The Dragon King’s Baby

Addie woke with him so they could eat breakfast together. He’d ordered breakfast to be brought to them in their rooms, as he now called them after only a day of having her there. In his mind, she belonged there. He watched her dig into the blueberry pancakes that had been made specifically for her; he had asked Poppy and Jeanne about her favorite foods as well as what she wouldn’t eat. Giving her what she liked was the least he could do; she’d given up her home when she had agreed to marry him.

“So what are you doing today?” Addie asked as she wiped her mouth delicately after her third bite of pancakes.

“Are your pancakes good?” Seathan asked.

She cocked her head at the change of subject. “They’re amazing. Now answer my question.”

“I have some kingly business to attend to, which you’re more than welcome to sit in on. You’ll die of boredom, though. Conall often pinches my leg under the table to keep me awake.”

Addie laughed. “I’m good here, I think. But what exactly am I supposed to do? I have no idea how to be a queen. I mean, do I have a job or am I just a house—um, castle wife haha?”

Seathan shook his head. “Honestly, I have no idea what a queen does. That’s where my mother comes in. She can be pushy, but she’ll help you like she helped your mother.”

Addie sighed, looking away. “I probably should have talked to my mother more about this.”

Seathan reached over and took her hand. “For the next week, you’ll be busy preparing for your Coronation ceremony.”

Addie choked a little on the bite of pancake she’d put in her mouth as he spoke. After swallowing some juice, she looked at him, her hand on her chest. “My what?”

“You will have a Coronation ceremony, which establishes you as the queen of Wyvern rather than just my wife.”

“Is there a difference?”

“Here there is. I can take a wife as the king but not make her queen of Wyvern,” Seathan explained, gesturing with a forkful of pancake. “Because you will be queen, if something were to happen to me, you will remain the queen and will rule in my place.”

Addie was thankful she hadn’t taken a bite. She watched silently as he stuffed the fork and pancake in his mouth, hers hanging open in shock. He didn’t notice until he swallowed and reached for his juice.

“Are you ok, baby?” he asked.

“Can you explain what you mean by I will rule in your stead?” Her voice shook a little.

Seathan’s brow creased. “Your father didn’t explain to you what it meant to be queen in Wyvern?”

Addie’s fork clattered to her plate, her appetite lost. “No. He didn’t explain anything except I had no choice but to marry you and move here.”

Seathan took her hands in his and squeezed. “Don’t worry, babe. First of all, nothing is going to happen to me. Secondly, if that were to happen, you would have lots and lots of help.”

“None of that is really the point, Seathan. My father didn’t bother to tell me information that I needed.”

“Would you have run away had you known? Rather than marry me?”

Addie looked at him, indecision clear in her eyes. She sighed. “Now that I know you, I’m not so mad about the marriage thing, even if I didn’t choose it. But honestly, if I had known that little caveat, I might have hidden with the ogres until you’d married someone else.”

Seathan laughed. “You are way too beautiful to live with the ogres!”

Addie chuckled a little too. “Agreed. But desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Seathan cleared his throat before releasing his next words. “As soon as the date is set, you need to invite your parents. They must be there to show their approval. The king of Hexe and queen of Loupgarou will also be attending.”

Addie stared out the window, pondering all the information, her cold breakfast forgotten. “I’ll call my mother and let her know tonight. Your mother and I will surely set a date today.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Seathan replied as he rose and kissed her forehead. “What time would you like to meet with my mother and her entourage to plan your Coronation?”

“Lunch okay?”

“Of course. It’s your first day here, and I hate that we have to start planning this so quickly,” Seathan commented as he walked to the door.

“I understand,” Addie called.

Poppy and Jeanne were at the door when Seathan opened it. “Come on in, ladies. Addie’s at the table.” He glanced back at Addie. “See you later, babe!”

“Bye!” she called after him, then rolled her eyes at the giddy looks on her friends’ faces. “What?”

“You two are such cute little love birds,” Jeanne quipped, plopping down in the seat left vacant by Seathan.

Addie rolled her eyes as Poppy said, “I think some love will spring there, and quickly, if I can read dragon shifters as well as I can humans.”

“We’ll see,” Addie murmured. She filled them in on what Seathan had explained to her moments ago. “So what that means is, once the Coronation is complete, I’m the queen whether he’s with me or not.”

“Holy crap,” Poppy breathed out.

Jeanne’s eyes were wide. “Even if he dies?”

“Yep.”

“Wow.” A moment of silence filled the room as the three women thought about the implications. Jeanne brightened. “Subject change!” she announced.