Read Burn (Dragon Souls) for Free Online Page B

her overtures of comfort, he struggled to talk about his feelings.
    She knew he and Koen already had their own male understanding, and he got on famously with Mikhail, but she wanted something special with him too.
    Marina’s eyes scanned the throne room until she realised everybody stared at her with a mixture of intrigue and horror. Her attention returned to what she was doing. Had she ripped her dress to expose herself? Was the back of her skirt tucked into her knickers? What? Marina glanced over her shoulder. Had she accidently mowed someone down? That kept happening. As she walked the stone hallways, she’d hear a squeal, and look down to find some disdainful Lord’s neck under her boot heel. She grinned inwardly. Okay, so she’d tripped a few then walked all over them. Sometimes stubborn people needed to be publically humiliated to be brought down a peg or two.
    Frowning, Marina planted her hands on her hips and returned the glare of the Lords eyeballing her. What the hell was their problem? Did they want to fight? Oh, she’d fight. Almeria taught her never to back down. She was a scrapper through and through.
    Marina started to see if she could roll up her trailing sleeves, and checked to make sure she wasn’t wearing earrings. She didn’t remember putting any on, but that wouldn’t have stopped Pasha. The older woman stuck, hung, and tied dangly crap to her all the time without her noticing. Marina had to respect the ingenuity. Pasha made an art of covertly decorating her. She never felt a thing, and often undressed in the evening finding she wore bangles, necklaces and other jewels she knew for a fact she hadn’t put on knowing they’d clang and tinkle annoyingly. Her lack of awareness of how the woman was managing it would have disturbed her if she didn’t suspect Boy helped the wily crone.
    A loud throat clearing brought her back to her senses.
    Daniil subtly motioned to something she’d missed as her mind wandered.
    Marina’s gaze followed his manic pointing and dropped. The women either side of her practically kissed the floor in a bow.
    Surprised, she glanced up and found Koen slouched in his throne hiding a smile behind his palm.
    As their gazes met his harsh, shadowed face lightened. His raven wing eyebrow, the one with the scythe-shaped scar bisecting it, the one she constructed whole fantasies around, cocked. The curve of his sensual lips turned indulgent.
    Just what was so amusing?
    Eyes narrowing, Marina bobbed her head. All the bowing and scraping got on her nerves. It was a wonder anybody got anything done when every other person of rank had you bent over double or undergoing some tiresome ceremonial dance of respect.
    She understood the value behind offering her elders and betters respect, but the Dragon Courts took it too far.
    She’d grow a hunchback at this rate.
    When she was Empress it was top of the list of things that needed addressing. Alongside slavery, treatment of servants and the introduction of a pension scheme for loyalists like Pasha who often found themselves destitute after a transgression no more erroneous than speaking their minds.
    There were many good works she could do for the citizens. It wasn’t been an unwelcome realisation.
    Coming from a world where freedom was fought for everyday, she could nurture a bohemian revolution.
    Back in the human dimension there were always efforts made to address injustice, but the power structure was simply too corrupt for lasting change. Here in Tzion power and submission was granted to the strongest.
    If the strongest was a tight-fisted tyrant the land suffered. If the strongest was a benevolent soul with an iron clad will and determined to see change for the better the land prospered.
    Marina knew Koen possessed negligible political sway as King in the everyday running of the Kingdom and Realm. That responsibility fell to the Queens. He would hold less as Emperor. However, the mighty presence of his Dragon alone would dissuade