Page 25 of The Stolen Kingdom

“Promise?”

Maris smiled and nodded. “Promise! And you know what?”

“What?”

“I promise eventually, we will have an Asclepius temple.”

“Pssh! Maris, please!”

“No, listen. Imagine a place where anyone interested can come in and learn. What’s so bad about that?”

“We carry our temple within us,” Melvian said, pressing a hand to Maris’s chest. “We carry our oath. We don’t need a physical temple.”

“Call it a school then,” Maris said, a smile spreading across her lips before she arched her brow. “Think about it.”

“I guess I will but not now.” Releasing a heavy sigh, Melvian finally settled the bag’s strap on her shoulder and jerked her head towards the door. “I think it is time for us to practice hands on, don’t you think?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Maris huffed, opening the door for her, only to find Cai sitting on the porch and throwing a rock to the ground.

“Cai!” Maris rolled her eyes and rubbed her temples. “Please.”

“But, Your High—”

“That’s an order!”

Melvian took a step back while Cai opened his mouth to say something, but Maris shut him up with a quick hand gesture.

“Go.”

Cai’s head hung low as he jumped off the porch and walked away towards the square.

“A little harsh on the kid, don’t you think?”

“No. I am not harsh. I am actually being nice. He is what, sixteen? He should be running around playing, hitting on girls, or boys or whatever. Be a teenager. I know how horrible it was to work as a teen instead of living it up.”

“True, but you don’t have to be so rough with him. You don’t need to scream like Val—”

“Melvian, I need you to stop mentioning Valda. I don’t… I don’t want to—”

“I am sorry.”

Melvian’s eyes seemed to pierce through Maris. The coldness in her tone made her take a step back. Her lower lip quivered. It was hard enough to be away from her mate, but to have her best friend mad almost made her bawl right there and then.

“I— You keep saying you are sorry, and I don’t think you actually mean to apologize.”

Melvian’s gaze dropped to the ground, then to her bag. “There is a pregnant teacher a couple of cabins down. Coral is her name. She told me she wanted me to have a look at her when we arrived, and I want you to come with me. You can learn a thing or two while we are there.”

Maris bit the inside of her cheek, closed her eyes and nodded begrudgingly. She knew what Melvian was doing. Changing the subject was something Maris did all the time; it was only fair that someone would do it to her. “Lead the way…”

Pouting her lips and shaking her head, Melvian walked between broken cabins. Maris followed, swallowing hard and trying to come up with a topic of conversation that would somehow get the awkward silence to dissipate. Before she could reach out to her friend, frantic, fast-paced steps sounded behind her.

As Maris turned, Cai’s wide-open eyes locked with hers. Her stomach dropped as she realized just what he was about to say.

“General Arwin is here. I need to get you and Miss Melvian to safety!” His clammy hands grabbed onto her elbow just as he grabbed onto Melvian’s bag and dropped it somewhere between the houses.

“Where are you taking us?” Melvian gasped, struggling to keep up with Cai as he raced toward the lakes.

Maris followed, her heart pounding wildly in her chest and her head spinning with dread. If Arwin was here, then Eris must be close too, probably disguised as the fake Sealian.

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