Page 37 of The Forsaken Heir
Benedictus actually flinched away from Aurelius. I couldn’t say I blamed him. The prince was a giant of a man, even if he was as lean as a panther, rather than heaving bulk like Vincent. This man must have been Vince’s father. He looked exactly like an older version of him, and in my short acquaintance with the man, I could see he was the type of person who would be disappointed in a son who was a bit different.
“Enough,” Cassius said, waving a hand through the air. “Benedictus, you will apologize to Brielle before the prince escorts her to her rooms.”
Benedictus lifted his head slightly, color rising to his cheeks. There was a storm in his eyes, dark and foreboding. Even from a distance I could see that he wanted to balk, but he’d already overstepped his king’s favor. Any further disagreement would not bode well for him.
“My…lady,” Benedictus said through gritted teeth. “Accept myapologies. I am but a lowly man who does not know his place.”
When he glanced up, I was surprised and happy to see that there was more shame in his eyes than actual anger toward me. Perhaps he wasn’t a total lost cause.
Aurelius made a deep, growling sound.
“Thank you, Aurey,” Cassius said. “You and Brielle may go.”
Aurelius put a hand on my lower back, leading me from the throne room. All the eyes on me had softened as they watched me go. Whether they wereactuallyokay with me being there, or if they were only wary of being scolded by their monarch the way this Benedictus guy had been, I didn’t know.
Once we were out of the throne room, I breathed a sigh of relief.
“That guy’s a dick,” I muttered. “IsthatVincent’s dad?”
“He is,” Aurelius said, his jaw still clenched in anger.
“I guess the apple reallycanfall far from the tree,” I said.
Despite how angry he was, my joke cut through, and he smiled at me. “Indeed it can.”
I’d noticed some of the other staff members around the house giving me similar looks to what Benedictus had, but it had been more worried or uncomfortable glances. I was, after all, the eldest daughter of the family most likely to wish for their entire kingdom’s downfall. It would have been expected. Despite their distrust, though, they still treated me with kindness. There’d been no reason to bring it up and possibly get them in trouble. After seeing the way Aurelius and his father had reacted to Benedictus, I was glad to have followed my gut on that one.
When we reached the door to my room, Aurelius stopped at the threshold.
“If you’d like to gather your things, I’ll wait here to get you home,” he said.
I glanced around the suite, then back at him, grinning. “Umm, I don’t really have anything. You guys kinda just scooped me when I was half asleep.”
Aurelius blinked twice. Rapidly. “Oh.” His cheeks flushed.
I gasped and put a hand to my chest. “Have I embarrassed Aurelius Decimus? I’ll need to put this in my journal.”
Aurelius chuckled. “I’m not embarrassed. I just forgot.” His brow furrowed. “Wait. Are you going to write about me in your journal?”
“Youwish, big guy.” I grabbed my phone off the bedside table before scooping up the shirt and jeans I’d had on when Vince and Rasp kidnapped me. “Well, this is it.” I spun in a little circle. “I’m keeping this outfit you got for me, though. I like it.”
Serilia, one of the maids who’d been looking after me, had brought me a summer dress and wedge heels that morning to replace the riding gear I’d been given the day before.
“Of course,” he said. “It’s the least I could give you after all the trouble. Please, consider it a gift.”
“I will.”
Vincent and Rasp were waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs in the entryway. They both seemed uncomfortable. From the way they looked at me like I was some broken doll that needed to be fixed, I figured they’d heard. Rumors and newsprobably moved fast in a place like this, especially when it was much busier than it had been the day before. More people moved about—guests, extra staff. This was probably what it was typically like. This, for all intents and purposes, was the hub of the dragon shifter kingdom. Of course, people would be in and out all the time. Saturdays must have been more relaxed. In that respect, the two good-natured goofballs had chosen a good time to kidnap me.
“Hey, Elle.” Vincent shrugged awkwardly. “I hear you can’t shift. That must suck.”
Rasp swung out and smacked his friend’s arm. “Dude! Seriously?”
Vincent glared back at him. “What? Was that not true?”
“Well, yeah, it’s just… I mean, it’s bad form.”
“What form should I have said it in? Did I need to shift into a dragon?”
