Chapter Eight #2
His voice came out even-keeled, but his tense body language told a very different story, "Who was in there with you, Ama?"
I stared blankly at him, extremely confused about what he was going on about.
“What?”
“Who was in there with you?” A slight growl in his tone had me frowning as I finally processed his question.
I spluttered, feeling like his question gave me whiplash, "No one." And then promptly remembered it was none of his fucking business anyways. Putting my hands on my hips, I added, "Even if there was, I would not owe you the answer to that question."
In half a second flat, his face was in front of mine, his head dipped so that his words were a whisper against my lips, his citrus scent wafting around me as he admitted, "I smelled your arousal, Ama. Was someone in there with you, or did you make yourself come?"
Oh. Oh wow.
My eyes widened and my lips parted in shock that he had asked the blunt, sexual question. Heat flushed my cheeks, and I knew he'd be able to see how much his question had rocked my world. I wouldn't be ashamed of this, though. It was a natural thing to do, and he had ruined it.
Snapping out of my shell-shocked state, I flipped my sassy switch and rebutted, "Well, I wish the answer to that was yes, but as I said earlier, you ruin everything."
Deciding this conversation was absolutely done, I headed back down the hallway and yelled, "Come on! You're the one who was rushing me."
I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the hell was going on in Drayven's head.
Sometimes, it felt like he truly cared about my safety, that he was jealous, and that he wasn't okay with Otto slighting my hybrid heritage.
But that couldn't be right...right? Maybe it was just my crush from years ago creeping in and making me wish that was the case.
This was exactly why I avoided Drayven.
I snagged a couple banana nut mini muffins and some coffee from the foyer, which was constantly stocked with food and drinks for our residents and guests.
Crossing out of the large entrance, I made my way to the black carriage that awaited us, our bags already packed on the back of it and strapped in.
Walking towards where our horses stood, I quickly gave the two beasts a muffin each and rubbed their heads.
Just because they were soulless horses that were permanently dead didn't mean they didn't enjoy love and food just like a normal horse.
I made sure to sneak them some treats every time I saw them.
Much like me, most people seemed to ignore their happiness, and I did what I could to treat them better.
They bumped their heads into me, demanding more treats, and I giggled as I made my way back to the carriage and climbed in. The interior was a crushed black velvet with ample seating on both sides to comfortably hold six people.
Plenty of room to ensure Drayven and I did not share a seat.
The carriage tipped slightly as he used the step to enter and take the seat across from me.
He was dressed nicely today...who was I kidding—he was dressed nicely every day.
But today, he took it a step further by being in a three-piece black suit.
It contrasted nicely with his pale skin and silver hair.
He let out a chuckle and smirked knowingly at me as I finished my inspection of him, making me scoff, "What?"
I sipped my coffee, enjoying the burn it left down my throat. That was ruined when I choked on it as he said, "You were just checking me out like you'd consider kissing me again."
That would be a negative, sir. After all, I wouldn't want to kill you. Or would I?
Lowering my cup to my lap, I glared at him, deciding his ridiculous statement didn't deserve a response.
The carriage jolted as we started on the journey to the capital.
Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes and ran through the short tutoring session yesterday and Otto's tips on who I could possibly sway to our side and who to not bother with.
I'd tucked his advice into the back of my head, but I was determined to come to my own conclusions about who to trust and who could be a potential ally after I’d met the key players myself.
Drayven cleared his throat obnoxiously loudly, but I kept my eyes shut as I lifted my coffee to my lips once more and drained the rest of the precious liquid. Sighing in contentment, I let my mind drift to the Summit and all that would occur over the next few days.
Thankfully, today was just a day to get settled in.
We would have an introductory day tomorrow, followed by lunch.
Next up would be an open day to “explore the city”, which really meant “make private alliances in secret”, followed by an extravagant ball at night.
The final day would be voting day, where each member would cast their vote in private, then the Supreme seat would be announced before we were allowed to return to our territories.
Four days, including today. I could do this. That was nothing in the span of our existence.
I let out a shaky breath with the intent of expelling my nerves with it, but it didn't work. I felt such immense pressure to make my dad proud and to prove to our house that I could be fit to be their next leader.
"For what it's worth, I think you're going to prove everyone wrong," Drayven admitted so softly I almost thought I’d imagined it.
I peeled my eyes open slowly and found him relaxed in the corner of his side, eyes closed as if he was going to take a nap.
It took me a moment to figure out if I should continue to ignore him or if I should respond. That had been a really nice thing for him to say, and with no audience around us, he truly had no reason to say it if he didn't mean it.
"Thank you," I hesitantly said back, manners towards Drayven feeling like sludge on my tongue. I was used to the exact opposite with him, and the politeness was strange.
If he was going to be nice to me, we were headed into uncharted territory, and I, for one, had no map of how to navigate those waters.
This Summit would be anything but boring.