Chapter 53
Kael
The general didn’t want me and my brothers within ten feet of Fern or Auren, and I knew why.
The welcoming committee wasn’t entirely unexpected.
I was willing to bet the prick was grinding his teeth in frustration when we left with Fern and Auren to go to the tomb.
Admittedly, I fantasised about that as I went to sleep.
But powerful men, they don’t leave anything to chance, and who knew that better than me?
Just as my father had sent the Executioner after me to ensure I didn’t pose a threat to any legitimate sons he might have, the general wanted to move me and mine out of the way so his riders could access Fern and Auren. In his eyes, she was a resource that was to be managed, whereas I…
My eyes were drawn back to my girl, like they always were.
She was the brightest thing in any room and I was pulled closer, like a moth might be a flame. As we approached the doorway to the mess hall, my arm wrapped around her waist, her eyes jerked up to meet mine, wide eyed.
“What are you…?”
“What am I doing?” I asked, staring down at her. The way her lips parted when she was surprised had me wanting to kiss her right there and then, which is of course, why I was acting this way. “Just making clear to every man in the keep who you belong to.”
“Belong…?” With a blink, that fire was back. Lips thinning, eyes flashing, Fern shoved herself away from me. “Get your hands off me. You don’t get to mark territory you don’t own.”
Head held high, her nose in the air, she went to storm over to the doorway, when Lorien appeared at my side.
“You couldn’t stop yourself from pissing Fern off for one minute?” he said.
“Not when she looks like that.” As she lined up outside the mess, waiting to be admitted, Fern looked back over her shoulder at me.
At my grin, her cheeks flushed a brighter pink and her expression indicated she was far from happy that she’d spared me a second glance.
Couldn’t help herself, that’s what I figured.
“Never wanted to pull a girl’s pigtails when we were young,” I told him.
“Nor one to tease the girls, but Fern…” With a slow shake of my head, my smile widened.
“Sometimes it feels like I’m a flint and she’s a pile of kindling, just waiting to go up in flames the moment we get close to each other. ”
“You’ve never had a woman.” The lieutenant came to stand beside us.
I shook my head. “Figures. If you had, then you’d know…
” That possessive way he stared at her. It was almost enough to have my hackles rising, but a quick reminder that we were on the same side had me settling.
“There are far more pleasurable ways to get a reaction from a woman if you treat her more kindly.”
Without bothering to tell me what that was, he moved forward, coming to a stop beside Fern. Whatever he said to her had her cheeks pinking for a whole other reason. She smiled up at him, looking like the man damn near hung the moon, then took his arm as he went to escort her in.
“We need to find out what has her smiling like that,” I said, slapping Lorien on the stomach, then nodding at Dain. With a grunt, my brother sighed and then followed us over to the doorway.
“Can’t let you in, cadets.”
Several dragon riders stepped in front of us, blocking the entrance.
“This is the cadet’s dining hall, correct?” I plucked at the embroidered crest on the breast of my uniform. The thing was damned uncomfortable, the fabric stiff with starch. “Well, we’re cadets.”
“Cadets who are in the right uniform.” A big fellow crossed his arms, then looked us up and down. “And you lot are not.”
“Fuck this…”
Dain turned to leave, but my hand shot out, ready to grab his arm and stop him as Lorien stepped up to the riders, a familiar look in his eyes.
“We put on the uniforms given to us, then when one of the other riders said it wasn’t the right one, we got changed again.
” The men followed my brother’s hands as they came to rest on his daggers.
“We’re wearing the same damn uniform as them.
” He nodded to the cadets who walked into the hall. “So what’s the problem?”
“What’s the problem, sir.”
I let go of Dain because we had bigger fish to fry. The riders were stepping up to my brother, and I would always have Lorien’s back.
“Boots are not regulation,” another rider said with a smirk.
“Not the right boots and not polished to a high shine,” said the other one.
“Your hair is tied back, but theirs isn’t.”
The riders pointed to me and Dain, and that was a mistake. My brother had been largely silent since the moment he got injured, but Dain prowled forward now. That dangerous gleam in his eye made clear something was about to go down.
“Not combed neatly—”
It was easy to forget Dain’s posh background. He’d affected a broad accent like the rest of us because if he hadn’t, he’d have been driven out of Coalbottom within days, but every now and then he’d revert back to the perfectly modulated tones of his childhood.
