“Be ready in an hour for breakfast.”
“Um, okay…” I respond, wrapping the blanket tighter around myself. His eyes follow my hands as he looks me up and down before pushing off the wall and turning to leave. “I keep meaning to ask you, actually,” I say carefully. He pauses and turns to look at me. Judging by the look on his face, I’m guessing he’s not a morning person.
“What is your name, if you don’t mind me asking?” I ask softly. I heard the king call him Rothwyn, but he hasn’t actually told me his name himself.
He doesn’t respond straight away. His jaw ticks.
“Rothwyn,” he says, then pauses slightly before adding, “but you may call me Rowan.”
“Rowan,” I repeat aloud. “Like the tree?” I ask him, tilting my head. He gives me a confused look, ignoring my comment.
“Sorry… I uh…back home. Where I’m from, I studied botany. You know, like, plant science?”
“I know what botany is.”
“Well, it’s just your name…” Pausing to read his expression before I continue, “A rowan tree often symbolises protection. It can withstand harsh conditions where other trees cannot survive.” I smile to myself. I look back at Rowan, who’s staring at me with wide eyes.
“And what if it fails?” he asks.
“They don’t fail. They survive.” His jaw clenches, the bone pulsing under his cheek.
“You’ll find this land tests that theory of yours.”
“You are not a morning person, are you?” I ask, but he doesn’t respond. Instead, he narrows his eyes at me and pushes off the wall to leave.
He calls over his shoulder, “I’ll be back in an hour to take you to breakfast. Be ready to leave.”
Definitely not a morning person.
By the time I’m showered and dressed, I’ve made a half-hearted attempt to comb through my hair with my fingers. I stare at myself in the mirror. I have no to-do list, no whiteboard of tasks to help organise my day. If I had to give myself one, it would be very short.
Find out how to get back home.
Back to my normal life.
Back to my job.
Back to Sam.
A knock sounds at the door again as I mentally prepare myself for the moody knight who ‘greeted’ me this morning. But as I unlock the door, swinging it open, I see a smiling face instead.
It’s the commander.
“Good morning,” he says, grinning at me with his same friendly expression. Leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, he adds, “I’ve been ordered to collect you for breakfast.”
So he is now sending people to chauffeur me?
I shouldn’t complain really, this knight seems a lot less moody than the High Warden.
“Hi, Commander. I’m sorry, but I thought Rowan would be back to collect me. At least that’s what he told me,” I say to him.
He straightens, freezing.
“Where did you hear that name?” he asks.
“Commander? Oh, I’m sorry, I heard the King call you Commander Rook so I just…”
“No, not that name, and call me Kael,” he pauses. “The other name you said.”
