“Your Majesty?” one of the soldiers paused to ask.
“Just clearing my throat,” I said.
“Yes, Sire.” He went back to training.
What exactly would happen?I asked the Eye.If I gave you my mind, what would be the process? What would I have to do?
You would lower all your resistance and allow me to take control of your mind. With your physical body grounding me and your Water Magic shielding me, the element of water will cease to affect me.
It made sense. It also terrified me. To give up all control? It already felt as if I had no control over her presence. But if I lowered my resistance, she could—
I just need you for your magic, Lyrandir. I don't want to remain in your body forever. Why would I when I have the freedom of being pure energy? Restricting myself to a single physical object is like walking into a cage. I will want to leave as soon as possible.
Fine. But I want some time alone to prepare.
We should do this as soon as possible.
After I get some fucking peace!
Fine!The Eye's presence left my mind.
I let out a sigh of relief. The Eye had become a weight upon me. A mental shroud that dulled my reason and shortened my temper. With her gone, I felt like a different person.
“Your Majesty?” an Eljaffna man stepped up to me. “Could we speak privately?”
“Very well.” I glanced at Aras and found him staring at one of his men—his ex-lover. My chest clenched. When Aras started to look my way, I acted out of jealousy and laid a hand on the Eljaffna's shoulder. I could feel Aras's stare and it encouraged me to take the ruse further. “This way,” I said, leading him out of the training yard via a route that was close enough to Aras for him to overhear us. “There should be an empty sitting room just through here.”
The snarl and aggressive rumble coming from behind me made my lips twitch. So, here was yet another way to keep Aras interested despite all my strange behavior. Jealousy. I should have known. He was a man who liked to be controlled, and jealousy was just another tool for control.
The Eljaffna man lifted a brow at my familiar behavior. But once we were inside the castle, with the door shut behind us, I dropped my hand and acted as if I hadn't been flirting at all.
“Ah, here we are,” I said when we came to an open door. I went into the room beyond and waved the Eljaffna to a seat. The fireplace was laid with logs. I blew a stream of fire over them and set them to burning before I sat down. “Macir, right?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I'm Macir.” He inclined his head, silken blond hair falling around his beautiful face.
As a whole, the Eljaffna were lovely. Tall, willowy, and graceful. If I were into that type of man, I would be genuinely attracted to Macir. But I preferred thicker men with a coating of striped fur and ice-blue eyes that could stare into a man's soul.
“Your Majesty?” Macir leaned forward.
I cleared my throat. “I'm sorry. My mind wandered to tasks I need to do today. What is it you wanted to speak to me about?”
“You've trusted me and my people with the weaknesses of your race, Sire,” Macir said. “No Dragon has ever done that.”
“No Dragon has ever asked their army to stand against their dread either,” I said. “I cannot expect you to fight for me without giving you every advantage possible.”
He nodded. “Still, it is a great honor and in light of it, my people—those of your kingdom—have agreed to confide in you as well.”
That got my attention. “Go on.”
“We Eljaffna have a special ability that we do not share with outsiders. I ask that you share this only with people who absolutely need to know.”
“You have my word. What is this ability? Can it help you battle Dragons?”
“Oh, yes, Sire. It can help us battle Dragons in both forms.”
“Tell me.”
“We gain power from blood. All know that,” Macir said. “But there is more to it than rapid healing and enhanced immortality. If we drink enough of an individual's blood, we can control them.” He smirked. “Like a puppet on a string.”
