Chapter 46
I started to walk to where I had to go next, and the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention.
I was being followed.
My dragon paced around in my mInd, and I could feel his nervousness and had to make sure it didn't mix with mine and do something stupid.
I ignored the fact that I was being followed and continued on my merry way, even though a part of me knew that I couldn't ignore it for long.
"Are you going to look around?" my dragon asked nervously. "What if someone tries to attack you?"
"Then I will be prepared," I replied and pressed my lips into a thin line. I took a deep breath and let it out while I tried to relax myself. I looked around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary except for feeling that I was being watched.
"But no weapons," Shilan said, and I hummed in agreement and mentally nodded. "Do you think that you can protect yourself without them?"
"If I need to, then yes," I replied, "but I still need to make sure that I am looked at as if I am a meek servant girl."
Shilan hummed and didn't say a word while he paced more around my mind, flicking his tail. "Can't you enter the alleyways and leave the feeling alone?" he asked, asking a question that I was debating with myself.
"No," I replied while I pursed my lips in annoyance. "That's not going to work because they could follow me there, and I don't want the people living there to get injured by this person or get into trouble because they were protecting me."
Shilan grumbled but didn't say another word. He didn't like that idea, but I knew that he understood why I wouldn't do it.
"Relax," I said and pressed my lips into a thin line while I glanced around again. "I'll be careful. I promise."
Shilan grumbled again, and he flicked his tail in annoyance. "You better," he threatened, and I rolled my eyes and scowled. "Or else, I will come over there and save you from whoever decided to attack you."
"No," I replied instantly and narrowed my eyes while my scowl deepened. "You are not going to try and rescue me, Shilan, especially when whatever this is is probably connected to you somehow."
My dragon scoffed and rolled his eyes. "How?" he asked, and I had a feeling that he raised an eyebrow. "How is this supposed to be about me?"
I mentally raised my eyebrow before I mentally gave him a pointed look. "Gee," I said sarcastically, and he scowled. "I wonder why it would be connected to you." I couldn't help the sickly sweet tone that I gave him, and I could feel his deepened scowl from where I was located.
Again, my dragon didn't answer, and he didn't get what I meant. He growled softly, and I bit back a satisfied smirk because I knew that I was getting him annoyed. "Well, go on with it," he said finally. "What are you talking about? Why are you blaming me?"
"I am not blaming you," I said with a small sigh while I looked around, making sure that I was still alone before I picked up my pace and started to walk faster so that I could get to the place quicker and then go home until it was time for me to go to the pub.
"I am blaming the position that I am now in, which is making me feel this way. "
Shilan stayed silent and slowly blinked while he thought about what I said.
Finally, he hummed and lowered his head while he flicked his tail again when he finally understood what I meant. "Because you are a dragon rider?" he asked softly, and I pressed my lips into a thin line. "Is that what you are getting at?"
I bit back a small sigh and mentally nodded.
"Yes," I confirmed before I cleared my throat.
"I am blaming the feelings on being a dragon rider.
I had never had this problem before, even when I entered the alleyways when I wasn't supposed to.
However, as soon as I became a dragon rider. .."
I trailed off and cleared my throat again while I pursed my lips in annoyance.
Shilan huffed but didn't say another word.
Again, my dragon slowly blinked and waited for me to say something else or for something to happen to me.
I rolled my eyes but didn't say a word while I continued down the path. My whole body was on alert and aware of my surroundings, and I prayed that whatever needed to happen happened quickly so that I could get ready for training and inform my trainers what had happened and the way that I felt.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some movement and noticed that the real Silan was sitting near a corner of a building, still looking kind of out of it but also more aware of his surroundings than he did yesterday.
What is he doing out here..? I silently wondered, while I pressed my lips into a thin line. Surely they would be fine with him staying in the alleyways, at least for now because they know who he is.
Silan looked at me and shook his head as if he knew that I was trying to decide if it would be safe for me to go over to him or not.
Silently, he gestured for me to continue to do what I was supposed to do, and I held back an eye roll but scowled while I continued on my way down the path.
I pressed my lips into a thinner line but stayed on the path to the person's house, silently praying that nothing bad would happen to him or cause him harm while he was out here.
"I don't like him out here," Shilan said, voicing my thoughts when he saw Silan. "Are you sure that it isn't safe for you not to talk to him and see why he is here?"
I bit back a sigh and mentally nodded, my heart yearning to go against his orders and my hunch but knowing that I couldn't. "I am sure," I replied coldly. "Remember, I am being followed, and I don't want them to know that I know who he is."
Shilan huffed but nodded. "Are you sure that you want to lead whoever to where you are going next?" he asked, changing the subject.
"I won't be," I replied, having thought about it and deciding that I didn't need them to interrogate the people who I was giving the bread to. "I will be turning right at the nex- Oomph."
Someone shoved me from behind, and I fell to the ground, letting go of my basket as soon as I did so.
