Corbin left them a few halls down after Dorian told him he did not need him looking over his shoulder that day, and Corbin jumped on the opportunity to join Lex and her legion for training. Nyssa felt the tension between the pair as he left, the glimpse of need in Dorian’s eyes, causing Nyssa to realize perhaps they had not settled whatever feud was between them.
“Still nothing?” Nyssa asked once Corbin was gone.
“Backhanded comments and a stern glare is all I’m getting,” Dorian grunted.
“At least he is joking now,” Nyssa said, trying to make him feel better.
“He’s so damn hard to get a read on,” he mumbled. “One minute, I think I’m cracking him. The next, he’s looking at me as though he hates me. I don’t understand why he competed for the position if he hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you. Maybe he thinks you’re trying too hard,” she suggested.
“I feel like I’m not trying enough,” Dorian muttered, toying with the hem of his shirt. “Why is this so hard? Everyone else loves me.”
“He’s your Second,” she replied, chuckling under her breath. “He’s supposed to call you out on your bullshit. Would you rather he be falling at your feet and easy?”
Dorian seemed to contemplate the question as they rounded the staircase. “I suppose not,” he decided. “Though the image of him on his knees is a fantasy I will take with me.”
Nyssa nearly rolled her eyes. “You act like that’s a new suggestion. You probably got off to that last night.”
“And as usual, sis, you’re not wrong,” Dorian smiled.
Less than an hour later, the pair met Draven and his Second, Balandria, down on the chamber floors.
Draven had asked Dorian the day before to meet there as he wanted Bala to get to know them and show them around the castle, introduce her to the Council, and anything else the youngers could help him with.
Nyssa gave Bala a hug upon seeing her. They hadn’t talked much in the forest, but in the little time she’d been around her, she realized how quickly she could become a friend. Bala was somewhat reserved yet ferocious. She had an air about her that meant business when needed, but Nyssa had seen her playful side that day, and she was excited about Dorian meeting her. She knew it would be a rivalry, and she couldn’t wait to tease it along.
Draven and Dorian were exchanging casual handshakes. Nyssa watched as Dorian seemed to straighten before the King, pushing his shoulders back and extending his neck as though he wished to appear taller, perhaps making himself look a little more mature in front of Draven.
And when he introduced Dorian to Bala, Nyssa kept her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
Dorian, of course, gave her his best sideways smirk upon shaking her hand, and Bala looked like she might hit him right then. But their hands kept gripping tighter and tighter on one another.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Nyssa said, glancing between them.
Draven scoffed, arms hugging his chest, and he gave Nyssa an upwards nod. “Can I count on you to keep this from getting out of hand?”
Nyssa’s heart swelled that he was joking with her—even speaking to her, actually. She wanted to tell him yes, that she would be responsible and stop them from doing anything out of hand.
But an entirely different response left her.
“Architects, no,” she heard herself saying.
Draven’s left brow jerked upwards, but before Nyssa could explain herself, a flash of bright ginger hair in a window high above on the next tower caught her eye in a lightning strike, and she smiled fondly as she also heard the screech of the Aenean Orel.
“Dorian—“
Nyssa gave him an upwards nod out the window. Dorian turned, a grin breaking out on his face at the sight of Aydra as she threw her arms out, preparing for her free fall.
“Is she close?” Dorian asked, stepping closer and searching the sky for the Orel.
“She’s being dramatic,” Nyssa chuckled.
Draven launched at the window just as Aydra flung herself out of it. Nyssa tried not to laugh at the sight of the panic in his widened eyes. She started to tell him it was okay, but the Orel rocketed beneath Aydra’s falling figure, swooping the pair into the air, and Dorian clapped Draven’s shoulder.
“Yeah… she does that,” Dorian said.
“Where do they go?” Draven asked, evident that his heart had stopped upon seeing her in such a free fall.
