Chapter 90
Caspian breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw me walk out of the room with Shilan beside me and Arden behind us. "You are ok," he said and walked over to me with a warm smile on his face. "I was about to ask if I can go check in on you just to make sure that you are."
"That wouldn't have been necessary," I said and shook my head, even though a small blush appeared on my cheeks.
"I am safe when I am with either Arden or Jonah by my side.
" I paused and licked my lips. "What have you been told?
" I asked, changing the subject away from him wanting to check in on me to make sure that I stayed safe.
"Did you get the whole rundown as to what I am, or are they being cryptic?
" I glanced at Jonah when I said that, and Jonah beamed while he shrugged.
"I gave him a few hints as to what is happening and why it was ok for him to be here," he said. "It looks like you two had gotten close over the course of a few days or so." He flashed me a small smirk and a wink, and I rolled my eyes and scowled, pressing my lips into a thin line.
"Very funny, Jonah," I said coldly before I looked at Arden, who was watching us with an amused expression on his face.
"So, are you able to tell me why an Elf is His Highness's personal guard?
" I asked and gestured toward Lexus. "I thought that an Elf would be Prince Mark's personal guard, especially since he is the one that is the Crowned Prince. "
"That is complicated and something that doesn't need to be discussed yet," Arden said.
"Prince Mark knows about us and does not agree with his father's teaching.
It was him who had tried to find someone that would help protect the other species while his father started to disregard them and set up those rules when you were younger. "
"Who did my brother find?" Caspian asked and looked between the two of us with furrowed brows. "Did he go somewhere where he was not allowed to go like I had done when I went into the back alleyways?"
Arden shook his head no. "He went outside the castle walls and started to try and find someone that way," he said.
"Surprisingly enough, he had found a man and a girl practicing with a bow and arrows, and he almost got shot at because he startled the pair.
The girl was inches from piercing the Crowned Prince in the shoulder but hit a tree instead. "
Caspian raised an eyebrow in question, and he looked mildly impressed. "A girl?" he asked and Arden nodded in confirmation. "A girl almost shot my brother in the shoulder but hit a tree instead. Why?"
"Because they weren't supposed to be out there, and the father was training the girl to survive out in the wilderness if it ever came down to it," Arden said and shrugged. "The girl knows those woods like the back of her hand, and it sometimes amazes me about how quick she can pick up on things."
"And the girl is where?" Caspian asked, growing concerned for the girl's safety.
"Is she ok? Has she ever been caught by those that wish to do her harm, or is she somewhere that she considers safe?
Is she friends with different species, and is that why she is able to know the woods like the back of her hand? "
"The girl is fine," Ardem said and nodded, biting back a small chuckle. "She has grown up to be a Dragon Rider and still does things under different people's noses. She hasn't left for the safety of the woods because her family lives here, and this is where a part of her knows that she belongs."
"She became a dragon rider..?" Caspian asked before he turned to look at me. "Did you almost shoot an arrow at my brother? he asked. "Or was it someone else that shot an arrow at my brother and then is a dragon rider now?"
"Unfortunately, I am the only dragon rider with a dragon," I said and gestured toward Shilan, who was watching the whole thing with half closed eyes and a bored expression on his face.
"And I guess so, but that would have to have been years ago because I do not remember meeting Prince Mark until after I got in his sister's way from doing something important.
" I rolled my eyes and scowled, pressing my lips into a thin line.
"Why would it be years ago?" Caspian asked and furrowed his brows, biting back a small frown. He cocked his head to the side and studied me. "How old were you when you started training?"
I looked at Jonah and raised an eyebrow in question because I had no idea when I started training and learning everything, but I knew that I had mastered some things at a young age, especially when it came down to learning different languages except for his.
"You were quite young," Jonah said and nodded.
"I believe you have started training since the moment that you can walk.
Your toys used to be things that you could use as weapons or something of that nature.
" He chuckled and shook his head. "I gave you a small dragon figurine when you were still a babe.
Your mother didn't approve of it, but your father was pleased but also curious. "
"Why wouldn't your mom be pleased with the dragon figurine?" Caspian asked and looked at me with furrowed brows. "Is it because dragons and dragon riders have been killed off one by one?"
"That's the short answer to it, yes," I said and nodded. "Let's just say that there is a lot of taboo stuff going around these parts, and it is not safe to speak about anything when ears are not always kind and rumors love to be spread about different things that do not make any sense."
"How many rumors are there about you?" Caspian asked, and I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thin line.
"Tons, I think," I replied. "I do not pay attention to the rumors at all.
I do not care what people have to say about me because I know that what they say can either hurt me or save me if I reveal the truth about them.
A lot of people respect me, so most of the rumors that people know and hear about are fairly "hush hush," especially when it comes to members of the royal family. "
"Did you know that it was my brother when you shot at him?" Caspian asked. "And why has he not told me anything? We tell each other a lot of things when it comes to our personal lives."
"Have you talked to him about me?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question while I folded my arms across my chest. "If so, what did you tell him?
Did you tell him that I had a dragon or the fact that I do not call you by your name and only your title, even though you want me to call you by your actual name? "
Caspian's cheeks turned red, and he rubbed the back of his neck while he looked sheepish. "I have talked about you to him, yes," he said. "Lexus is usually there when we do talk about you, and I think it is just to keep an eye on things and make sure that no one else hears us talking about you."
"Good," I said, biting back a small sigh of relief, "because I think that one of the king's... something is on to me being a dragon rider, which is why this had happened in the first place."
"Who are you talking about?" Caspian asked and furrowed his brows in question and confusion. "Is it one of his advisors? Because there is this one advisor that I do not like, and I know that Mark doesn't like him either."
"Why not?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. The hair on the back of my neck stood at attention, and I couldn't help but grow tense, not knowing if the person he was talking about was the same person that I was thinking about. "Why don't you like him?"
"He seems... off to us, and he doesn't seem to like Lexus at all. He doesn't stay in the same room as Lexus if he is there, and I don't know if it is because he is trying to hide something from him or if it is something else."
I bit back a tired sigh and slowly nodded while I moved a hand through my hair and across my face because it sounded like the man that I was thinking of. "Then I think I know the reason as to why he doesn't want to stay near Lexus and why he seems off."
"And why is that?" Caspian asked and furrowed his brows. "What is wrong with him?"
"I think it is because he is an Elf," I said.
"One of the advisors on the king's court is an Elf, and I think that the king doesn't realize it, and if he does, then he doesn't care because he was the one that stopped me and tried to find out if I was the last Dragon Rider or not with the help of him. "