Upon hearing the full story, the boy’s mother immediately offered her suspicions.
Apparently, Bradley’s—the young boy’s name—older cousin had recently taken his first journey outside of the sheltered kingdom. The mother suspected Bradley had overheard his cousin talking about the tunnels to his mother and aunt and decided that he wanted to try his hand at them. Bradley was known for being adventurous, but clearly he had gotten himself into far deeper water than he ever expected.
I watched Conan and Nora’s reactions throughout the story and could tell their concern and worry for the boy was authentic. I had a feeling they were going to add security to all tunnel entrances and be extra cautious in the upcoming period—especially if Alfemir turned into the battlezone we expected it to.
But for now, the castle was quiet as we made our way from the medical center toward our suites. The men around me were talking about the plans that needed to be made, but I found myself drifting, examining the castle as we passed through each winsing corridor. If we were in a different time and place, I would have gladly spent all day exploring.
At that exact moment, my stomach decided to rumble loudly—causing a flush to fill my cheeks as everyone pulled to a hard stop.
Ronan was immediately in front of me, tilting my chin up with one hand. “When was the last time you had a meal?”
“This morning,” I pointed out, but then frowned—had I actually eaten anything?
“Just coffee,” Bastian argued, cocking a brow in my direction.Traitor.“She didn’t eat anything.”
“Alright,” I put my hands on my hips, offering a playful glare at the overbearing men. “Fine, I’m hungry, so let’s go find something to eat. No need to make a big deal out of it.”
Niz looked in the direction of the suites before offering, “We could have something brought up from the kitchen, but we could also go down to the dining hall if you prefer.”
“I would love that,” I agreed, liking the idea of seeing more of the castle and its inhabitants. Our truce with the wyverns might have been shaky at best, but beginning to interact with them could only be a good thing, right? “But only if everyone else is hungry.”
“I am,” Ronan agreed.
Gabe rolled his shoulders back before stretching his arms above his head. “If you don’t mind, Little Star, I’m going to use this opportunity to start planning. I feel on edge being so close to Alfemir but not having a plan in place.”
“And I’d like to join you. Amelia and Noah will want to hear from us soon,” Steele agreed before fixing me with a look. “Youneed to go eat, though.” I scowled at his demanding tone but didn’t argue with him.
“If you tell me the direction, I’ll take her,” Ronan assured them with a tight-lipped grin. He turned his attention to the wyvern before asking, “Niz are you coming with? Bastian looks like he’s about to fall asleep standing up?—”
Bash absolutely did, but he still scoffed at Ronan’s words. Considering the amount of power he put out while saving and stabilizing Bradley, I could only imagine how tired he actually was.
“I’m going to stay with them. I’d like to invite a few of the generals to come talk with us, as long as the two of you don’t mind.”
“Not a problem,” Steele assured Niz as Gabe nodded.
My brow furrowed in concern and I worried my lip. “If it’s going to be a big meeting, I don’t want to miss it.”
“If I had to guess, the first hour or so will likely be filled with arguments on how to best handle things,” Niz pointed out. “So join us when you’re done eating. I promise you won’t miss much.”
Deciding it wasn’t worth the argument because I was very much hungry, I took the hand Ronan offered and we parted ways with the others, after taking direction from Niz. I wouldn’t lie, the minute we were alone, I felt my body relax completely as I smiled up at him—feeling like we could ignore the heaviest of our problems right now. It’s the same feeling I got when I was able to have one-on-one time with any of the men.
“What’s on your mind?” I asked curiously. As we turned down a silent corridor, Ronan came to a stop and looked down at me.
“You terrified me today.” The raw pain in his voice had my eyes widening as his hands hovered over my waist, as if he was hesitant to touch me.I didn’t like that at all.
“What?” I asked, sliding my hand up his chest and stepping closer. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you terrified me—” His large hand clasped my hip tightly as he continued, “That was exactly what I felt when I saw you moving toward that group of soldiers. Absolute, gut-crushing fear. Beauty, I was terrified I was about to lose you.”
“Ronan, I had to stop them?—”
“I know,” Ronan interrupted me, bringing a thumb to brush against my bottom lip. “I know, Beauty. You didn’t do anything wrong, but it still scared me. It still caused my chest to fill with panic at the idea of not being able to reach you in time, to not be able to protect you.”
My heart squeezed in my chest at the seriousness of his words as he continued, “I know you’re more than capable of protecting yourself and others, but I want to protect you. Ineedto protect you.”
“I like when you protect me,” I admitted honestly, thinking back to when Ronan stood up to my father at that final placement exam. “Itrustyou to protect me, Ronan.” Which was also true. I hadn’t expected it, but when Bash’s magic reacted poorly and attacked me in training, Ronan immediately stepped in to stop him.
It was so much more than that, though. Not only did I trust him to protect me, but I trusted him as a partner as well. I may have never had a serious relationship before, but I knew that I could trust Ronan. He was loyal—a bit intense, sure—but protective to a fault, and he always tried to do what was right for those around him, even at his own expense. There was so much about Ronan that I just…loved.
