Chapter 81
"I hope that you hadn't threatened our guest in front of Marini, Mathran," Arden said with a small bit of warning in his tone while he called out to us, and the ?ren, named Mathran, held back an eye roll and pressed his lips into a thin line.
"There is only so much that I can do to stop a vindictive Rider on a mission to protect someone they care about. "
The ?ren sighed and rolled his eyes, pressing his lips into a thin line.
"I know, Brother," he said coldly, and I couldn't help but look at him with an eyebrow raised in question, a little impressed and worried that he was Arden's brother, especially since that made him a prince and the next in line to the throne if Arden didn't have a wife or family.
Shilan slowed down to a walk before he reached the entrance of the training room, and we followed him and slowed down our pace, as well.
He looked at the ?ren before he looked at me without saying a word.
He flicked his tail in annoyance but kept walking as if he thought this was something we were going to talk about, even though there was nothing that really needed to be discussed.
The ?ren slowly nodded when he caught the look on my face, inquiring about Shilan's look, and he silently indicated that he was in fact the king's brother.
"But please, do not treat me any differently than you have been, Marini," he said in his language, and I couldn't help but scoff and roll my eyes, pursing my lips in annoyance.
"I don't even treat Arden with much respect for his title," I said, which was the truth, especially since we had a few disagreements already where neither of us backed down from each other, even though those were far and few in between unlike the arguments between Jonah and I.
"Why would I do something different with you? "
The ?ren shrugged but didn't say a word, and I had a feeling that he didn't have an answer for my question.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes and scowl at him without saying another word before I turned in the direction that we were going on, pressing my lips into a thin line.
"She doesn't even treat Rupor with that much respect either," Lexus supplied, earring a curious look from the man himself. He bit back a small smile while he bowed his head before he lifted his head and looked at Arden. "She will treat you the same way as she does him. I am sure of it."
"What are you three talking about?" Caspian asked and furrowed his brows, biting back a small frown. "Do I need to be worried about it?"
"No, Rupor," I said and shook my head, and I switched to speaking in the common language. "You do not need to be worried about it, for there is nothing going on and nothing wrong. We were merely making an observation about how I treat certain individuals and how others do not want to be treated."
Caspian furrowed his brows and slowly nodded, and a look of confusion flashed through his eyes, even though he did not seem to understand what it was that I had meant.
I bit back an annoyed sigh and held back an eye roll, pressing my lips into a thin line.
"Do not worry about it," I said and shook my head.
"You will know everything in a bit, especially since we are where we need to be and have them help us with everything that I can't seem to figure out on my own. "
We turned a corner and reached the training room that I had been training in for the past couple of days and years, and Caspian stopped and gasped out loud when he saw the area, which was something that I didn't understand because he had been near a dragon this whole time going over here.
Oh, for the love of the Great...
Iheld my basket tighter against my chest and stared at him with an annoyed look on my face while he took in the sights of this place, still not understanding why he was doing this.
I ignored the fact that my dragon walked over to the other dragon riders and was waiting for me to go over there so that we could get this taken care of sooner than later.
My dragon growled this deep growl that I had never heard from him, and he looked at the two of us through narrowed eyes and a scowl on his face. He flicked his tail in annoyance and looked at Arden, who had been watching the prince amused, and Arden looked at him before he looked at me.
"I think Shilan is ready to talk to you, Marini," he said and bowed his head. "He wants you to come over here and... stop looking at the prince as if you want to... dissect him for a better lack of a term."
Caspian grew tense when Arden called him the prince, and he shook his head. "I do not know what you are talking about, my Lord," he said apologetically, trying but failing to keep the anxiety out of his voice. "Please, forgive me, for I am merely a servant boy."
Lexus cleared his throat to hide a snort, and Arden glanced at Lexus from the corner of his eye but didn't say a word to him while he turned his gaze back to Caspian.
"Forgive me, Rupor, but it would have been more believable if you had called yourself a commoner rather than a servant boy," he said.
"And even then, it is safe for you to be called by your title," Arden said and slowly nodded when he caught me raising an eyebrow in question when I looked at him.
"This area has to be that safe because this is where Marini has been training since she was a child herself.
" He gestured toward me, and Caspisn looked at me before he looked at him without saying a word.
"And this is where Shilan is supposed to be staying until he is tall enough to go outside of the castle walls and stay there," Jonah said and stared at Shilan with an annoyed look on his face.
Shilan shrugged and said something that I couldn't hear, and Jonah bit back a tired sigh while he shook his head and moved a hand through his hair and across his face.
"We will talk about that later, Shilan," Johan said and shook his head, and I couldn't help but look at him and raise an eyebrow in question while I stared at him.
He smiled and tucked his head closer to his chest. "Let's go ahead and take care of your bond with you and your rider.
" He gestured toward me, and Shilan looked at me before he looked at him.
"Before we do that, why don't we go ahead and introduce ourselves to the prince and get acquainted with him," Arden said.
He bit back a small smile and bowed his head toward the prince.
"It is nice to meet you, Your Highness," he said and stood.
"I am called Arden, and that is Jonah. It is a pleasure to meet you, and I hope that we can become better acquaintances than what our species have had with each other in the past.. ."