SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter twenty-nine
"Goodnight, your highness," Gwen says closing my bedroom door on her way out.
With a sigh, I throw myself into my bed. Now, we wait.
I wait for hours, staring at the ceiling until the castle finally quiets down.
***
Standing up, I go to the door opening it as quietly as possible. Peeking my head out, I look around and see no one. Good no ones out there I can go. I walk to the window, opening it up I jump out. The air pushes up around my body cooling my skin and relaxing my nerves. I land in a crouched position with a thump. Taking another look around to make sure no one is following, I head to the garden.
As I reach the garden, I take in a sharp breath at the sight before me. The moon is casting a brilliant silver glow over the dahlias and cornflowers. The light makes them burn like glowing flames of blue and yellow.
A frigid chill runs up my body when a hand clasps my shoulder. My eyes stretching wide, I whip myself around, and without a moment to lose, I throw a skull-smashing punch at the person. I make contact with the person's gut they gasp for breath doubling over on the ground. Looking down, I see Soren. Staring at me with a pained expression, he stands up rubbing his stomach.
Narrowing my eyes, I shove him in the chest, "What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me," I whisper shout.
Wincing in pain he says, "Calm down, I didn't mean to scare you."
He says that, but I feel he did it on purpose. Sometimes I wish I could just strangle him. He's a grown man but sometimes he can be so unbearable.
"Whatever, let's go to the bench over there," I say pointing to the bench under the willow tree.
He nods, and we begin our walk down the gardens stone path. As we walk, I take in the garden's nighttime beauty. The wind sings softly blowing against my skin, and the sound of a crickets melody fills my ears. When we reach the large willow tree, it's casting an ominous shadow, stretching far out over the flower field. The bench that sits under the tree is shrouded in darkness with bits of moonlight peeking through the trees. We reach the bench and sit down in silence.
Soren breaks the silence, speaking softly, almost as if he's afraid talking too loud will get us caught.
"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" he questions, turning to me with a raised brow.
"I guess I should start from the beginning," I say.
Soren rolls his eyes irritatedly, "Where else should you start, the middle?"
"So, it all started when I hatched twenty-four years-" I tease.
"Seriously, Nora? you know what I mean," he cuts me off, exasperatedly narrowing his eyes.
I look at him, grinning ear to ear. It's too fun not to mess with him.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry," I laugh out, continuing.
"It started around the time I first got here. I was wondering about the castle, when I came across a painting of Fafnir in dragon form," I begin to explain.
"Why did they have a painting of him?" Soren asks.
"It was by mere coincidence, you see; Gregory is a collector of art," I say, thinking back to the beautiful painting of my brother, and the way his eyes glowed with life.
"What does this have to do with anything," Soren sounds annoyed as he stretches himself out on the bench.
"If you'd just be a little more patient, I'm getting there," I grumble annoyed.
He's seriously starting to annoy me. Can he shut up for just five minutes?
"After seeing the painting, Gregory approached me and I told him about how Fafnir was killed. He felt bad since it was people from his kingdom that killed him, so he offered to help. That was when I found out the royal family is dragon slayers," I reveal.
I say this, looking at Soren carefully, gauging his reaction to the information. But when he doesn't act surprised at all, sudden confusion fills me. I take a moment to collect my thoughts, and that's when it hits me. He already knew. Am I the only one who didn't know about the royal family being dragon slayers?
"You already knew, didn't you?" I question him fiercely.
"Knew what?" he questions, his brows scrunching together.
"That the royals are a family of dragon slayers," I state.
His face lights up as he shakes his head.
"That's common information, Nora, everyone knows that." He pauses, thinking for a moment. "You knew that, didn't you?" He asks skeptically.
"No, apparently, I was the only one left out the loop," I hiss.
I can't believe this, everyone knew but me. Why did I only find out upon coming here? What was my father's purpose in not telling me?
"I had no idea, I assumed you knew. Everyone else did," Soren says, looking apologetic.
Seeing him look so upset makes my stomach churn. It's not his fault. It would seem that my father has a knack for keeping things from me.
"Anyway, as I was saying after Gregory offered to help, we came to the conclusion that the killer had to be a royal. It turned out that it was Gregory's granddaughter, Gwen who plotted to kill Fanir in order to stop us from creating an alliance," I tell him.
I see Soren's eyes light up.
"That makes a lot of sense, theoretically. But why did she want to stop us from forging an alliance?" He points out.
"She didn't want us to forge an alliance because she's planning to overthrow the kingdom, having an alliance with us could hinder her plans. However, even though we still made the alliance, it hasn't stopped her from trying," I say.
Confusion fills Soren's face.
"What do you mean?" He asks.
