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and right sides of the room. There was a third table in the
centre that seemed to be reserved for more prominent folk and a fourth, very
small table at the end for the King and a few others. Kitchen staff were
hauling large trays full of food around the food and being instructed by each
member how much they wanted of which portion. Some of the plates were already
stacked high filled with greasy meats and gravy, with hungry consumers tucking
in. Zane walked out into the centre of the room towards the King’s table, and
Stacey sheepishly followed.
    “Your
Highness,” Zane declared, “this is Miss Stacey Caversham.”
    The King
barely looked up as she approached.
    But Stacey
looked at him.
    He was bald.
His scalp didn’t have a thread of hair. He had a dark goatee and moustache, and
similarly dark eyebrows. He was heavy set, middle-aged, and intimidating. He
also wore a ring with a purple stone on his left ring finger.
    “Your
Highness…” Stacey said meekly. On a whim, she curtseyed.
    The King
reluctantly put down his food and eyed her.
    “That’s a
lovely dress you’re wearing, dear,” he complimented her.
    “Ugh – thank
you –” Stacey stammered.
    “Why don’t
you show me what’s underneath?”
    “What – here
–?” She looked to Zane for help.
    “Is that
really necessary?” he interjected.
    “What?” the
King said, sounding annoyed.
    “I thought
she might be allowed to eat with us.”
    “She’s not
about to die of a lack of food,” the King remarked. “So why waste it on her?”
    Zane put out
his hand. “Permission to approach.”
    The King
shrugged.
    Zane moved
round the side of the table so as he was close enough to speak into the King’s
ear. Stacey couldn’t hear what he was saying.
    The King’s
eyes twinkled a moment, before his face filled with twisted amusement.
    “Are you
finished? Are you done?”
    Zane bowed
his head and returned to his place beside Stacey.
    “Do we have a
deal?” he asked.
    “Alright,”
the King purred. “Alright…”
    He then leapt
from his chair and jumped up on table.
    The entire
room shook with silence.
    “Thank you
for your attention,” he shouted so that everyone would hear. “I have something
of an announcement to make. From tomorrow morning all Dragon Knights are to
report to the southern stronghold. There, your trusted leader, Zane, will prepare
you for a battle to take place on the main land. Yes – you heard me – we are
going to WAR with the humans!”
    The King’s
voice echoed throughout the hall, leaving nothing but the sound of scurrying
mice beyond it.
    “Can I have
some applause?” he then asked.
    At once, the
entire room lit up with clapping and cheering for the King’s declaration. He
let it go on for a couple of minutes, smiling inwardly, before waving his hand
to quiet them down.
    “In exchange
for his cooperation with this, your leader Zane, requested but one favor. He
has asked me to spare the human standing next to him. That she should not wed
one of you, nor he nor I. That she should be set free. This is what has been
agreed to…”
    Stacey turned
to Zane. She mouthed thank you .
    “However, as
King, it is my right to do as I wish, and Zane’s cooperation, along with any of
yours, is not something I need to make deals to obtain because I already own
it.”
    The King’s
angry eyes flashed in Stacey’s direction.
    “Now – do as
I say human, before you are beheaded. Take off those Goddess clothes and show
my men your naked slave body.”

 
    CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
     
     
    Stacey had begun to feel dizzy.
Suddenly the distance between her and Zane seemed far away. As though there
were walls and barriers separating where they were. Like, two people stranded.
On opposite sides of a maze’s dead end.
    Her feet were
moving backwards towards the centre of the room, as the King egged her on. She
could hardly hear his voice though. It was drowned out by all the excitement of
the others. There she was, surrounded by fifty