Chapter 97
The rest of the evening went by smoothly with Caspian training with Arden on things that he hadn't worked on before it was time for us to head home.
Or well, me going back to my house while Caspian went back to the castle and acting like nothing happened while he was away with Lexus by his side.
Caspian groaned and moved a hand across the back of his neck while we made our way to the entrance of the building, and I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. "How come you aren't so sore?" he asked while he grimaced and continued to rub the back of his neck, grimacing. "I am."
"Because I am used to being pushed so hard," I said and shrugged, biting back a small grimace. "I do this every night, so it makes no difference for me to have to go through all of this."
Caspian stared at me with wide eyes. "Every night?" he asked, his voice a pitch higher than normal, and I couldn't help but give him a weird look for it. "You have to do this every night?"
"Ya," I said and nodded. "I train every night and have been training almost every night for years now."
"Why?"
I shrugged and looked toward the way that we were going, making sure that the way was clear. "I am the last one," I said, implying that I was the last Dragon Rider with a dragon. "I have to take this seriously if I want to survive and not only me but my people as well."
"Do I have to train every night?" Caspian asked, and I could hear a small groan in his voice as if he was afraid of my answer.
I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thin line.
"It depends on if you and Lexus can get out of the castle or not without drawing too much attention to yourself," I replied.
"It is more than likely that Lexus will continue your training in the castle so that they don't get too suspicious of you leaving and being gone for hours on end."
"Will I get to train with you?" he asked.
"In some sense, yes," I said. "In other sense, no. You and I have different things that we have to work on and get prepared for."
"What do you have to get prepared for?" Caspian asked and furrowed his brows.
"A war."
"A war?" Caspian repeated, and I nodded in confirmation. "Why do you have to get ready for a war?"
"Because a war is coming," I replied before I sighed and moved a hand through my hair and across my face while I tried to come up with what I knew was going to happen, even though I had no idea when it was going to happen.
"I don't know when nor how, but I know that a war is coming. I can feel it, if that makes sense."
"Who's going to cause the war?" he asked. "Why is there going to be a war?"
I shrugged and grimaced. "I do not know why there is going to be a war, but I think there are changes that are coming to the kingdom that the kingdom has to prepare for. I do not know what is going to set it off, but I can tell that something will set it off."
Caspian looked around before he looked at me. "Do you think that some of this has to deal with the Witch-Master?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper as if he was afraid that others would hear him.
I hesitated before I slowly nodded. "I think that this has to deal with him," I said, matching his tone of voice. "I also think that it has to deal with me and what I bring to the table. It is rare for Humans to become Dragon Riders, but I am one."
"Do you think that whoever is behind all of this will care that you are Human?" Caspian asked. "Or do they only see that you are a Dragon Rider?"
"I think that they will not care that I am Human but care that I am a Dragon Rider. They want to use me for their own gain, and I have a feeling that they will take no for an answer."
"Which will lead to a war, right?" he asked, and I nodded in confirmation. He sighed and moved a hand through his hair and across his face. "I do not want you to get hurt," he said, "but I know that there isn't any way for me to stop it."
"I have been training for this moment for my whole entire life," I said, "and I will keep on training. I know how to protect myself, Rupor." I gave him a pointed look and raised both eyebrows in unison, and he chuckled and nodded.
"I can see that, but that doesn't mean that I do not want to help protect you," he said. He hesitated and reached out to grab my hand as if he was worried about what I would do. "I mean, we are meant to be together."
My cheeks turned a little red, but I grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly, silently indicating that I was fine and safe. I didn't say a word while my heart skipped a beat before it pounded hard and fast in my chest, and I was surprised that he never made a comment about it.
"Kissy, kissy," Shilan teased while he pushed further into my mind to hear what we had to talk about, and my cheeks turned another shade of red. "Someone is getting soft with the prince."
"Shut up," I said, earning a snicker from my dragon. "This doesn't have to deal with you, Shilain."
"I know, which makes it more fun to be a pain in the ass," he said and yawned. "When you go outside, can you get more rabbits for me please? I want some nice juicy rabbits, but Arden is saying that I can't have any more."
"And why can't you have any more?" I asked and mentally raised an eyebrow at my dragon.
"Because there is a limit on how many rabbits that I can eat during the day, and I had my limit as well as extra because I had eaten almost everything in the kitchen."
"I'll get you some more rabbits," I said with a tired sigh, and Shilan mentally grinned at me. "Was there anything else, or was it that you wanted some rabbits?"
"No, that is it. Thank you." He pulled away and I couldn't help but roll my eyes and purse my lips in annoyance.
Caspian saw the look on my face and furrowed his brows while he cocked his head to the side. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Why do you look so annoyed about something?"
"My dragon is annoying me," I replied with a shrug and a grimace. "He wants me to kill more rabbits so that he can eat more because they placed a limit on the amount of rabbits that he can eat."
"And how many rabbits does he want?" he asked, and I shrugged because I had no idea how many more rabbits he wanted me to kill. "Is he allowed to eat other animals?"
"Yes, but I think it would be too suspicious if some animals from the palace are killed and brought over," I said, giving him a pointed look, and Caspian chuckled softly and nodded.
"Fair," he said. "I was trying to think of something to help keep him fed and happy so that he wouldn't go into the kitchen again and eat all of the food there."
"He won't," I said and shook my head, "but thank you for trying to think of something for him. I really do appreciate it, Rupor."
"Anything to help you out, Marini," he said. "Anything at all."
You have my word...