I sigh, baffled. Does he seriously still not understand? Has he even listened to a thing I've said?
"Gwen is going to use my wedding with Geoffrey to try and overthrow the kingdom. That's why I can't leave. I'm going to catch the killer of my brother and save my friend's kingdom," I sigh.
"While the story you've told has been greatly informative, where exactly does your human mate fit into all this," he asks.
Right, I forgot the bit about Flavius. I probably should have started with him.
"I met Flavius, my mate, shortly after arriving here. He's a young blacksmith that lives in the inner city. We met out in those woods over there near a lake," I say, pointing out across the garden where we can see the tops of moonlit trees.
"I didn't discover that he was my mate until just a little while ago. Before that, I was completely oblivious," I tell him.
Soren stares at me with a bright smile and a look in his eyes I've never seen before.
"Tell me about him," he asks gently.
I'm surprised he actually wants to know. I thought he would have cared less considering my mate is human.
"He's wonderful, kind, and hardworking. I admire him for being able to survive without his parents, and I can't help but wonder why he puts up me. He's stuck with me even though I can be a difficult person to handle," I admit.
My heart tugs in my chest. He's such a good person I couldn't ask for a better mate. But I can't help but feel bad for dragging him into all my problems. He wouldn't have to deal with so much if it weren't for me.
Soren rumbles with laughter.
"You, a difficult person. Now that's an understatement. You're downright crazy, and that's half the reason I love you. You fledgling dragons are so emotionally unstable that I almost feel bad for the human," he laughs teasingly.
His face grows more serious. "I'm glad, Nora, that you were able to find a worthy mate."
I chuckle, staring at Soren, "You're right, I am lucky."
I stare out at the sky, taking in the millions of brightly burning stars. It's late, we need to head back to the castle.
"We should head back in, it's pretty late." I pause for a moment thinking then I continue, "If you come with me early tomorrow morning, I'll introduce Flavius to you," I offer.
Soren's face brightens, "I'd like that a lot. Are you sure you want him to meet me, though?"
"What are you talking about of course I want you to, don't be ridiculous. Why wouldn't I?" I tell him.
"Alright, whatever you say," he sighs playfully.
With that, we head back into the castle as quietly as possible. As we walk through the halls, I feel every cell in my body spark to life. We're being followed.
"Soren, we're being followed," I whisper, leaning closer to him.
"I know," he responds.
"Do you think they heard what we were talking about?" I ask.
"I certain they didn't, or we would have felt their presence outside. For now, let's just be quiet and head back to our chambers," he responds, walking a little faster.
We part ways, and I head back to my room. Undressing, I fall into bed. Today has been quite eventful. Things keep moving so fast, I am unsure if I can keep up anymore. I eventually fall asleep to the sound of rain from outside.
***
I wake up early the next morning with a jump in my step. I'm excited for Soren to meet Flavius, that is if Flavius decides to show up today. Quickly getting dressed, I grab a bag and head for Soren's quarters. I try to walk quietly so as not to alert anyone. Reaching his room, I push open the door.
Soren is halfway through putting pants on as I barge in. He scowls, pulling his pants up the rest of the way.
"Where are your manners, Nora?" he breaths out, scrunching his eyes in irritation.
"When have I ever had manners? Let's go," I laugh, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the room.
"My, we're rather patient this morning," he grumbles.
"Yeah, yeah, now let's get going," I brush off his words.
We get outside, and I take my clothes off, stuffing them in my bag, Soren's quick to follow. We faze into our dragon forms and I show him the way to the small lake.
Just as we reach the lake, I spot Flavius sitting by the water, hair pulled back in a low hanging ponytail, he's wearing black pants and a loose-fitting white shirt with work boots. He turns towards me, giving me a questioning look. I dive into the lake, splashing water all over Flavius, while Soren gracefully lands in the trees. Fazing in the water, I swim to Flavius, my bag in hand. I'm glad he's here. I wasn't sure if he'd come. I climb out of the water just a few feet from him.
"Hey," I whisper out, a gentle smile creeping up my lips.
"Hey," he says in a low voice, his eyes cast down unwilling to look at me.
"You should really put some clothes on, Ellie," he says.
Oh, so he's the shy type.
"Why does it bother you? It is quite common for dragons to be nude after fazing. Nudity is a way of life for our dragons," I snicker stepping closer to him.
But before I can get too close, Soren yanks me back.
"Don't be rude Nora," he says sternly.
Damn it, I forgot he was here.
"Who's that?" Flavius questions, pointing at Soren, his eyes filled with confusion.
"Well, Flavius, this is Soren," I chirp.
Flavius is now meeting Soren, how do you think he’ll react? Do I sense a love rival? Hope you enjoyed the chapter don’t forget to like and comment.- Ray