Chapter 22
The next few days consisted of border planning and assigning patrols in Emris’s chamber.
Protecting the city was the first priority at the moment and they had to send for soldiers to return in order to fulfill the requirements.
To her displeasure, that meant also taking lawmen from small towns and now Thron stood in front of her with wide eyes.
“You are the Queen of Mydalsa?” he asked in a quivering tone.
“Yes,” she replied back.
“Your name isn’t Allie, then, is it?”
Kaden coughed next to her, his attempt at trying not to laugh but failed miserably.
“It’s Alyra.” she muttered, elbowing Kaden simultaneously.
He had been more outgoing since their first nightmare encounter but still had more grumpy moments than not.
He woke her nightly from her screams and would sit with her until she calmed, but that was the extent of his affection.
Each time he would avoid touching her after waking her up, and oddly she started to think she maybe wanted his physical comfort.
“We need you stationed at the gate. You don’t have any real combat history so you are in charge of helping others into the city if we are attacked again.” Kaden demanded towards Thron, who seemed to be irritated by the orders.
“Yes commander.” Thron replied through gritted teeth.
They all nodded to each other and she followed Kaden out to the hall heading towards the throne room.
“How do you know him?” Kaden asked.
“He is from the village I lived in all these past years.” She shrugged. “He insisted I be his girlfriend after one afternoon of mediocre talk and hasn’t left me alone since.”
Kaden’s shoulders tensed next to her and she just laughed.
“I of course said no.”
“Obviously.” he muttered and they stepped into the large familiar throne room, Emris and Declan both glancing their direction.
She glared towards Declan before looking at Emris with an annoyed look plastered on her face. He had been very unpleasant to work with the last few days, though if her kingdom had been attacked, she supposed she would be too.
“How many have arrived so far?” Emris barked.
“Three hundred arrived this morning and have all been assigned.” Kaden replied.
“How many more are still coming?” Declan asked, his eyes going to her but she didn’t meet his gaze.
“We could only spare another hundred from the border.” Kaden’s voice was calm but she could tell from his body he was anything but. “If we pull anymore then the rest of the kingdom will be vulnerable.”
“You.” Emris glared in her direction. “Get your power under control so you can defend this city!”
He moved towards her but she held up her hand, the white flame burning around her entire palm.
“It’s not my job to defend your city.” she snarled. “That is the job of its king.”
“You are my ally!” he yelled again. “You are to do as I say.”
Her power burned brighter, her rage chipping another piece of her wall down and she let it release around Emris.
Everyone around them jumped back as an inferno of white fire swirled around the king, his eyes wide and Kaden was yelling at her. She couldn’t hear what he was saying but she just kept her gaze on the now furious king in front of her.
His wings spread wide and his eyes glowed as his own lightning power surged around him but did little to her flame. At the exact moment he realized he couldn’t counter it, she let the flames die out around him and stepped closer to him.
“Next time you decide to try and rule over me, I’ll burn you fucking alive.” Her tone was lethal and even the king flinched at her words.
“Seems you have your power back.” Emris spat at her.
“No, that’s only a fraction of it.” Declan said weary, his experience with her powers evident.
“It seems Mavros has a reason for wanting it.” Emris’s eyes went dark and she felt an uneasy feeling in her gut.
“No one will ever try and get it from her again.” Kaden’s voice heavy with warning as if he sensed the same feeling she did.
It would make more sense for Emris to try and take it with the war going on, but he would have to go against his word in order to try to obtain it.
She didn’t figure he would have to stomach to try and torture her for it anyways, plus in order for her to give it to him, she had to have full access to it.
“No one is saying they will.” Declan interjected, the tension rising in the room.
“Are we done here?” She said harshly, her eyes still on Emris.
“Yes.” the king snarled, clearly displeased with her performance.
She spun on her heels and headed out the large door, turning towards the training grounds. Kaden was next to her quickly and she could tell even he was upset about what she just did. She let out a groan and kept her pace faster than normal.
“He deserved it.” she grumbled.
“Doesn’t mean you should have done such a childish thing, princess.” Kaden snapped and she knew she was back to dealing with the grumpy version of him.
She shook her head in frustration that he didn’t even try to support her and changed direction as soon as they stepped out of the castle. She picked up her pace to try and make some space between them.
“Where are you going?” He yelled.
“Away from you.” she snarled.
“Alyra, you know I can’t leave you alone.”
She got to the stable and threw a wall of fire in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.
She didn’t even saddle the mare, just put her halter on quickly and jumped on her bareback. She knew the fire wouldn’t last long so she charged out of the stable, Kaden furiously yelling at her as she rode by.
She was done with politics after having to endure them the last few days, and for him to be mad about defending herself was just icing on the cake.
She didn’t need a babysitter and she sure didn’t need another person to be against her.
The mare stayed in an even stride, people moving out of the way as she ran down the streets and she was trying to decide exactly where she wanted to go.
