Chapter 25 #2
His clothes were a muted blue today, his beard nearly blending into them. His bright yellow eyes, however, were clear and sharp as they inspected me.
“Good evening, Master Draedon.” I bowed my head to the royal tutor, a motion I’d become all too familiar with. “No, I’m afraid I may have gotten myself lost. I was looking for someone, but I’m not entirely sure where they may have gone.”
“I see,” he nodded, a hint of knowing in his rounded cheeks as he smiled. “I believe I can help you find your way. Somewhere more likely to find your company, that is.”
“I don’t mean to take up your time,” I said, already taking a step back toward the door. “I can retrace my steps.”
Master Draedon chuckled, walking with me as I found myself going through the library doors at his side. “I assure you, it is no bother. I was only seeking a book for tomorrow’s lessons with my students.”
“In that case, thank you,” I said, with no choice but to follow along. He took us back through the hall of books and desks, then we arrived at the crossing with the red flower I’d made note of and passed it completely. My head turned, watching the vase as we left it behind.
“Where is it we’re going, Master Draedon?” I asked.
“Not far. You’ll find your company up ahead,” he answered.
How he knew was beyond my imagination, but I kept my curious tongue still until we arrived. Master Draedon stopped at an open, arched entry and turned.
“I will leave you to it then,” he said, and we both bowed our heads as he left me.
Sighing, I peered into the room before me.
There was no sign of Schula or Eberon, but what I did find was a place meant for leisure.
The walls, painted pale pink, allowed vines from the ceiling to crawl toward the floor on round pillars.
Some kind of game with painted stones was laid out on a low table, cushions surrounding it, three people playing and chatting.
One wall was consumed by paintings, and six more people were lounging beneath them while a dryad played a stringed instrument on his lap.
A few more were on the other side of the room, one of them reading something aloud to the others.
We didn’t have anything like this at Silver Lake.
If someone wanted to play a game, you would clear your table and play there.
If someone wanted to play music, they played outside while taking a break from work.
Even the tavern was a place for food and drink.
This room with no other purpose was strange.
“Maybe I can find my way back to that red flower,” I murmured, stepping back from the room. A head of long pink hair moved, standing up from next to the wall of paintings, and I realized why Master Draedon had thought I would find who I was looking for in this room.
“Caldon,” I said as he padded across the room with a smile, joining me outside the arched doorway.
“What brings you to this part of the palace?” He beamed, eyes dipping to my neck and back. “Did someone escort you?”
In my head, I wanted to scream. The quartz still hung around my neck; I hadn’t removed it since the picnic, and I hadn’t gotten to clear things up with Caldon yet. Schula, Eberon, and the marks on my back were at the top of my mind, and in a surge of annoyance, this felt like an obstacle.
“Master Draedon seemed to misunderstand who it is I’m looking for,” I said as he offered his arm, and I took it while eyeing his profile.
Caldon really was beautiful, and he carried himself with an ease that affected the people around him.
The top half of his hair was pulled back from his face, tied into a braid as the rest of it fell down his back.
He had foregone the waistcoat I’d seen him in for every other occasion, now wearing something easier, looser, in a faded red that complemented the tones of his skin.
“And how lucky I would have been if he were right that I was the one you sought out,” Caldon mused. “Alas, I will lick my wounds later. For the moment, where can I lead you this evening?”
Hells. I couldn’t tell him about the fight earlier. I couldn’t tell him Schula had run off, or that Eberon had chased after her and left me alone for hours. And I certainly couldn’t tell him this all had to do with the witch markings I carried on my back.
Caldon paused us in the hallway. “Something is troubling you.”
Well, there is one problem I can take care of right now, even if it is uncomfortable.
“I wanted to ask: Was there another meaning attached to this necklace you gave me?”
Caldon’s brows shot up, then his eyes moved to the hallway around us. “Let’s find somewhere more private for this conversation. I can see I will need to give you my full attention.”
“Thank you.” He led us in the general direction of the lion fountain, as far as I could tell. A few turns later, we came to an alcove that held nothing more than a bench and a vase of roses. He helped me to sit first before joining me on the cushioned seat.
“It seems I’ve realized far too late that you may not know all the customs of the Wyldes yet.
For that, I apologize.” Caldon bowed his head, bringing it up again with a smile.
“There will be many gifts you may receive, but a gift of stone will always mean something. In this case, my admiration of your spirit and the beauty of your eyes. If you would like it, I would spend more time with you than my job as your guide to Dwellonmar would require.”
Caldon lifted one of my hands, his lips brushing my knuckles in the whisper of a kiss before letting my fingers fall back to my lap. Thankful for the cage of my ribs to keep my heart in its place, I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth.
So, it was to do with courtship after all.
I’d seen it plenty of times. The way the young couples would dance during festivals, the women making trinkets for their lovers, the men performing deeds they thought would sway the object of their affection’s heart.
There had been a time I’d wanted it too.
Wanted it so badly I could have convinced myself that the right human would come along and look past my flaws and still choose me.
But that hope had been dashed many years ago, gone by the wayside once my hormone-addled brain left my youth behind and I settled into the peaceful adulthood I had enjoyed until the raid.
And now that it was suddenly an option, I didn’t want it. Or perhaps I simply didn’t want it with him. Caldon, or maybe Dwellonmar itself, had lifted my head high into the clouds while we’d explored the Spring Lands in that carefree manner of his, but I was always meant to be firmly on my feet.
Slipping the necklace from my head, I held it out for Caldon to take. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m prepared for something like that. I’m too new to all this, and I have to travel the Wyldes for the next year.”
Caldon closed his eyes with a smile, nodding. He curled my fingers back around the stone, pushing my hand back toward my chest.
“There is no call for sorrow, lovely Wren. My feelings are free and easy. I don’t want them to be the stone that sinks anyone’s heart downward.” He stood, offering me his arm again. “Do not worry for my heart; in this city of flowers it will be easily mended.”
Taking his arm, I nearly failed to hold back my laughter. Schula had been right; he moved through lovers easily, it would seem.
“You’re a flatterer, aren’t you?” I teased, and his amusement bubbled into laughter as we began walking down the hall.
“Where shall I take you?” he asked.
I felt lighter with this problem solved.
The stone in the pit of my stomach was still there, a boiling reminder that my secrets were cracking the beautiful facade of my new life and I had to fix things before they got even more out of hand.
Bryn would have scolded me by now; I could almost hear him trying to liken my situation to some tale or other he’d gathered from travelers or passing drunks.
But there wasn’t anyone else in a situation like this; there might never have been before or ever would be again.
At least this matter with Caldon was settled, however, so I gave my Spring Court guide the only answer I could in the moment. “I think I would like to find my bed.”