I hated every part of being here and only wanted to be up in that room, experiencing everything with her. I was the one that should’ve introduced her to our world, not him.
She didn’t listen to more songs, and I wanted to know what she was watching. There was no audio.
Sniffs came a few minutes later. She was crying again. I sighed and a cluster of pebbles covering the courtyard rolled away from me.
Around three, Emanual trudged down the steps. Samuel probably waited for me already. He would know by now that I would not show.
Elena’s trainer came. Devon Lockendor, who was part of Caleb’s fleet. He was tiny but fast and had the best reflexes in Paegeia. He trained Elena. No wonder she was so depressed.
The sun set, and the purple orange hues that fell on the earth enhanced my senses. The shadows grew darker fast as the spotlights lit up the dark corner of the courtyard. My eyes were everywhere.
They would come. Samuel thought he owned me, like he did Dimmi. I wasn’t as pathetic as Dimmi.
Emanual joined after dinner in his dragon form.
“You need to eat. I got it.”
“I’ll eat later tonight.”
He nodded.
“You saw Lucian?”
“Yeah, he was at the dinner table.”
“And Elena?”
He kept quiet, didn’t even look at me. Silence lingered before he spoke. “He wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Now why would you even think that?”
“Because I see the look in your eyes, the vibration in your scales. He’s your blood-brother, don’t forget that. They are just friends.”
Yeah, I still didn’t like that.
The conversation fell silent as the hours ticked by. Around eleven, Elena’s lights went off and my stomach rumbled.
“I’m going to eat.”
“I’ll be here.”
I shifted back to my form and one guard handed me a robe that I pulled on my body.
Queen Maggie smiled as I entered the kitchen. She was in her satin pajamas, wearing a fancy robe and slippers, keeping Helmut company as he made himself a sandwich.
“How are you holding up?” She rubbed my arm.
“I’m okay,” I said, and she got up and heated my plate before she put it in front of me.
“How many men am I going to lose, Blake?”
“Helmut!” Maggie scolded.
“It’s just a question.”
“I’ll try to keep it minimal,” I answered as I dug in.
“If anything happens, Elena will be safe. We’ll be in the safe room.” Maggie promised with a smile.