“Behold the great defenders of our glorious kingdom,” he said, looking the riders up and down. “Protecting the populace from cadets with dull boot leather and unbound hair. Truly, the Royal Riders are a force to be reckoned with.”
“You and your… brothers.” The rider glanced past Dain to Lorien and me. “Aren’t getting in.”
“Is this how you think you’re going to win Fern?
” I’m not sure if I’d ever heard Dain use our girl’s name before.
Probably because when he did, he couldn’t keep the longing from his voice.
“You think this is going to impress her?” When he stepped closer, only the big one was able to meet his eyes comfortably.
“Lady Fern requires men far better than a trio of boot inspectors.”
Lorien and I looked at each other, perfectly poised to jump in if these pricks didn’t back down.
There was something about Dain’s gaze that had the rider moving out of our way.
Perhaps because my brother’s white hair had fallen back from his face, revealing both that aristocratic nose, as well as the fine scars there.
I might be the son of a duke, but I didn’t know the difference between a drawing room and a conservatory, but Dain did.
His haughty stare had the lot of them stepping away, staying silent, as we walked past.
“Thanks for waiting,” I said to Lance as I slipped into a seat beside Fern.
“You looked like you had it covered,” he said before picking up a bottle of wine and offering it to our girl. “Can I pour you ladies a drink?”
Apparently, he wasn’t the only one to make Fern an offer. When I heard a man clearing his throat, I knew I wouldn’t like what came next, but I looked up anyway.
“Lady Fern.” I did not like her focus shifting to the rider standing at the end of the table.
The fact he didn’t have a bunch of flowers in hand was initially a relief, then something far worse.
A leather bound book was held out and that’s when I remembered what Lorien had said.
Our girl loved books, so why the hell were we giving her bunches of stupid roses when she—? “I’m Benjamin Hamilton.”
The man shook his head, then smiled sheepishly. I waited for Fern to send this idiot on his way with a snort, but instead her gaze softened as she returned his smile.
A smile that belonged to us, not some other rider.
“Ben,” he corrected. “We’re in the same art class?”
“Of course. I’m sorry I didn’t recognise you.”
Because the man wasn’t memorable. Because he didn’t get her responding, not like I did. Because he had no place—
“I thought you might like this sketchbook.” My eyes followed this Ben’s hand as he held the book out. “We could go outside and do some open air drawing one day.”
My focus shifted abruptly to Lorien and saw he was noting every single second of this.
And so was Dain.
The muscle in his jaw was popping and I could almost hear the moment when his teeth started grind.
“As part of the art curriculum?” Fern asked in a soft voice.
“Ah, no.” The man’s cheeks flushed as pink as a girl’s. “To spend time together.”
“Here we go…”
Sparrow was entirely focussed on the interaction.
“The journal is substandard.” Dain was up on his feet, plucking it from Ben’s grip before inspecting it closely.
“The paper is too coarse.” His finger slid over one page.
“Fern uses quite delicate pencil strokes and this will not suit. The pencils…” Inside the leather cover there were several small loops, each one holding a pencil.
“Are too soft. Her drawings would smudge and be ruined.” With a snap, he closed the cover, then shoved it back into the other man’s hands.
“This is not good enough for Lady Fern.”
“Oh…” The man took a step backwards. “Oh—”
“I fear I have not had much time for drawing of late,” she said far more kindly to Ben, then shot the lot of us a dark look. “But your offer is most kind. Perhaps at a later date?”
“I’d…” Ben was losing his nerve by the second. “I’d like that.”
“That’s it…” I growled as he made a hasty exit.
“Scurry back to your table.” With a glance down at Fern, I slid my arm across the back of her chair.
“We’ll get you a proper sketchbook, lass.
” I leaned in closer. “Dain will ensure it’s of sufficient quality.
” With a smile, I watched her lips part.
“Then we’ll steal you away from the keep.
You draw.” My grin would not be suppressed.
“And I’ll make sure there’s something worth looking at. ”
I shouldn’t crave a woman’s frowns, but I did Fern’s. The way her teeth sank into that pillowy soft bottom lip had my whole attention, right up until the point she shoved my arm away. Her elbows hit the table as she glanced at everyone else in turn.