A polite knock on the door cut off Alashiya’s reply. Their heads swiveled to find the hulking form of Radek standing in the doorway. As gruff as the day before, he announced, “Emand, you and the Isand have visitors. You should probably put some clothes on.”
Alex stood up and propped her hands on her hips. “What? Is it clan? If not, tell them to fuck off. She just got let out ofjail.Can’t a hero nymph friggin’ relax around here, big bad Rad?”
Alashiya hadn’t met so many new people in her entire life, and she wasn’t exactly eager to meet more, so she was grateful for Alex’s sudden fierceness. She wasn’t sure she even knew how to relax in the way Taevas expected her to — especially after what she’d just heard — but she wanted to try.
The stony look on Radek’s harsh face made her hope on that score wither.
“If the Emand doesn’t want to meet the sovereigns of the Elvish Protectorate, that’s her choice,” he replied, completely unbothered by Alex’s snark.
“There are elves here?” Alashiya gasped. The blanket fell from her shoulders as she gripped the back of the couch.
Radek blinked slowly. “Yes, ma’am. Theodore Solbourne and Margot Goode will be arriving shortly.”
She looked askance at Hele and Alex. “Isn’t Theodore Taevas’s protege?”
Alex grinned. “Okay, I changed my mind. You shoulddefinitelyput some clothes on.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Twenty minutes later,Alashiya found herself fidgeting nervously beside Radek. She’d changed into a silky, ankle-length pleated skirt and a white linen blouse — two things she couldn’t imagine Alex wearing, but she had apparently read Alashiya’s needs better than she initially gave her credit for.
Her old boots clicked on the marble floor as she let Radek lead her down sunlit corridors. She tried not to stare at everything, but it was hard not to gawk. The roost was beautiful, but it was strangely empty. All high, vaulted ceilings and seamless windows and white walls. It hardly seemed like a home to her, but she tried not to be too judgemental.
She thought she was doing pretty good until they reached the atrium.
The first couple times she walked through it, she’d barely noticed it. Now, as Radek guided her across the empty expanse of it, she couldn’t help but look around with confusion, her nose wrinkled.
“Something wrong?” the dragon grunted.
“No.” She paused, rethought her answer, and then said, “Actually, yes. Why is this room empty?”
He shot her a glance. “There’s a table and some chairs.”
“One table and two chairs in a room the size of my house.” She gestured to the glass ceiling, which let in a stunning amount of pure, glittering sunlight. “With all this light— Do you have any idea how many plants you could grow here?”
Radek stopped at one of the many doors that ringed the atrium. Opening it for her, he rumbled, “No, I don’t. That’s something you should take up with your Chosen, Emand.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “I don’t want him to think I don’t like his house. It’s just very different from mine.”
It couldn’t have beenmoredifferent, really. Taevas’s reaction to her home made a lot more sense to her now. Not because his roost wasbetter,but because she couldn’t imagine two more opposite dwellings if she tried.
She’d only seenoneplant so far, and she’d been horrified to discover it was fake. How he justified that, she couldn’t even begin to fathom.
Radek gave her a strange look. “A dragon’s roost is his pride,” he explained, like it should be obvious, “but it doesn’t mean fuck-all if his Chosen doesn’t like it. Trust me, ma’am. He’ll want you to change things.”
Taevas had said as much, so she supposed she ought to take it seriously. Still, it felt a little rude. Shaking her head, she asked, “Do you have a spouse, Radek?”
He turned his gaze forward. A subtle tightening of his mouth was the only sign that perhaps all wasn’t well when he answered, “Yes. I have a Chosen. Her name is Vivian.”
Fearing she’d stepped in it but not knowing how to back out of the conversation now that she’d started it, Alashiya floundered. “Does… did she make changes to your roost, too?”
“Not yet,” he answered.
Something about the way he said those two words felt like a definitive end to the conversation. Alashiya blew out a breath and nodded. She wasn’t offended by Radek’s taciturn attitude. If anything, it was comforting in its familiarity. Most of the men in Birchdale hadn’t exactly been warm and fuzzy, either.
They continued their journey in silence until they reached another large doorway. Radek put his hand on the knob, but he didn’t open it for her right away. Hesitating, he rumbled, “Ma’am… thank you. For saving Taevas.”
Her chest squeezed. Laying a hand on his massive bicep, she told him, “Call me Shiya.”
