Chapter Ten
Thea
“Do you feel like that cat has been following us?”
I followed Nessira’s gaze to where a small, fluffy ball of pure white fur peered at us from behind the bushes that lined the edges of the palace gardens. Snowflakes fell around it, lining the leaves of the evergreen hedge near where it lingered.
“It must be freezing!” I mused, crouching down and opening my arms to the poor creature.
It approached me hesitantly, whiskers shifting in the wind and tail swishing from side to side.
“Do you think she belongs to someone?” Nessira asked, watching as the cat sniffed at my fingers tentatively.
The tiny beast peered up at me through oddly aware eyes. Its gaze was a potent weight, assessing my movements as I leaned down towards it.
“Where have you come from, little one?” I whispered.
It made a quick huffing sound, sneezing into my outstretched fingers, before scurrying away without a second glance.
Well, alright then.
I swallowed my bitter laugh, watching as the cat sprinted between the legs of my guards and disappeared around the corner of the castle.
“Not even the stray animals here trust me,” I quipped.
Nessira chuckled under her breath, carefully watching the guards who lingered a few yards behind us. “If only it were as easy to get them to run away.”
I inclined my head in agreement. “Even if we don’t freeze them away from us, at least we can take joy in knowing that they’re extremely uncomfortable.”
Nessira and I hadn’t been outside long, perhaps only half an hour.
The guards had frowned when I’d first announced I needed to stretch my legs in the fresh air and demanded that Nessira and I go for a walk in the gardens.
They clearly weren’t happy about lingering in the frigid winter temperatures.
Indeed, the two were still sending us intensely irritated stares while aggressively rubbing their hands in front of them, blowing hot air on their fingers every so often.
“I won’t be able to keep this up for much longer,” Nessira warned, pulling me closer to her.
Nessira wasn’t a particularly powerful Fire Elemental, but her powers were just enough to warm a small cocoon of air around us so that while the guards froze behind us, we were perfectly toasty.
It actually made for a rather pleasant stroll through the dusting of snow that covered the grounds.
I sighed. A small part of me had hoped that if I requested to go for a walk outside, the guards would just leave me to it, but I’d had no such luck. Hyrax had apparently been rather insistent that I was not to be left unattended.
So, I was back to supervised outings—just as I had been when the Dragon ruled this kingdom.
Hyrax might have been my father, but that didn’t mean he trusted me.
Which, admittedly, he shouldn’t.
“What in all of creation are you two doing out here?”
I whirled, Nessira and I both jumping at the sudden voice.
“Caldrius,” I greeted him dryly, meeting the heavy gaze of the man I had married.
He made a show of walking toward me, posture too carelessly relaxed when the air was this bitterly cold. He held his hands easily in his pockets, the breeze pushing back the edges of his unbuttoned jacket as he moved.
“Why do you always say my name as if you’re displeased to see me?” he asked, coming to rest a hand on the small of my back and pressing his lips against my temple. I leaned away from his touch.
Nessira snorted next to us, then seemed to realize what she had done and bowed her head respectfully to Caldrius before taking a few carefully measured steps behind us. He watched her with narrowed, suspicious eyes as she did, before his gaze traveled over the guards behind us.
“What are you doing out here?” I questioned, trailing my eyes over his rumpled clothing. He’d been out riding; that much was obvious from his smell.
“My job, which now includes patrolling the castle grounds,” he answered briefly, eyes focused on the guards over my shoulder. He glanced between them and me, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes as his arms began to circle around me.
“What are you—”
I moved to push him away, but before I knew it his hands cupped my cheeks and pulled me to him. His head dipped towards my neck, his grip unyielding. “You wouldn’t be trying to escape your shadows over there, would you?”
I stilled, pushing aside the frustration boiling in my blood as I realized what he was doing. To onlookers, to the guards, we probably looked like nothing more than a happy couple embracing one another.
Which gave us the perfect excuse to talk freely.
“And if I am?”
“There are easier ways to do that, darling.”
I pulled back, meeting his gaze. A sudden chill ran down my spine as I took in the mischief hidden within his smirk.
I hated when he looked at me like that. That expression reminded me too much of the Caldrius I’d befriended in the Underworld.
