Chapter 11
Seda
“It’s time to get up!” Suza thundered to Seda as she looked down at her sleeping on the bed.
Seda had slept terribly, staying up all night thinking about how to find the stones, fighting tears for how horribly people were treated at the Camp, and how much she wished she could help quickly.
She needed to do more. She needed to find these stones as soon as possible.
She stared up at Suza and noticed her hair looked freshly washed and that she appeared refreshed.
Seda groaned and threw the blanket over her head. “I need more time to sleep.”
“Not gonna happen, Seda. I have been instructed—”
“To get me ready, yes, yes,” Seda finished for her. She pulled the blanket down just below her nose and looked up at the blue sky through the glass above.
“Yes, um… exactly.”
Seda climbed out of bed as Suza walked to the closet. She returned carrying a cotton dress that looked shockingly comfortable. “No corset today?” Seda asked.
Suza smirked. “If you want one, there are plenty of them in there.”
Seda quickly shook her head and waited for Suza to turn around before putting the dress on. The dress was a light lavender, airy and not constricting at all. A much better choice than the last one.
When they left the room, the guards from yesterday had been changed out with two she didn’t recognize. They tilted their heads at her before shifting their focus back towards the opposite wall.
The door next to hers flew open, and Askold tumbled out.
“Seda! Good morning!” Askold exclaimed as he approached. “Nice dress!”
“Morning, Askold. Thank you. Did you sleep okay?” Seda politely asked as he stepped beside her.
“Sure did. Feel like a billion food tokens,” he replied with a grin and a wink.
Another door opened, and Roya and Ferona stepped out, appearing as if they hadn’t slept well all night.
“Everything okay?” Seda asked them.
“There’s something we need to discuss,” Ferona said with a downturned mouth.
“Have you heard from the Corvids?” Seda asked.
Ferona and Roya nodded.
“Your father’s been promoted to Lord of Joro. No one has seen Mordred since,” Ferona said.
Seda gasped. “How’s that possible?”
“We don’t know yet. But we’ll try to find out,” Roya added.
Luelle walked up the hall and met them. Seda noticed Luelle smile at Ferona and step alongside her.
“Does Benny know?” she asked the Corvids.
“Yes. We told—” Roya began, but was rudely cut off by Suza.
“Let’s go!” The mean woman snarled at them.
“Damn, calm your chonies.” Luelle rolled her eyes at her. “I just got here. We can leave now.”
Seda turned to follow Suza, who was giving them all dirty looks as she gestured for them to hurry their pace. Seda’s mind was racing. Learning her father was now the Lord of Joro and knew what was going on in the Camp made no sense. It wasn’t like him at all. He started the Rising, after all.
When they entered the room, everyone else was already there. Benny sat next to Praxis, who sat beside Neoma, who sat next to Meir, who sat next to Cahir.
Cahir motioned for Seda to sit beside him again.
She walked over and sat in her chair, recalling last night and him touching her dangerously close. Heat bloomed in her belly, and Cahir looked at her quickly. She locked her eyes with his, and they stared at each other for a long moment.
“I don’t know about all of you, but I slept like a rock.” Luelle broke the staring contest and smiled at Neoma, as if she were hiding a secret. “How was your night, Neoma?”
“Uneventful,” Neoma replied too quickly.
Praxis quickly glanced at her with wide eyes, his jaw falling open. Then he muttered something under his breath.
“Is that so?” Luelle pressed, smirking at Praxis.
“Didn’t you learn your lesson last night?” Meir scolded Luelle. “You embarrassed yourself and got kicked out of this very room.”
“I recall that rather fondly,” Praxis chimed in, and Luelle glared at him.
“Where’s Ojore?” Seda asked, just now realizing he wasn’t in the room.
“He left early this morning to join the others on the trade route,” Cahir answered.
“He went to see the Lycanthropes already?”
Cahir nodded in response. “He’s concerned about his people and wanted to check in. The group left earlier than expected for him.”
“What happened?” she asked.
Everyone in the room had quieted down and was listening to their conversation.
“We don’t have any information. Everything will be fine. He’ll return soon,” Cahir said.
“Seda, did you sleep okay?” Neoma asked sweetly from Praxis’s side. Yet again, her dress was a tad too revealing, and she caught Meir looking over at her.
Gross. Meir’s a pervert, too, she noted.
Neoma glanced at Cahir and smiled softly, pretending to stretch and drawing attention to her chest.
“I slept fine,” Seda answered shortly. She desperately wanted to look over and see if Cahir was looking at her overly apparent attempt at attention, but didn’t want to make it obvious.
Did she care? The overwhelming feeling of jealousy made her stomach turn. She swallowed it and told herself she didn’t. Not at all. Let him look.
“Sire, I really need to talk to you after breakfast,” Luelle said as she munched on a biscuit that was smothered in gravy.
“Whatever about?” Meir asked.
“It’s for King Ael to know.” She shrugged as she took another bite.
“This is a safe space—” Meir started, and Cahir raised his hand in the air to stop him.
“When breakfast is over, we can talk,” Cahir responded. Seda saw Meir scowl into his cup, his eyes darkening.
The rest of the meal was uneventful. Cahir never placed his hand on Seda’s knee.
In fact, he looked rather stiff sitting next to her.
Was it because his attention was on Neoma?
She tried several times to get his full attention, but he refused to respond.
She felt upset and angry at herself for even trying.
She looked over at Neoma, who was laughing at everything Cahir said, and her mood soured even more. She kept giving him baby doll eyes and adjusting her top. Not once did Seda look towards Cahir. She felt livid.
When breakfast was over, everyone filed out of the room except Neoma, Luelle, Cahir, and Seda.
“Seda, will you walk with me to the gardens?” Neoma asked with an eager expression.
Seda really didn’t want to walk to the gardens with her. What she wanted was to electrocute her pretty face and turn it into fried eggs.
“Sure,” she responded curtly.
She said a brief goodbye to the others and followed Neoma out into the hallway, closing the door behind her while avoiding eye contact with Cahir.