Chapter 21
When I wake up, I am instantly aware of two things. My arm no longer hurts, and Kaldar is not happy. I don’t know how exactly I know; I just know. His face looks calm, but it’s like I can feel the anger coming off him. Harper notices me first. “Look who decided to wake up.”
Kaldar is at my bedside a moment later. “How’s your arm?”
“I don’t feel any pain. Did they cut it off?” He frowns at me.
“What are you babbling about?” Harper asks, coming to stand on the other side of the bed.
“My arm. I don’t feel any pain, and I’m too scared to look. Is it still there?”
Harper rolls her eyes. “You are so dramatic. Yes, your arm is there.”
“Is it black?” I can’t help but ask. “Or charred?”
“You know, I would ask you if you hit your head, but this is normal behavior. Your arm is fine; you can look at it. Your head, not so much. It needs serious examining,” Harper says dryly.
I finally look at my arm, relieved to find it intact and whole. The skin is red, but it isn’t black so I’ll take it. “How do I even still have an arm? Not that I’m not grateful.”
Harper glances at Kaldar and then back at me. “I don’t know,” she says softly.
“The guivre’s fire only brushed your arm; it didn’t make direct contact. If it had...”
He doesn’t have to say anymore for me to understand. I think of what happened to Arielle, and my stomach feels sick. “I’m sorry about Arielle,” I say quietly. Kaldar gives me a tight nod.
“Thank you. I have business to attend to. My cousin is coming to help you get settled and show you around. If you need me, she’ll know where to find me.”
Kaldar is gone a moment later, and I'm left to stare after him. I glance at Harper who’s scowling in the direction he just went. “What?” I ask warily.
“Just trying to decide if we made a monumental mistake coming here.”
“We didn’t.” I push myself off the bed and take stock of how I feel. Surprisingly, I feel fine. I hold my arm up and examine it.
“They put some kind of substance on it to stop the burning. The woman did say it will eventually wear off, and you would need more,” Harper explains.
I take that in. “Okay. Good to know. So, what else did I miss?”
“Oh, nothing much, just a certain King losing his cool when you got hurt.”
I frown. “That doesn’t sound like Kaldar.”
“Denial doesn’t become you,” Harper says pointedly.
I sigh and don’t argue with her. “So, what happens next?”
“How should I know?”
I take in the room we’re in. It’s nice but simple.
The wood floors are clean, and the bed is made with white linens.
Several windows let in the sunlight as well as a light breeze.
I walk over to one of the windows and look out, catching my breath as I do.
There’s water everywhere. “We’re out in the middle of the water?
” I can’t keep the panic out of my voice.
“About that,” Harper starts. “This whole kingdom is like built over the water.”
My eyes widen, and suddenly, I don’t want to be stuck inside anymore. “I want to go out and check it out.”
Harper takes in my expression like she knows she’s not going to win. “Okay, just...it’s a lot.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’ll see.”
With those ominous words, I walk out of the room we’re in and walk down a short hallway to where it opens up into the living room.
I take in the details briefly as I head towards the open door.
There are windows everywhere letting in a warm breeze beckoning me outside.
I step through the sheer netting of sorts in the doorway and out onto a wooden walkway and look around in awe.
Everywhere I look, there are houses like this one, built right over the water.
I take a few steps forward and stop at the white railing that obviously is to keep people from falling in.
The wooden walkway I’m standing on connects every house and stretches further than I can see.
The water laps against the wood poles that the houses are raised up on.
I’m standing directly in the middle of all the houses; at least it looks that way.
A forest of trees make up the borders on both sides.
If I understand the layout right, Kaldar’s house is right in the middle with the walkway splintering off in both directions.
I’m assuming it’s Kaldar’s house that I woke up in; I’ll have to ask for sure.
“See what I mean?” Harper asks, leaning her elbows on the small ledge made by the white railing.
“It’s beautiful.” I’m still a little in awe of it.
Harper cuts a glance my way. “I thought you didn’t like water.”
“I don’t like swimming, but this is gorgeous.” At her skeptical look, I nod towards the water. “You don’t like this?”
“I don’t have to like it here.” She leaves off the implied, You do. “It’s too warm for me.”
I put my hands out and let the sun soak in. “I think it feels amazing. I can’t believe how warm it is here still.”
“It’s too much moisture for me.”
I do understand what she’s saying. It definitely is different than what we’re used to. I can literally feel the water in the air, and it feels a little thick. But I’m sure I’ll get used to it. In fact—
“Where are all the people?”
Harper’s voice cuts into my thoughts. I look around, seeing what she is. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe she can tell us,” Harper says dryly.
I turn and see a woman with shoulder-length dark hair walking towards us.
I watch her a moment and wonder if the better word is striding.
She’s definitely on a mission. “You’re awake,” she says when she gets close.
“Good. You weren’t out very long then. And your arm?
It’s not giving you any pain, correct? If it is, we can get more of the freezing salve.
Anything else on you hurt? Kal didn’t really say, not that I expected him to.
Men, right? Details are trivial to them.
