“I’ll take her in.”
I spin around and see Eye Patch followed us. “Thanks.”
He walks in front of me and opens the door. When I pass him, I catch the slightest frown on his face. I figure he just caught a whiff of me.Good.I follow him down a long hallway, and he opens a door. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the large formal room with seating all the way around the room, centering around a table in the middle was not it. I step inside the slightly darker room and wait a minute for my eyes to adjust. When I do, I notice that the seats around the room are on a tiered platform, so they’re above the table on the floor in the middle of the room. I also realize that Rauk is sitting at the table in the middle. By himself. A slow grin fills my face.Perfect. “I’ll take it from here,” I tell eye patch guy quietly. Rauk hasn’t noticed me yet, and I want to get as far as I can before he does. I can totally picture him ordering somebody—eye patch guy probably—to remove me from the room.
I approach from the side. I’m still somewhat in the shadows,so nobody’s noticed me yet. They’re all invested in whatever some guy on the other end of the room is saying. Whatever it is, it’s controversial because several people openly disagree with him. It’s only when I almost reach the table that Rauk finally notices me. I can tell the moment he notices. Not because he looks up at me, but because he goes still and his body tenses. Since there’s only one chair at the table, and he currently occupies it, I grab an empty chair nearby and take it with me to the table. I am very aware that the room has gone completely silent. I set the chair next to Rauk and drop into it. “Hi. Did you miss me? I missed you so much; I had to come find you.” I make sure to lean towards him, making sure my stink wafts towards him.
Chapter 10
I know he can smell me becauseIcan smell me still. I’m going to have to burn these clothes. But for now, I couldn't be happier. He turns his head slowly to look at me, and I can barely keep the grin off my face. “What are you doing here?” he asks in a voice so low, only I can hear it.
“I just told you.”
He takes a breath, and I watch in pleasure as his nose flares. His face betrays nothing, but I caught that slight nuance. He turns away from me and looks at the people slightly above us. “This is Harper. She's bonded with Redara, Noxlyn’s mate.”
“I’m just so happy to be here,” I say as I drop a hand on Rauk’s shoulder. He tenses under my touch and pulls away the slightest bit. I do my best to keep my evil grin off my face. Instead, I lean towards him and put my head on his shoulder. After an uncomfortable moment for all of us, I sit up and look up at him with what I hope is admiration on my face. “Please continue; don’t stop just because I’m here.” I can see that muscle in hisjaw jumping, and I try to contain my grin.
A man’s voice finally breaks the silence. “Your Highness, she cannot be here for this meeting. She is not Drakari.”
It doesn’t take a lot of brainpower to figure out the people in this kingdom call themselves Drakari. I open my mouth to defend myself, but shockingly, Rauk beats me to it. “She is bonded to a corporal dragon; she is more Drakari than everyone in this room, except for myself.” Silence falls at his words, and my eyebrows hit my hairline. But he doesn’t give me more than a moment to feel good about his words. “But she’s not staying.” Before I get a chance to say anything, he calls out, “Thorne.” Eye Patch approaches the table. “See her safely back to my home.”
“Please,” I add.
Rauk turns to me in confusion. “What?”
“Please.” At his still blank look, I sigh. “You can’t just boss people around.”
His eyes don’t lose that intense stare. “I’m the King; I can do whatever I want to do.” He faces Eye Patch...Thorne, I mentally correct. All he does is nod his head, and then Thorne’s eyes are on me.
I smirk. “What if I don’t want to go?”
“You’re causing a scene,” Rauk says, his voice still quiet.
“No, that’s all your doing. I’m just sitting here minding my own business; you’re the one trying to kick me out.”
I can literally feel Rauk’s frustration grow, and I figure my time here is done. I lean towards him again. “It doesn’t feel good to have no control of a situation, does it?” With those parting words, I stand to my feet and walk back over to the door. I pushthe door open and stride out, not bothering to wait for Thorne. I follow the hallway that led us here and find the exit. I start back towards Rauk’s. “You don’t need to follow me; I know the way,” I tell Thorne when he steps up next to me. He doesn’t say anything, and I shake my head in frustration. “Fine.” We walk in silence the entire way back to Rauk’s castle. When it comes into view, I expect him to leave; he doesn’t. “I think I’ve got it from here.” He still walks beside me. It’s not until we’re at the front door that he finally leaves my side. I don’t watch him descend the stairs but make my way inside. I make a beeline towards my room, so I can take a hot bath and maybe, possibly wipe the stink away. I don’t make it very far.
“What in the name of all that is holy is that smell?”
I turn to Elowen. “Scorchmuck.” She puts a hand over her nose, and I watch her eyes water. “Don’t worry; I’m headed to the bath.”
“Those clothes need to be burned when you’re done.”
I nod. “I know; I’ll take care of it.” I continue toward my room and head right into the bathroom. I strip off everything and debate whether I should burn the underclothing as well. I’m ready to get in the bath, but I can still smell the putrid smell wafting from my clothes. With a sigh, I wrap a towel around myself and grab the pile of clothes. I leave the bathroom behind and make my way to my bedroom door. There’s a knock right before I open it.
“Harper,” Elowen calls out. I maneuver my hold on my towel so I can open the door. “Oh good; I was just coming to get those.”
I hesitate. “I can take care of them.”
“I know, but there’s a burn pile out back that I can just add these to. Let me take care of it for you...unless you wanted to go out in your towel.”
Her words tip me over the edge, and I carefully hand her the offending clothes. “Thank you. I saved my underclothes; do you think they’re salvageable?”
“Honestly, no; but we can try.”
“Thank you, Elowen; I really appreciate it.”
“It’s fine; now go get yourself in that bath and scrub that stink away.” With a wrinkled nose, she turns away from me with the clothes held out in front of her and away from her body. I make my way back to the bath where I scrub for a very long time. When I’m red and raw, I finally climb out of the cooling tub. I work on washing my underclothes next. I scrub them and scrub them. After I wrap the towel around me, I walk out into my bedroom, thankful for the roaring fire. I stand in front of it a few minutes and warm up from my cooling bathwater and let my undergarments dry as well. I finger through the clothing I have and regret ruining those clothes today. I don’t have many clothes to begin with and very few warm clothes. I tug on a pair of pants and one of the black training shirts Rysden got for me. It’s long-sleeved at least. I look through my clothes and wonder what I’m going to do about warmer clothes. I worked while in the Wolf Kingdom these last few months. Before that, I had nothing. Growing up in the banished community, I only ever had a few articles of clothing. I worked with Eliza, but I wasn’t really good at it. So, I didn’t make much money. What little money I did earn, I needed for rent and food. Clothes were at the bottom of the list, and youcould tell. I make a mental note to ask Elowen what I can do to earn some money while I’m here. I need to buy warmer clothes; or it’s quite possible I might freeze to death in the Kingdom of Dragons. I stay in front of the fire for quite a while trying to get warm. I finally leave my room and head to the kitchen, hoping to talk to Elowen. I push open the door to the kitchen and stop. Rauk is already in there, talking to her. I’m really not in the mood to deal with him right now, so I turn around, preparing to leave the kitchen.
