Dragon Twins Bride

“I have the best news!”

“Oh?” Gahariet, who was far more polite than Olivier would ever be, raised one eyebrow, his tone cool and formal in contrast to the overly familiar hug.

“I have one of the best investment opportunities available. Just a little bit of a cash infusion and we could print our own money.”

“We can already print our own money.” Their father had plenary power, including the ability to make currency.

“Ah…yes…but I’m talking about business.”

Olivier was already bored, but Gahariet was accepting two glasses of wine from a pretty Yore waitress dressed in a very low cut red dress. Apparently he wanted them to hang around.

“There’s going to be an amazing auction tonight.”

“Mhm,” Olivier murmured, wishing that he could just go home. It was funny, because he was the more extroverted twin, but he didn’t want to be here in a crowd of too-familiar people.

“There are going to be some very rare items there tonight. Some very rare items that might open up good doors.”

Olivier stopped listening and scoped out the rest of the party. Gahariet always made sure that everything was on an even keel; he’d take care of it.

There were a lot more girls than there normally were at parties like this. It felt like he was surrounded by big, ostentatious flowers. The girls were dressed in vibrant colors, and a lot of the bolder ones made eye contact with him.

He felt like a fish in a room full of cats. His dragon spirit came roaring to life. A dragon was never prey.

He needed to get out of here.

“Sorry,” he said, without a hint of contrition. “I just remembered that we need to be somewhere else.”

“Somewhere else? But you haven’t even heard about the…”

“No time,” Olivier cut in.

“But I’ll see you at the auction house?”

“Maybe.” Olivier tugged Gahariet’s hand. Gahariet, always polite, gave a simple nod to their companion before they went off.

“Where are we going?”

“Tally boards.”

“Again? I thought you stopped betting after you lost a month’s allowance in ten minutes.”

“We don’t have anything better to do. Besides, I like to watch the fights.”

“They’re underground fights. If you get caught…what would our father do to you?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care,” Olivier said cheerfully. “He stays out of our lives, and we stay out of his.”

“If there isn’t anything interesting when we go to the tally boards — should we really be in that part of town? — then we’re going home.”

“Yup. I can promise you that much.”

9

Prep Time

Phuong

Phuong used a damp bit of cotton in order to fix the wing of her eyeliner. The bit of her skin that was touched see