Read The Claiming of a Virgin King for Free Online Page A

northern rebels. The rest
were…cowering…
    “ But ask yourself this,”
William added. “What will happen when Maylor sweeps through my
lands? As he undoubtedly will. There is no question of that now. It
is just a matter of time. But after that? Once he controls the
entire continent? Will he be satisfied? No. He will come for
yours.”
    “ He will not succeed,”
Dragan said. “My islands are protected.”
    The king narrowed his eyes
at those words and for the first time Dragan saw anger flash
through his features. “They are my islands.”
    “ No,” Dragan said. “Not
anymore.”
    “ You are lord of them, not
king.”
    “ A title I never wished to
take,” Dragan said. “Your father insisted only because he thought
it placed me below him. I am below no one. All are equal
here.”
    Anger flashed again. “He never meant
it in that way! My father also believed that all are
equal.”
    “ And do you believe that,
William?”
    “ Of course.”
    “ And yet you remain as
king. A role that puts you above all.”
    “ As your role of leader
puts you above all here!”
    “ No,” Dragan said. “It
does not. I work for my people, not the other way
around.”
    “ And I do the same!”
William said, his voice rising with each word. “I have no choice
about that. Do you think I wanted this? To be responsible for
everyone? I have no choice. None!”
    He paused and shook his head, almost
as though he regretted his outburst. Dragan did not regret it
though. In that moment, and that moment alone, he realized exactly
what had brought the king to his door. Oh, he knew it was because
of Maylor, knew that the rebels were fast approaching, but he
hadn’t realized, perhaps because he had never really considered it,
what the situation must be like from William’s position. His father
had been killed by the very rebels that William was trying to beat
back. That death had thrust him onto a throne he clearly did not
want, and yet he was not walking away. He was trying to do what he
could to control, to fix, the situation. In that moment Dragan
found himself admiring the king, and his admiration equaled his
attraction.
    “ The war leaves me no
choice either,” William said after a moment. “The stories coming
from the north…” He shook his head. “Maylor does not treat all as
equal. He is enslaving my people. Just last month he held a market
where he sold a number of females to his generals. Sold them. Do you have
any idea how that feels, Lord Dragan? To know that they were being
treated in this way, but that there was nothing I could do about
it. Nothing.”
    “ He cannot help himself,”
Dragan said even as his gut clenched in disgust at the thought of
such behavior, and it was not the worst that he had heard. “It
seems he has always been that way.”
    “ And his people follow
him.”
    “ Through fear,” Dragan
said. “Not loyalty. Make no mistake, with Maylor and his generals
gone they will fall behind whoever defeats him.”
    “ Then that has to be me.”
A pause and then, “And to do that I need your help.”
    Dragan sighed, his heart thudding
uncomfortably in his chest, both because of the king’s proximity,
and because of the decision he had already made. And it had not
been an easy decision.
    Not at all.
    Dragan had resisted
involving himself in this war for many years. When it had first
started, when the stories had come out about what Maylor was doing,
Dragan had told himself that it was no concern of his, that his
first duty was to his people. He had told the old king the same thing and stood by
it. But in the past months, as more stories emerged, as Maylor’s
behavior sunk to levels that Dragan could scarcely believe, he had
come to realize the truth.
    He was the king’s last hope.
    No one else was able to stop
Maylor.
    In the end, the duty was
his.
    And so, the decision had been made.
And so, the preparations had begun. Because fact of the matter was,
the king did not need to be here today. He had