Boys Make Things Complicated
“Do you think it would be better to stay here with you guys for the night since my rooms are in another part of the castle,” Gavin asked once he led me back to my rooms.
“Vasin and the other dragons are out scouting the grounds. If they try to attack us, I’ll know well before they make it into the castle,” I assured him. “There will be servants around if I need to get a message to you, right?”
Gavin stepped inside and grasped a thick golden rope hanging near the door. Moments later, a page boy appeared and bowed. “How may I be of service, Your Highness?”
“Please make sure there is a runner with you all night in case Queen Cassarah needs to get word to me at any point,” Gavin instructed.
“It will be done,” the boy answered and left to disappear back to wherever he came from.
I peered down the hall, trying to see where the servants’ halls might be, but it was deftly hidden away from sight. “Where is the entrance?”
“Behind the tapestry. Each floor has a room where servants wait in case we need them,” Gavin informed me, pointing out the large door-sized wall hanging.
Seeing how easy it would be to be attacked made me uneasy, but I had to trust that not every person in the castle was against us. We just needed to survive the night, and I could be off to help the search for the Lost King’s army.
“I’ll see you in the morning. Don’t you dare think of leaving without me,” Gavin warned, giving me a stern look before he kissed my cheek and left.
“Did I miss anything exciting while I was here all alone?” Payson asked in greeting.
Sinking into one of the armchairs, I kicked my feet up on the stool. “Nothing worth mentioning.”
“Oh, you mean other than the queen thinks you’re trying to steal her son, the king is useless, and Prince Phillip is going to be the crown prince?” May scoffed, sitting across from me on the couch.
“May, you skipped the best part,” Becka said, leaning over the top of my chair. “She announced that Gavin is her consort and that if they didn’t let him off the hook of being king, she would be the one to rule Norden when King Edward died.”
“Damn, that’s what I get for opening my damn mouth and coming up with the guard-the-rooms idea.
Next time, I’m going to take you up on your offer and have another one of them with me.
It was way too boring being here alone.” Payson sighed dramatically.
“Although, I did get to try out all the couches in the room before all of you. I call dibs on the one in Cassarah’s bedroom.
That bad boy is plush in all the right places. ”
“Speaking of, I think we need to have one of us awake at all times to keep watch,” Izel interjected. “I don’t trust anything or anyone in the castle but the people who came here with us.”
“I agree. We need to make sure no one can slip in through any secret passages,” Jade added. “One person out here in the sitting room and another awake in her bedroom unless we all agree to sleep in one room.”
“Cassarah is not sleeping on the floor, and we can’t all be in her room,” Abbott stated, crossing his arms. “Yes, we are her guardians, and we need to keep her safe, but that doesn’t mean we can’t give her some privacy.
If Becka, May, and Payson are in there, they can rotate who is awake and allow her to get some sleep.
Clearly, none of you have noticed her leg has been bothering her all day. ”
“Because she keeps walking on it and won’t let us help her!” Cole snarled from where he was leaning against the wall. “If she weren’t so stubborn, then it wouldn’t be as big of a problem.”
Having reached the maximum amount of drama and arguing I could stand, I stood and headed into the bedroom without giving Cole a response. Becka followed right on my heels as I entered the dressing room and started to help me get undressed.
“You know they mean well,” Becka murmured as she freed me from my corset.
“I do, but sometimes it gets overwhelming,” I answered.
“They all have their own way of looking after me, and I value that, but when it turns into them fighting with each other, it just drains me. All they have as a common goal is me. They don’t know each other, making me wonder how being with any of them would work.
Obviously, I don’t expect them to be best friends, but I want them to be family…
to look after each other as well as me.”
“So much has happened in the past few days, I think you forget it hasn’t even been a week yet,” Becka pointed out. “Think about how long it took for you to let Cole and Abbott become part of your family. Just like you asked for time, I would suggest doing the same for them.”
“How is it you’re always right about this kind of thing?” I huffed as she helped me pull on a simple night shift that had been left in the dressing room.
Becka spun me around and sat me on the stool to take my hair down.
She caught my eye in the mirror. “First of all, I have way more experience dealing with you than those idiots. That, and I was raised like a normal human being with childhood friends and the like. It’s a skill you have to learn.
You’re just a little late on mastering that one. ”
“At least I’ve mastered it enough to keep you around. I don’t know what I’d do without you to explain their crazy behavior.” I smiled. “Can you let one of them in? My leg hurts, and it would make them feel better to carry me a few feet to my bed.”
“See, you’re already learning.” Becka winked and opened the door. “Payson, could you help Cassarah to the bed?”
It only took a moment, and he was there, ready with his ever-present smile. “In need of a ride, m’lady?”
