Page 112 of Her Ivory Flame

They walked towards the table, Kaden pulling a chair for her to sit in and then sat next to her, Finnley on the other side, then Raine, and Xander. Titus and Boone sat across from them, leaving a few empty chairs on either end of the table.

The nearly naked females all went to stand next to the men, her eyes darting to the same female from last night starting to move towards the other side of Kaden and gave her a lethal glare. The female paused and kept her hands behind her with a nervous look on her face.

One of the males tried to stand between her and Kaden, a loud deep rumble sounded in the room and she saw Kaden’s face staring at the male. Everyone was silent, realizing the noise came from him and the male stepped back.

“Seems you must not have servants where you come from?” Oaked as curiously.

“We do, we just hold ours to a higher standard.” Kaden growled.

“I suppose we are a little different here than the capital. Being a single male, I guess I have learned to like certain things.”

Oak’s eyes moved to her and she could see him assessing her only a few feet away. The look made her uneasy in her seat and Kaden again growled.

“Why did you want us here?” Kaden’s voice was ice cold and the rest of the group stiffened.

“I wanted to go over some rules of my home, and welcome you with a fresh breakfast.”

She didn’t like the look on Oak’s face and grabbed onto Kaden’s hand that was on his leg. Everything about this place felt off, and she had a feeling Emris sent them here for a reason.

No one said a word, or even reached for their drinks with how the tension clouded the air. Oak seemed to be annoyed by it but just cleared his throat and continued.

“The third level is off limits to visitors and you must be back in your rooms no later than nine o’clock. Everything else on the estate is yours to explore. If you would like an escort, my offer to show you around still stands, My Queen.” Oak’s eyes lingered on her again and this time Xander spoke up.

“She is not your Queen, and she doesn’t go anywhere without us like Kaden said last night.” Xander’s voice was deep, unnerving and even Oak leaned back in his chair slightly. Kaden must have mentioned it to him when he talked to them this morning.

“I see, it was just an offer.” Oak chuckled, obviously hiding the fact Xander terrified him. “Please, eat and then you can get on with your day.”

The servants moved and lifted the coverings off the platters, revealing an assortment of breakfast foods. Piles of eggs, bacon, and biscuits lined the table and once Oak started to eat, the rest of them grabbed food.

She had lost most of her appetite when she walked in the room but knew she needed to eat to keep up her strength for the day. She was also heavily aware of Oak’s lingering gaze every so often towards her, but she didn’t dare look back at him.

No one said a word as they ate, awkward tension filling the air and she thought it odd the servants just stood silently as everyone finished eating.

“I would like a meeting with you after we eat.” Kaden glanced towards Oak, his face schooling into his normal cold stare.

“Of course.” Oak nodded, clearly uncomfortable but agreeing anyway.

Once it seemed everyone was done eating, they rose from the table and walked towards the entry while Oak talked to his servants across the room.

“Xander and Boone, take Alyra to the library. Keep a close eye on her and I will relieve one of you shortly.” Kaden whispered.

“What are you doing?” Xander asked.

“Something seems off, and I want to see if I need to worry about our stay here.” Kaden answered just before Oak appeared next to them.

“Come with me Kaden, we can talk in my office.” Oak smiled and started waddling towards the hall to the left.

Kaden grabbed her hand before placing a gentle kiss to the top of it. “Behave,” he mumbled and she smirked in response.

She waited till he had disappeared around the far corner of the hall before turning to Xander and Boone. Both looked at her as if waiting for instruction and she chuckled.

“Let's go find the library.”

Raine, Finnley, and Titus had started to head back towards their rooms while she ventured down some new hallways. It was taking her longer than she would have liked to find it in this massive mansion so once she saw a guard, she asked.

He led her group down a few more halls before opening a large wooden door, the light from outside brightening the stacks of books around it.

She nodded in thanks and started into the room, her eyes in shock at the amount of literature in one place. It was almost bigger than the one she glanced at in Elnora, and she thought maybe there was a reason for it.