He clears his throat. “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”
“Well, we were supposed to practice outside more, but unless the weather lets up, I suppose we’ll be sequestered to the library. Again.”
“Okay.”
“And you?”
“Same.”
“Meela is waiting for me though…”
Daegan takes a deep, thoughtful breath, his chest expanding. “How much do you trust her?”
“I don’t know,” I murmur. The truth is, I do trust her. But this is so much bigger than me and our friendship. Still, it pains me to keep it from her, and the more time we spend on it, the harder it is to keep it a secret.
He nods, and somehow, I think he understands. “I’m sorry,” he says evenly, glancing at me.
I smile appreciatively at him. Just a closed-mouth smile with the corners pulling back. His gaze lingers for another moment before he looks away.
We find Meela inside the dining hall with Raef. They’re talking, and they don’t look like they hate each other.
“Hi…” I say, approaching them. They stop and glance at us.
“Took you long enough,” Meela complains, looking between Daegan and me.
“I got side-tracked.”
“Sure.”
I scowl at her after ensuring no one else is looking my way.
She smirks at me.
“So, until the rain clears up, we can’t really practice our little project, can we?”
“Not really,” I reply. “I was going to head to—”
“The library,” she finishes for me.
“Naturally,” I say.
“And you guys?” She glances at the two males seated across from us. “What do you do here every day, anyway?”
“Not much, to be honest,” Raef answers with disappointment in is tone. “I thought this visit would be a little more… exciting. Most of it is political. Daegan’s father and a few elders were taking meetings with the king or other members of his court. But they haven’t even done that since they left. We’ve just been sort of… stagnant.”
So his father really left with half of the dragon shifters after all that stuff went down? At least he trusts Daegan to stay in his stead. But did he make Daegan stay for a reason?
The mention of his father makes me think of something else. Why hasn’t Daegan told his father, at least? Or has he, and he’s lying to me? He says no one else knows, but surely the lord of the dragons would want to be in on such a plan?
I still want to trust them. It’s sort of too late to change my mind now anyway. They know everything.
“Elysande?” Meela’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I look up and find Daegan watching me. They’re all watching me with expectant looks, actually.
“Yeah?”
“Raef was just giving me shit for not taking him into town that one day we said we would. What about tomorrow?”
No one mentions the reason that trip didn’t happen.
