Page 56 of Enchanted Heir
“Why?” I asked. Silvia had braided my hair. All I was doing for the rest of the day was being locked up here, no family dinner to attend and no other consort duties for the day, so I hardly even passed as acceptably dressed in my day dress. In fact, I had toyed with changing into my silk pajamas for the entire rest of the day.
“Because you are tired of being the last to know things,” he offered.
My lips twitched. “So he listened.”
“He usually does.” He grabbed my book, taking care to slide the piece of parchment I used as a bookmark in place before closing it, and helped me to my feet.
I winced and sucked in a breath as I stood.
“That bad, huh?”
“You have no idea,” I groaned.
“Actually I do,” he argued.
I thought of his back and realized he probably had more than his fair share of being sore. Between training and his father’s punishments, he knew exactly what I felt like and more.
I ditched the blanket on his bed and followed him in the room. While Emric was saying something to Apollo about being stuck up, Krew directed me to take the empty seat, his, and then grabbed another chair out of a closet and slid it over to sit next to me.
“Hi,” I offered to The Six.
“Hi, doll,” Emric grinned.
“Hello, Ms. Demir,” Hatcher smirked.
Owen just gave me a wink, annoying jerk that he was.
Easton, Anderson, and Apollo just waited, while Keir had his eyes narrowed in on something, but it wasn’t me.
“Is that necessary?” he asked.
It was at that point I noticed Krew’s hand sitting on the crook of the back of my chair. Intentional or not. Or maybe it was just a habit of always trying to touch me when people were around.
Krew didn’t move it.
And I felt no need to explain it. Krew wasn’t even touching me.
“So,” Krew began, moving his attention back to Mr. Ellsworth and never moving his hand. “I believe Hatchet had just started discussing the disloyal radicals and their actions in Nerede and Rallis.”
“Ahh, yes,” Hatcher nodded. “Thank you. Yes.” His eyes went to mine for a moment. “So, we are seeing an uptick in recalcitrant behavior, particularly in Nerede.”
My heart squeezed. One part for the fact they were talking about my people, and the other part because Krew thought to bring me into this conversation in the first place.
Hatcher gave me a nod. “Nothing too serious, my dear. Don’t worry yourself. Just basic disobedience towards the wall guards, some things being shouted at the guards, a couple of threats. And a few rocks thrown at the guard’s heads. But done so rather smartly so no one got caught.”
And now my heart hurt. Some of those guards were only doing their jobs. Some might even be disloyal just like the people hurtling the rocks at them. Not everything was as black and white as the level you lived in within the kingdom.
But had I been any different when I arrived at the castle? Hadn’t my own prejudices and assumptions hurt some people that were truly on the same side as I was? I didn’t like the guilt stirring in my gut.
Hatcher was still explaining so I tried to pay attention. “If it keeps increasing in intensity, we may need Krew or Keir to drop into a meeting and let them know who is really the true leadership of the disloyal. These radicals fancy themselves the leaders of a rebellion. If they truly knew how deep the disloyal went, they might start planning their moves more wisely. And it might help them be more patient.”
Emric shook his head. “Nah. Nope. Keir and Krew so much as show up there and how do we know they won’t kill them on the spot?”
“We don’t,” Apollo snapped. “We just know they don’t have magic so even only Krew and Owen should be able to handle it.”
“I’ll go,” Keir offered.
“I don’t mind going either,” Krew agreed.