That had been a version of him who was constantly teasing and light-hearted.
It was easier to pretend that the version of him who had been my friend had never even existed.
So now, when I looked at him, I forced myself to see the man who had been influential enough to convince the God of Death to recreate the woman he had once loved.
“I might be able to help you,” he offered, folding his hands behind his back as he stepped a few paces back away from me.
I narrowed my eyes at him, swallowing. “And what would you want in return?”
He flicked a lock of dark hair that had fallen over his brow out of his eyes, his lips lifting into a playful grin as he crossed his arms over his chest and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet.
“Admit that I’m not your enemy,” he requested, his shoulders lifting and falling in a simple shrug.
My brows lifted. “That’s it?”
“And that you consider me a friend.”
“A friend?”
“And that you would be open to exploring a more romantic relationship with me.”
Nessira scoffed behind him just as I threw my head back in frustration. Caldrius’ grin only widened as he waited expectantly for my answer.
“Or,” he held onto the word, letting it drag as he leaned backwards and pointed towards the castle. “I can just be on my way.”
He tilted his head, subtly nodding towards the guards as he took two clear steps backwards.
Gods, he was insufferable.
“Wait!” I grasped his wrist, unhappily pulling him back towards me and trying to avoid looking at the smug satisfaction on his features. “Fine. You’re not my enemy. We’re friends.”
I barely stopped myself from choking on the words—both at the ridiculousness of having them forced out of me and the unfortunateness of the fact that, deep down, there was a certain degree of truth in them.
Because, whether or not I liked it, I couldn’t unsee the version of him who had been my friend.
“And?” he pressed, lashes fluttering slightly.
I squared my shoulders. “And that’s all you’re going to get from me. Take it or leave it.”
Rolling his eyes, he lifted his hands above his head, stretching out his back as he considered.
A stupid gesture. He and I both knew he was going to agree.
With a wink, he dropped one of his arms over my shoulder, guiding me away as he sent an impatient glare at the guards who had moved to trail behind us.
“Leave us! My wife and I would like to share an intimate moment that’s best enjoyed privately.” Caldrius shouted at them, adding a certain huskiness to his voice that made my upper lip curl.
I smacked his stomach with the back of my palm, earning a soft chuckle.
“I do not appreciate that insinuation,” I protested under my breath.
“Ah, but it worked,” he pointed towards the retreating forms behind us. “Apparently, it’s rather believable that you and I would want to tangle ourselves together.”
I shrugged his arm off me, not bothering to dignify him with a response.
“So, what are we going to get ourselves into now, ladies?” Caldrius rubbed his hands together, grinning happily as he looked between Nessira and I.
I marched away from him, wrapping my arm in Nessira’s and dragging her with me as I went without sparing him a second glance. “We are leaving. You are not coming with us.”
“That’s a terrible way to thank a friend who just helped you,” he called after us. “I would hope—”
A shriek split the sky, so loud and sudden that I instinctively covered my ears. Nessira and I ducked in perfect timing, glancing frantically at the sky as Caldrius ran to us. Together, we all lifted our heads, staring at the dark shadow above us that began to blot out the sunlight.
No.
Not a shadow.
“Are those…” Nessira’s voice trailed off.
“Dragons,” Caldrius finished the thought for her, bending to take hold of my elbow.
Sure enough, the sky filled with dragons as far as I could see. It was a veritable legion of them. Scales of green, blue, red, and black reflected in the light above us, and their wings beat so heavily that my hair tangled in blown-back waves.
No gold, though.
No golden scales.
Caldrius frowned as he watched them all soar ahead onto the mountaintop above the castle and begin landing one by one.
“You don’t look like you were expecting them,” I noticed.
He glowered at me from the corner of his eye as he unsheathed the sword on his hip. “You’re so observant.”
Caldrius latched onto my hand, wrapping my fingers within his in an iron grip before he launched forward, dragging me behind him towards the castle.
“What are you doing?” I hissed, lifting my skirts to avoid tripping.
“You’re the Crown Princess,” he reminded me. “Don’t you want to know why foreign leaders just landed in your capital?”
Foreign leaders?
My stomach dropped with an odd sense of precognition that if foreign rulers were here, it wasn’t to stand against Hyrax.