She knew she wouldn’t make it past the front gate, the guards would stop her and she didn’t know very many other places in the city.
She saw the familiar alleyway coming into view and figured she was going to get caught sooner or later, why not get a good meal in the process.
- - - - - - - -
She heard the door slam open from across the tavern, her eyes not lifting from the stew she was eating in front of her. She was ready for his fury, and when he sat down across from her with such force it almost broke the table, she knew it was going to be bad.
“How can you be so stupid!” his voice full of anger between heavy breaths.
She just shrugged and kept eating, refusing to make eye contact because she knew it would annoy him even more.
“I wanted to be alone,” she mumbled casually.
“You are not allowed such a pleasure.”
“I’m a queen, I can do what I want,” she barked back and finally looked up at him, his maroon eyes bright with fury.
“You are not a queen yet, princess,” he growled. “If something happens to you..” His voice trailed off and she sensed a hint of worry in his voice.
She set down her spoon and surveyed his body across from her. He wasn’t as angry as she thought he would be, but more in distress or concern. She raised her eyebrow to him and he just kept his eyes locked on hers.
“Did I scare you?” she asked softly.
“I don’t get scared,” he replied back, calmness now taking over his tone. “I am capable of being concerned though.”
“That’s shocking.” She teased and relaxed her arms on the table.
He didn’t smile but could see him mirror her movements and watched the tension leave his shoulders.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, the realization of what she had put him through. She might have been mad at him, but he did admit to caring about her wellbeing and to disappear on him wasn’t fair.
“Can I ask why you were so angry?” He muttered.
She looked around the room, a few patrons in quiet conversations and the scar faced man from before staring at her once more. It was odd, but at least this time she knew she would be able to defend herself better.
“You called me childish and didn’t support me.” she shrugged.
“What do you mean?”
“You reprimanded me for defending myself,” she snapped.
“I didn’t reprimand you.”
“You were angry at me for doing it.”
“Because you showed your power to him,” he sighed. “He now knows how powerful you can be and might decide to encourage you to give it to him.”
She then knew she was right about the tension in the throne room, the thought crossing her mind then too.
“He can’t do anything until I get my full power back anyways.”
“From now on, you hold your tongue and take whatever he says toward you. Once this war is over you are free to go back home and be free of him.” Kaden’s voice had turned soft again and she saw a flicker of something in his eyes, gone too quickly to figure out what.
Doras walked up to the table, the same outfit from the last time she was here and gave Kaden a big smile.
“Hey handsome.” Doras set a steak down in front of him, “She ordered ahead of you.”
Kaden turned his attention from the waitress and his eyes met her gaze again. He raised his eyebrow and shifted in his seat across from her.
Doras nodded and left, leaving her trying not to smile as he processed what had just happened with an odd look on his face.
“I knew you would find me.” she smirked. “Figured I would order you some food, just returning the favor.”
He looked down at the steak, the smoke coming off of it from being freshly taken off the fire, and started to eat it without another word. She wasn’t sure if it was because he was starving or because he didn’t know how to react.
She wondered if he had ever had anyone take care of him in his life. She still didn’t know anything about him but from what she could tell and from his reaction, it seemed he wasn’t used to that kind of gesture.
“I can feel you staring,” he mumbled with food still in his mouth.
“Still trying to figure you out.” she shrugged and pushed the empty bowl to the side so Doras could grab it on her next round around the room. A few more people had entered, the normal dinner hour approaching and she could tell it was going to start getting busy.
“Good luck.” he chuckled and before she knew it, his plate was empty.
“Hungry much?” she giggled.
“Well, I had to run here to chase you down. Made me a little hungry.”
“You ran here?”
“The horses were too spooked by your performance and so I ran.” He shoved his plate to the side and she gaped her mouth open in shock.
“Wow.” was all she could say and smirked as Doras walked back to grab their dishes.
“I suggest you get out of here before it gets busy. Word is some of the townsfolk aren’t happy they didn’t know about the creatures outside the wall.” Doras warned. “I don’t want you to have to kill anyone else in my bar.”
Kaden nodded and stood quickly, his hand gesturing for her to get up. She didn’t argue, the few people that had come in were staring at them with suspicious looks and she felt it was time to leave.
They made it out of the bar with no trouble and walked up to the grey mare waiting patiently. She untied the mare and threw the rope over its neck.
“Are you riding or walking?” she asked over the top of the mare’s back.
“We only have one horse.”
“It’s not that far, this horse can carry us both.” she shrugged and threw herself up onto the mare, glancing down at him.
He gave her an annoyed look but maneuvered himself up so he was now situating himself up against her back.
Her body reacted instantly to his touch, never having been this close and it sparked something in her she couldn’t figure out.
It wasn’t anxiety or panic that she would have typically felt, but something friendlier she couldn’t explain.
“Don’t go faster than a walk.” he groaned, something in his voice sounding like he was in slight distress.
She felt her cheeks warm and was thankful he couldn’t see them as they started toward the castle, silent tension heavy between them.