I bit back a groan of pain when I ended up on the ground, silently cursing myself for not being more aware of my surroundings and having to pretend that I wasn't able to tell off whoever decided to make me fall.
My basket fell to the ground a few feet away from me, its contents being strewn about except for the stuff that I wanted to keep hidden, including the shirt torn by a Werewolf.
Silan moved a little close to me, and concern filled his eyes while he looked at me.
He wanted to go to me but stopped when I gestured for him to stay away and crawled to my basket to pick up my stuff, grateful that I decided not to wear pants that day and instead long bloomers that made sure I was covered.
A shoe stopped me in my path, and I looked at it with my heart leaping into my throat while my mouth went dry.
It was too clean to be a peasant's shoe.
"E-xcuse me," I stuttered while I didn't look at the person that had pushed me down because I didn't want them to know that I was faking being scared. "C-can I get by and get my stuff packed back into my basket, please?"
"And why should I?" the man asked. "Do you even know who I am?"
I shook my head while I kept my gaze on my hands. "No," I replied, softly "my Lord," I added as an afterthought, for there was no way that anyone living here wouldn't know me.
"Hmph, then look up," the person said, aggressively.
I flinched but did what I was told to do and looked up to see that it was the king that was standing over me.
My eyes grew wide, my mouth went dry, and I quickly ducked my head while I bowed, and my whole body shook while my heart started to pound hard in my throat. "Forgive me, Your Majesty," I said, acting meek. "How may I help you?"
"You may help me by telling me where you are going in such a hurry, Young Lady," the king said darkly.
"B-b-back home, Your Majesty," I replied, lying straight through my teeth. "I-I had to pick up an order of bread for my mother and now must d-d-deliver it so that my f-f-family could eat."
"Hmph," the king said, "and you are?"
"M-M-Marini Balis o-o-of the Southern Tip," I said, using my mother's information instead of my father's like I was taught to.
He didn't need to know who I actually was...
"And what does your mother do that she can't get bread for herself?" he asked and raised an eyebrow.
"S-S-She is a seamstress, Your Majesty," I replied while I looked down and bit the inside of my lip before I cleared my throat. "S-s-she is at work."
"And aren't you supposed to be at work?" he asked.
"M-m-my job is to run errands for my mother and to look after my siblings, Sire," I replied, meekly. "My mother can't afford a babysitter, so I have to look after them."
Again, I was lying straight through my teeth.
I was working, or at least trying to, except that I was stopped by him.
"Hmph," the king said and narrowed his eyes while he scowled. He studied me, and I couldn't help but look down and not meet his gaze. "And you live where?"
"Near the wall on Old Town Road," I replied, giving a vague description as to where I lived because I did not want him to know where I lived, "Your Majesty."
"Hmph," the king said again before he took a threatening step towards me, and I cowered away from him with a small whimper.
I closed my eyes and grew tense, pretending to be a scared girl when in reality, all I wanted to do was lash out at him, especially since he had caused me to drop my basket and fall to the ground.
The king scoffed and took a step back while he rolled his eyes, but I stayed tense and in my little ball. "Is this the girl?" he asked, looking at someone that I hadn't noticed was with him. "Is she the one that you are looking for?"
I didn't look up to see who he was talking to and kept still. I stayed silent and waited to see what they would do next, praying that they would leave me alone so that I could continue with my business.
Something felt strange and off, and I was surprised that I didn't hear my dragon's mumblings of being pushed to the side a-
"Shilan?" I asked, trying to focus on our bind but not feeling it. "Are you there?"
Nothing, no response.
I kept my breathing even and my whole body tense from being in front of the king, but I was slowly starting to panic when I couldn't feel my dragon like I should have.
Where was my bond to him? He should be there.
The sound of footsteps getting closer to me broke me from my thoughts, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up at attention because I vaguely recognized them from a memory from so long ago but couldn't pinpoint it for some reason.
Was this another memory that had been hidden by Arden? I silently wondered while I memorized his footsteps again. Or was it because of someone else?
The person stopped when they were about a foot in front of me, and the king backed away as if they were the one in power and not him.
I curled myself into a smaller ball and silently wondered what the person meant about me being the one.
One what?
Did they know that I was to be a dragon rider? Did they know that I had not one but two dragons, both of which I couldn't feel at the moment, even though I hadn't necessarily sensed Mir?na since I was away from that place?
Or were they hoping that I was her?
The person sneered down at me, their eyes boring a hole through me, and I had a feeling that they were happy I was "afraid" of them.
I tucked my arms closer to my body and closed my eyes tighter while I let out a small whimper, praying that Silan wouldn't be stupid and make me break character.
The figure pushed me hard enough so that I gasped and unfurled from my closed position, using a bit of magic that had the hair on the back or my standing straighter.
The man grabbed the arm that bore the dragon's mark, used more magic, and lifted me into the air by my arm, and I opened my eyes and bit back a gasp of shock while I stared at their sneering face.
Why were they working this close to the king?