Laughing, I nodded, and he scooped me up. “Thank you, kind sir. I would have been lost without you, stranded in the dressing room.”
“It’s never good to leave a lady all alone, even more so a queen. It’s a good thing you have so many guardians to keep an eye on you,” Payson teased as he sat me on the bed. “Need anything else because once you lie down, none of us will allow you to get up. You need to rest your leg.”
“Maybe some water… that wine is sitting heavy on my tongue,” I relented, trying to allow them to feel useful.
Payson wandered off to find me some water while I settled into the large feather-stuffed bed. It was luxurious and far too big. You could fit another two people into the bed without touching one another. Who needed that much room to sleep?
“Becka, why don’t you and May share with me? It will be like when we were little, and you snuck in my bed when I was having nightmares,” I offered.
“May is going to take the first watch, so we’ll switch out if you don’t think it will bother you too much. Staying out here together will make it easier if anything happens,” Becka reasoned. “If we have to stay here, then the least we can do is be smart about it.”
I sighed, staring up at the mural painted on the ceiling. “You know, they make being queen out to be something amazing, and you get all this special treatment. They forget to mention that you think someone is out to kill you most of the time.”
Payson reentered the room and handed me a glass of water. “Who would sign up for the job if they knew the risks? Nah, it’s better to believe in the illusion than to see the reality of it all. Now try to get some sleep.”
Gulping down the cool water, I curled up on my side and watched the flickering flames in the fireplace as I drifted off to sleep.
“You finally decided to come see me again.” Miranda smiled as she appeared. “I’ve been waiting for you. There is so much I want to tell you that has been lost to our people. I see you’ve learned about Sheca and its people who were left behind.”
I glanced around, surprised to find myself again in Vasin’s vast memory bank. “How do I keep coming here when I’m asleep?”
“The subconscious mind is a powerful thing. You needed my advice, so you called out for me,” she explained.
“Did you know about Sheca?”
Miranda’s face fell slightly. “Yes, I knew the Norden royalty was getting too involved in our business and needed to cut ties with them. I’d learned of our ancestral city and planned to make a trip there to see what was left.
The problem was, I didn’t want to say anything outside of my men because what if it was all for nothing?
Why get my people’s hopes up when it might be a dream that never came true?
In doing that, Emery didn’t know to look there for a safe haven, and we lost many people and valuable information about the clans. ”
“I feel like I’m back at the same place you were.
The king and queen don’t see us as a people unto ourselves.
They see us as their subjects to be used at their bidding.
As you said, there has been so much blood spilled, and I will not give up what we’ve fought for, no matter how badly we need their help. ”
“Cassarah, you don’t need them. Go to Sheca…
that is where your path leads you. Don’t relive the life I failed,” Miranda pressed as she reached out to grasp my shoulders.
“Being a part of the dragon consciousness, I know all they know… every secret and detail they hold to keep themselves safe as well as their pair-bonds. You, my dear sweet girl, are meant for such amazing things, and the road will be hard, full of loss, betrayal, and mistakes. These are what shape us into stronger leaders who will do what is needed to save those we care about.”
“What if I don’t want to go through all that?
Why does my life have to be so hard? Why do I have to be the one to give up everything for everyone else?
” I demanded as anger bubbled up inside me.
“My whole life, I’ve lived for others, and now you are asking me to do the same when I’ve just found my freedom! ”
Miranda pulled me into a tight hug, almost crushing me in her strong arms. “Those who lead the best are those who understand what it is to be controlled. Your mother was cruel, and no child deserves to be treated that way, but you will never act in violence toward another without good reason because of it. When it’s time to dole out punishments, you will do so fairly, not out of a vindictive nature.
That will gain you the respect and loyalty of your people more than anything else.
” She pulled me away from her so she could look into my eyes.
“There is also so much love waiting for you, Cassarah.
Those men will become your everything if you let them.
Trust me, I know how amazing it is to be loved so fully by so many.
“Fate doesn’t choose the weak, my dear girl.
You just haven’t realized that not all strength is loud and flashy.
There is an even more formidable power in those who don’t feel the need to show what they are capable of just because or to get praise from others, the ones who do it because it’s the right thing to do without the accolades or even others knowing.
That’s far superior in my book. That is the fierceness I see in you and something I failed at.
The time of the Dragon Queen has come, as the tales have foretold.
The lands will prosper, dragons will roam the skies once again, and all people will flourish like never before.
All thanks to the watchful eye of the Dragon Queen and her loyal guardians holding those who rule accountable,” Miranda recited before she bent down and kissed my forehead.
“I believe in you, little Dragon Queen. Now wake up!”