Page 74 of Winter's Scorching Kisses
“There is nothing here for you besides me. No friends or family.” Jasmine said.
“For us, Jasmine.” Adorra leaned forward. Her sister may have ordered the death of Edmund, but Jasmine was still her sister, and she wasn’t about to sever her ties to her only family left alive. “You should come back with me, meet a nice man, and have a family.”
Jasmine shook her head. “I can’t. You may not accept Dryden, but I have a man and a baby on the way. I’m about to start a family here, and I couldn’t be any happier.” Jasmine rubbed her stomach fondly.
“If you don’t, we might never see each other again.” Because Adorra wasn’t likely to make any trips up here to the ice giant territory.
“I know.” Jasmine nodded her head. “And if I return with you I will lose Dryden and have no place for my baby. I’m sorry, but this new family I’ve started means a lot to me. I never thought I’d want a husband, but Dryden isn’t like our noblemen. He’s kind, strong, and he loves me for who I am. I have a voice with him.”
Adorra watched the emotions flicker over her sister’s face. Jasmine meant everything she was saying. She’d found a place for herself and Adorra would have a difficult time, maybe even an impossible task, of convincing her sister that she should leave.
“I need to go back to my room. Just have some food sent to my room. I’m not sure I’ll be ready to face all the ice giants down in the great hall.” Not after all the information she’d just received.
Jasmine nodded, a sad smile adorning her lips. “Of course. Whatever you need.”
With that, Adorra left her sister’s room and rushed back to her own. She didn’t want to run into anyone she knew, like Mathar.
Sticking to the shadows, Mathar watched Adorra book it back to her chamber. Jasmine had told her about his involvement. He sighed, but the weight he thought would’ve lifted was still there weighing down on him. It looked like he still wasn’t free of some guilt.
He just hoped Jasmine was able to help her sister see what kind of man Jasmine claimed Lord Gothar was.
Once he saw Adorra close herself up in her room, he knew he would have some time to go and find Dryden. It was time for him to receive some sort of payment for what he’d done for his king and soon-to-be queen.
As Mathar strode through the halls of the castle, he imagined the cabin he’d always dreamed of and for some reason he was able to imagine Adorra’s face there with him. He growled. He wasn’t about to bring a troublesome human to his peaceful cabin. A cabin that was supposed to help him escape the pain of his past.
He couldn’t imagine her wanting to live the rustic life with him. She struck him as a lady who would always enjoy the finer things a castle would be able to bring her.
Once he strode up to Dryden’s solar door, he pushed it open to find Dryden alone, reading over some documents that were spread out in front of him.
“May I have a moment of your time?”
Dryden glanced up, his eyes going wide before a smile spread across his lips. “Of course! All this,” he pointed to the documents in front of him, “can wait until later.”
“If you’re busy, I can come back later.”
“Actually, you’d be saving me from all this.” He motioned to the documents again. “There are good parts about being a king and some bad parts.”
“I could imagine.” Mathar strode further into the room and took a seat across from Dryden. “I was hoping to discuss payment for my assistance with Jasmine’s problems.”
“It’s about time we settle that with you.” Dryden leaned forward, steepling his fingers together. “What is it you’d like? A castle?”
Mathar laughed. “Nothing so grandiose. I was actually hoping to get a plot of land of my own.”
“To do?”
“I want to live there in a cabin.”
“I hope we’ll still see you from time to time.”
“Of course. I just want to escape the hustle and bustle of the castle.” Mathar just wanted a peaceful life with the rustle of leaves and songs of birds when he woke to soothe his tired soul.
“Well,” Dryden leaned back, “I don’t see any problems with that. You’ll have to give me a little time to find a plot of land I can hand over to you, but you have my promise it will be yours.”
Mathar finally felt a little stress work off his shoulders. He was finally going to live his dream, and he couldn’t be any happier.
“Anything else I can help you with?” Dryden asked.
“That was all.”
“Then if you don’t mind I need to get back to all of these.” Dryden grimaced as he glanced back down at the table full of documents.
“I’ll get out of your hair and get back to my job of watching Adorra.” With that, he left. The conversation had been easy, and Mathar was happy it had gone so well for him. Now he’d just have to worry about Adorra and what she finally knew… and how she’d react to him.