” She waves a hand as if to swat something away.
All I can do is stare at her because I thought I talked a lot.
I’m pretty sure this woman has me beat. “Oh, I’m so sorry.
Where are my manners? I’m Maelin, but almost everybody calls me Mae.
” I blink and realize she has her hand out.
“Oh, I’m Kinsley.”
“Yes, I know.” Her smile is bright, and I can’t help but return it.
She turns to Harper, who is less than friendly. “Harper. The friend.”
“So good to meet you, Harper,” Mae says warmly. I decide that I like this woman. Anyone who doesn’t let Harper’s attitude bother them is good people.
“Well, we should probably get going. The entire assembly is gathered and waiting for you.”
I stare at her and try to compute what she’s saying. “An assembly?”
“Yes. Oh, don’t look like that. It’s not that big a deal. It’s not the Jade Ceremony yet; you’re not being judged or anything today.”
Her words don’t bring an ounce of calm the way she seems to think it does. “I’m being judged?” My voice comes out higher than I intended.
“Kal didn’t tell you?”
I glance at Harper, but she’s absolutely no help. She simply shrugs like she doesn’t have a care in the world. “Uh, no. Kaldar didn’t tell me anything.”
“You call him Kaldar? His full name? That’s so cute. I can’t believe he didn’t tell you about it. I’ll talk to him. He needs to keep you in the loop on things. Otherwise, how else are you going to know what’s going on?”
I honestly don’t know what to do with this woman. She’s overwhelming, but I’m not sure it’s a bad thing quite yet. “Um, Mae, do you think you could just tell me where Kaldar is? Maybe I can just talk to him and—”
“He’s with the assembly. I can take you there.”
“Are they having like a meeting, though? Shouldn’t I wait until they’re done?”
“No. Of course not. You’re Kal’s mate. Everybody expects you to be with him all the time, especially in the early stages of your mating. Everybody knows what it’s like. Well, not everybody if somebody hasn’t—”
“Mae, take a breath,” a new voice says, startling me.
I turn to see one of Kaldar’s warriors from the journey here—Taren, the one who retrieved the antidote for us.
I watch in fascination as her cheeks turn pink.
It makes her look younger, and I suddenly wonder if she’s much closer to our age than I first assumed.
“Taren, lurking as usual,” she says, recovering.
Taren smirks. “I’m not lurking.”
She puts her hands on her hips. “Then what are you doing?”
“I'm on guard duty.” He cocks a head at me.
“Me?” I ask in surprise. “You’re guarding me? Why?”
Mae recovers and scowls at Taren. “He means protection duty. He’s protecting you. Well, no need. I’ve got her now. We’re headed to the assembly.”
“Not a good idea,” Taren says, still relaxed.
Mae, however, does not look quite so relaxed. “What do you mean not a good idea? She’s supposed to be at the assembly. They’re expecting her, and—”
“And she was injured on the way here,” Taren says smoothly, interrupting her. “And therefore, she can’t attend the assembly.”
“But I’m fine now,” I interject, looking between the two of them.
“See, she’s fine, Tar,” Mae says. I make a mental note of the shortened name; apparently, everybody shortens their name here.
“She’s injured,” Taren says, drawing out the word. “And therefore unable to attend the assembly.” He’s still relaxed, but he’s obviously trying to convey something to Mae.
Mae squints at him and then looks at me before her eyes bounce back to him. “But my cousin—”
“Does not want her there,” Taren interrupts.
“Wait, you’re Kaldar’s cousin?” I interject. Kaldar had told me his cousin was coming. I didn’t put it together that the cousin was Mae.
Mae stops the staring match she’s currently participating in with Taren and turns to me. “Yes, he’s my cousin.”
I take in that small detail before I deal with the next thing. “And why doesn’t Kaldar want me at the assembly?”
For the first time, Taren doesn’t look quite so relaxed. “Don’t worry about it. He’s just dealing with business—”
“That directly affects her,” Mae interrupts again. Taren looks at her, and I can see the exasperation he’s trying to hide. “It’s customary. He found his mate, and now she needs to stand before the assembly and—”
“Maelin,” Taren says, cutting her off. My eyes are going to cross and stay that way with how I’ve been looking back and forth between the two of them. “He doesn’t want her there.” Each word is slow and distinct.
“Think we got that part,” Harper says in typical Harper form. “Maybe if he didn’t want her there, he shouldn’t have brought her here...to his kingdom.” Her words have the desired impact, and I watch as Maelin cringes.
“He does want you here...there...well...” She glances hopelessly at Taren. Taren is no help and stays quiet.
I’ve suddenly had enough of it all. “It’s fine.
Don’t worry about it. I’ll catch up with him later.
..if he wants me around,” I can’t help add.
There’s a tinge of bitterness in my voice that I don’t think I hide as well as I think I do.
“I think I’m just going to...” I hike a thumb over my shoulder.
“Go back inside. Mae, it was great to meet you. Taren, I’ll see you around.
” I don’t waste any time leaving the two of them behind and heading back inside, wondering if coming here was indeed a mistake.