Page 33 of Soul of Fire

“Dinnae pretend they havnae thought it themselves.” Arne’s accent seemed to come out more thickly when he was irritated, and it was wildly endearing. “Of all the insufferable, sniveling—“

Why aren’t you eating?Baldur’s voice pressed into my mind this time, his white energy twining with Idunn’s.My mate is hungry.

Idunn is always hungry,I pointed out, wishing I could brandish my fork at the dragon.And I’m trying, but I don’t have the stomach of a dragon in this form, I’m afraid.

Leave her alone, you great lizard,Arik cut in, completely ignoring the fact that it was he who had begun the nagging.

A hand snapped loudly in front of Arik’s face, and we both looked up to see Arne scowling at us. "Are ye even feckin' listening to me?"

“Yes, and I’ve heard this all before," Arik replied smoothly. "I’ve no desire to be king.”

“Aye, but what about her?” He waved his fork wildly, turning the full attention of his bright green gaze on me. “Don’t ye think he should be king, lass? Wouldnae he do a far better job of it than his shite of abrother?”

“Arne—“

“I’ll hear what yer lady says, boy. Ye may have a dragon living inside ye now, but I could still turn ye over my knee if I had to.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Arik muttered mutinously.

“Go on then, lass.” The fork pointed ominously toward me. “What say you?”

Both Arik and Arne raised their brows at me as I weighed my answer, and it was almost comical how alike they looked at that moment.

“Yes,” I smiled, squeezing Arik’s hand. “He would. But I have no desire to be trapped in yet another cage, no matter how gilded, and neither does Arik.”

Arik brushed his thumb over the back of my hand again, approval caressing the edges of my mind.

“And ye dinnae think Ironholm is a cage?” Arne gave me an oddly calculating look, as if my answer would tell him something fundamental about me that I might not want him to know.

But I remembered asking Arik the same thing when he first wanted to take me to Ironholm.

“We are never free of masters.” I looked up at Arik, whose eyes shone faintly silver in the dim light. “The key is in knowing which masters are worth shackling yourself to. I believe I found a worthy one.”

I have no desire to be your master, Kjære,Arik murmured into my mind as he pressed a kiss to my temple.But I’m honored by your trust.

Presumptuous to think I was talking about you,I teased.

Arik pinched my backside in retaliation, and Idunn purred as something in my core heated.

We should go upstairs,she suggested.It’s been too long.

It’s been less than twenty-four hours, you complete menace,I hissed at her.

Baldur growled so deeply in Arik’s chest that I was certain Arne had heard it.

“Elysia’s great saggy tits, ah cannae take this.” Arne stretched, throwing an aggrieved look at his nephew. “I can see why yer besotted with her, lad, but I beg ye to take yer maudlin demonstrations away. Spare an old bachelor his sanity.”

“Gladly.” Arik’s voice was still a rumble as he rose from the table to clasp his uncle’s forearm. “And the matter we spoke of?”

I frowned, waiting for an explanation as the men shared a look.

Arne nodded once as he dropped Arik’s arm. “Aye, I’ll think on it. I’ll go do some poking around and let ye know what I find.”

What’s going on?I asked Arik, unable to wait.

Tell you in a moment.

“Lady Eisa.” Arne forced me to let the subject drop as he took the hand that wasn’t being held by Arik and brought it to his lips. “It’s been a pleasure. Clearly, Arik chose his mate well. Please consider my life yours, should you ever have need of it.”