“Lord Daniel has been traveling with this man the whole time?”
“Yes,” Desmond responds softly.
Dear Ancients, that is cruel.
“Does he have a name?” I ask, my voice hard.
Desmond nods after a small moment, his eyes watching me carefully, “Edam.”
Edam.
I commit the Leviathan’s name and the sight of him that night to my memory.
“And you think he may have seen Storm?”
“We don’t know,” he admits, “but we can’t take the chance.”
“Plenty of people have already seen us on the road, even here in Castle Bardot,” I point out.
Stormfall caws in agreement, his chest puffing out in anger as the two of us remain defiant.
“They have, from afar…” Desmond nods to us both, “but the talk of the Kingdom is that of a human woman riding through the cities with a small hawk. We can control that talk. But tonight, if you walk into court with Hirovale’s Bird of Ash, I don’t know how we can explain it. His magic is felt by all of us.”
Us.
Discerni.
“I can’t just leave him here unattended.”
“Golem will stay in your room with Storm tonight.”
Great.
Solid.
The two of them have already formulated a plan without me.
I narrow my eyes at the magical creature and am rewarded with a smile and nod of his head.
“This is your final decision?”
“It is.”
I shake my head and walk over to the mantle above the fire and pour myself a glass of whiskey.
“One more thing,” Desmond says from behind.
I turn around and meet his dark brown eyes staring intently on mine,
“the Prince will be busy tonight with the delegation, not to mention our parents and Troy…”
I nod and take a sip, watching as he takes a step towards the door.
“Do not be dismayed if he does not interact with you tonight, Alexis.”
“For the love of Ancients,Desmond,” I roll my eyes, waving him away, “I watched the full of Red Fall’s court flirt with him. Not to mentionall the women who threw themselves at him in Gaumond. I think I’ll be okay.”
It’ll be hard, but I’ll deal with it.
