Warrior King New Worlds (Crystal Kingdom #6) - Milly Taiden Page 0,51

to slip inside. It didn’t work as she hoped.

The king grabbed her arm and held her there. His voice must’ve boomed in the closed-in kitchen as it was loud out here. He was not happy in the slightest as he told the women they would remain there until he released them.

“Hey,” she said, “that’s not how this works.” She smacked at his grasp on her. The king slammed the doorway closed and ran his hand down the barely-there crevice, sealing it to look like one solid piece of rock. “Are you locking them in there? You can’t do that.” Now she was pissed. “Look, ass—”

The king stepped away from the wall and threw her toward Silvo. “Here,” the old royal said, “I do not want to see her again.”

“Yes, sire.” The asshat’s smile turned evil.

Lilah fought his hold. “What is going on? Ferrus said you wanted to talk.”

The wrinkly prick turned to her. “Not with you.” He slowly came toward her. “I will talk to the men when I tell them they will no longer be sleeping with their mates.” Her jaw dropped. How did he know? “At least one warrior is loyal to his king even if the prince is not.” His eyes glanced at Silvo. Some dickhead told the king about the mates? Shit.

Now in her face, the king’s spittle landed on her cheek. “And if the females do not like their current wardrobe, they definitely will not like the extra-heavy neck shackles they will wear all day and night.”

Lilah’s face scrunched. “Hell has a special place for people like you.”

“I can thank the new army leader for the idea. He has several forms of punishment that will teach the females what happens when they disobey. And he will make sure you will never marry my son.”

She was so furious, she couldn’t think of anything evil enough to call him. Instead, she snapped her knee up and smashed his balls. Human or fae, all males had one thing in common. The old man doubled over, his red tone turning grayish.

Silvo jerked her to the side where she hit the wall, knocking her skull on the rock. A sharp pain shot across her head, and the world spun. Her legs became jelly, and she collapsed, except Silvo still had her arm in his hand.

He dragged her over the floor and down the soldier’s tunnel to the main cavern. “You should be proud,” he said. “You’re going to be the first female of the new king’s harem.”

Her knees scraped on the rock floor. “You’re only the army leader, not the king, dumbass.”

Without missing a step, he slammed her against the wall again, her shoulder and hip taking the brunt of the pain.

“That old male’s time has come. He hasn’t been worth dragon shit since his mate died. And his son is no better, allowing the laws to be broken. The warriors have grown soft under him. That will end as soon as I take over as military leader and king.”

She finally gained balance on her feet, then he ascended the stairs toward the archway bedrooms, and she was back to her knees. He hauled her up, her body slapping against each rock step edge. It would’ve probably hurt if the thumping agony in her head hadn’t overpowered everything else.

She reached up and scraped her nails down his forearm. “Let go of me, you dick.”

He stopped on the walkway in front of the sleeping rooms that led around the upper cavern wall. Not seeing it coming, Lilah wasn’t able to deflect any of the fist that smashed the side of her face.

Before she passed out, she heard him say, “Let the fucking begin.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ferrus paced the throne room, anxious to get this over with. He knew his mate would not be harmed with him beside her, but he could not help but worry. He was a warrior trained to fight his way through anything. He had little experience using words. Could his mate pull this off?

He sighed. What was taking his father so long? He marched to the wall to his private rooms and knocked. “My King, I am here.” When getting no reply, he knocked again. “The females are bringing down food for you, sire.” Still no response. Was his father injured?

Opening the wall, he peeked in. Not seeing anyone, he crossed the living space to the bedroom and knocked. Silence. Fear shot through him. Where was his father? He hurried into the empty throne room. He realized his father