The sun was sinking in the sky when the meetings concluded and Eli could return to his rooms.

As he walked through the cooling corridors, Auburn’s words rolled through his mind. Why would Premal think Auburn belonged to him? And why would he risk the sultan’s wrath for a slave? A beautiful, intelligent, and kind slave, but still a slave.

And viper. That was a dangerous, often lethal, snake. Not something you’d you’d call a slave.

When he arrived back in his suite, the prince found Auburn curled up on a chair, one of his books in her lap as she stared at the door. Fear flickered across her face, and a smile replaced it when she realized it was him. The expression lit her face, and Eli’s chest tightened.

By the gods, she was beautiful, and a secret part of him was delighted that she was waiting for him.

As he slipped an arm around her, the soft scent of vanilla teased his senses and derailed his thoughts.

He held her close, enjoying the feel of Auburn in his arms. She was uninjured but still scared, and Premal was to blame. Eli kept his anger sheathed, not wanting to frighten her more, but the prince would exact payment from Premal for sending Ajeem.

Eli may be from Tamryn, but he’d grown up in court. Politics could be just as deadly in the land of the Dragon God as they were in Qumaref. But he would leave that for later. First, he needed to understand more about what he faced.

Eli settled Auburn against him in a protective and slightly possessive gesture. “I need to ask you more about Premal. Are you up to it?”

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

A smile curved Eli’s lips. “Any idea why Premal wants you? Or why he’d wait until now to try to take you?”

“It might not have been his first attempt. I’ve always needed to be careful.”

“That azalea flower.”

She nodded. “It wasn’t the only incident. Most said I was cursed, and only the dead have blue eyes.”

“There are lots of people with blue eyes.”

“I didn’t know that as a child.”

Eli teased his fingers over the curve of her jaw. “Your eyes are beautiful. They’re the color of a summer’s day.”

Red tinged her cheeks, and she stared down at her hands.

“I have no need to lie to you.” He held her close and refocused on the situation. “If Premal was behind the azalea blossom, then he’s wanted you a long time.”

“I remember Priyanka talking about it when I was young. She wanted the sultan to sell me to Premal, but he wouldn’t. It was one of the few things he denied her, and she hated me all the more for it.”

“Strange Premal would try to poison you after he’d been trying to buy you from the sultan.”

“If he killed me once he owned me, no Qumarefi would care. Like a camel or a goat, I would be his property to do with as he pleased. And he has a reputation when it comes to slaves.”

Premal deserved so much worse than azalea nectar, but Eli would deal with that later. “Premal’s become bolder. Or more desperate.”

“I don’t understand his motivations. Perhaps he planned to make it look like you murdered me.”

“Why would he do that?”

“You wouldn’t know who’d done it, and that would make you question the people you brought with you. It would also damage your reputation. The sultan doesn’t tolerate abusive treatment of his slaves. He says you wouldn’t throw a vase on the ground to watch it shatter.”

“Yet he tolerates Premal.”

Auburn lifted her shoulders. “Premal is very rich and very powerful. Not even the sultan can do exactly as he pleases.”

“So Premal uses you to make me look bad to the sultan and undermine these negotiations. He’s either a master strategist or a spoiled child.”

“Or both,” Auburn said. “He didn’t become as wealthy as he is by being foolish, but wealth can make men feel entitled to things and angry when they don’t get those things.”

“An unpredictable enemy. Or at least one I can’t predict yet because I don’t know the game.”

“He will try again, but he’ll be less bold.”

Eli’s protective side roared and his eyes narrowed. “If he tests me, he will learn what it means to challenge a Prince of Tamryn.”

Auburn interlaced her fingers with his. “Please don’t let it interfere with the trade negotiations. The people of Qumaref will suffer if you don’t reach an agreement.”

Eli thought about that several minutes. “Was Premal involved in discussions with K’tel and Arren?”

“Yes, why?”

Eli could think of several reasons Premal would want negotiations to fail, none of them good. If the sultan’s adviser had decided to force an end to relations with Tamryn, the entire diplomatic team needed to be vigilant. The prince would post more guards, carry extra weapons, and exercise caution with anything he ate or drank.

But that wouldn’t protect Auburn.

He touched his lips to her temple, then took off his signet ring and handed it to her. “I want you to have this.”

Auburn stared at the elegant ring with dragons that wrapped around its sides and a gold dragon crest that encircled a dark sapphire at the top.

“For me?” Her eyes widened as she cupped it in her hands.

He thumbed over her lush lips, and the happiness that lit her face made his chest ache. He closed her fingers over the ring. “Yours. Now and always.”

She kissed him on the cheek, then tried the ring on each of her fingers. It was too large for even her thumb. She hurried over to a bureau and came back with a deep-blue silk cord. She slipped the ring on it and fashioned it into a necklace.

Eli swallowed back the satisfaction of seeing her wear his ring, seeing her marked as his. So wrong, so very wrong, yet he couldn’t deny it.

“Between that and your new clothes, there will be no question that you’re with my entourage. If anyone bothers you, it will be a direct insult to me and to Tamryn.”

Auburn hugged him, the unexpected intensity of her emotion surprising him.

“Thank you. You have no idea what this means.”

“I have some idea.” Eli stroked her hair.

The feeling of her in his arms soothed him, comforted him, and triggered a protective instinct he hadn’t known himself capable of exhibiting. He barely knew her, and yet, he would kill Premal if the adviser tried to hurt Auburn again.

Eli stared down at the woman in his arms, and a deep warmth filled his chest and radiated out to his limbs. He held her tighter.

Dracor save him, Prince Eli prayed. He was in trouble.