”

Kachka sat cross-legged on the bed. “You do not want royal wife?”

“I don’t want any wife at the moment. But based solely on Aidan’s reaction to his kin, I definitely don’t want anything to do with his sisters.”

“No one gets along with family.”

“There’s not getting along, Kachka, and there’s warning you to run. That’s a big difference.”

“Brannie does not like it here either,” she admitted. “She paces in her room like chained dog.”

“She has her mother’s instincts.”

“And tits.”

Gaius dropped back on the bed, one arm thrown over his eyes until he felt Kachka land on his lap, her thighs on either side of his hips, even though a fur still separated her from his naked body. He lifted his arm enough so he could peek at her.

“Can I help you?”

“Just wanted to be comfortable while we wait to feed.”

“Well, if you really want to be comfortable—” he began, placing his hands on her hips. But before he could take even a tiny step farther, Aidan walked into the room, with Brannie right behind him.

The poor dragon dropped face down on Gaius’s bed, ignoring the fact that, save for the fur covering, Gaius was naked and Kachka was on his lap.

“I hate these dragons!” Aidan roared into the bedding.

“What happened?” Brannie asked, closing the door behind her and throwing the bolt. Like that would help with dragons.