Page 22 of The Dragon's Gambit
“You sure you want me to keep the aura down? I think it would be better for them to leave this place.” Brody frowned. Brownies were trouble, and on top of that, living among dragons wasn’t their brightest idea.
“The dragons can’t see them. Plus, with the demons, this is probably a safe haven for them.” Reiya looked over at the mess of papers scattered. “Guess we should straighten all this back up.”
Chelsie and Brody followed Reiya toward the desk. Brody and Reiya knelt down, picking up the papers that had been knocked off the desk, while Chelsie stood there with her arms folded. “This whole place smells like dragon musk. It’s repulsive,” Chelsie complained as she reluctantly joined in.
Reiya smiled and shook her head. This was probably a good experience for Chelsie to have. It wouldn’t hurt her to grow a bit more tolerant of others. Reiya grabbed a rolled-up paper from the floor, unrolling it slightly as she picked it up. Her eyes widened and she let out a small gasp at what she saw. Immediately, her stomach flipped, and she felt queasy and uneasy. Her tiny hands trembled as they unraveled the paperfully. In an instant, her world turned upside down, and she was filled with confusion. Why would they have this?
“Reiya? What’s wrong?” Brody asked. He looked at her trembling hands and crawled over to her. His eyes drifted to where hers were looking. “What the hell?!”
Chelsie looked over at the paper in Reiya’s hands and scowled. “I freaking knew it! I told you. You can’t trust serpents. They have little brains and a tiny heart. Cold-blooded reptiles. Treacherous creatures. And this proves it.” Chelsie shook her head in disgust. She frowned, though, when she looked at Reiya. She was clearly shaken up. This made Chelsie furious. How dare they injure her friend like this? In her eyes, Reiya was always too trusting. Still, she never wanted it to come back to bite her like this.
“I … don’t understand,” Reiya’s voice barely whispered out. She stared down at the paper in her hand. Why did they have this? Who made it?
Chapter 14 Trust
Reiya looked at the paper in her hand and scoured over the contents. It was a map of Elysia! This wasn’t just a map of the location, though. It had a structured picture of the entire grounds. Why would they have a map like this? In the wronghands, this could be very dangerous. What scared Reiya the most was that pitted thought that maybe it was already in the wrong hands.
“Who would have made this?” Reiya breathed out, looking up at Brody and Chelsie.
“Leviathan or the Sage. Those are the only two who have been there enough to make an accurate representation such as this,” Chelsie hissed out in distaste.
“I don’t believe Leviathan would have done something like this.” A small frown formed over Brody’s lips as he continued to scan over the contents of the map.
“Why not? He’s a dragon. His number one loyalty will always be to dragons.” Chelsie shrugged. This just made sense. To her, it seemed obvious that Leviathan had the map made.
“No, Reiya is the person he chose to protect. He gave her powers as her summon. I don’t believe he would do anything to betray her.” Brody shook his head, not believing that Leviathan could hurt her.
“Maybe that’s just it, though. Maybe he chose Reiya in order to learn more about the fairy kingdom and gather important information.” Chelsie’s natural distrust toward others made her certain she wasn’t wrong about Leviathan.
Brody shook his head again. “No, I’m telling you … he wouldn’t. He didn’t even want Reiya to stay here. He could have visited Elysia, even without involving Reiya.”
“So, maybe Reiya is just the icing on his cake … I don’t know. Maybe he was just pretending he didn’t want her staying here. I just know that this explanation makes the most sense,” Chelsie said pointedly.
Reiya sat there, feeling a bit numb. She was listening to the two of them talking, and she knew what they were both saying. But she trusted Lee … was she wrong to trust him? Was her confidence in him jeopardizing her people? What reallybothered her was the reason for such a map. This was the question she feared to ask but knew she must.
“Why would someone create a map like this?” Reiya bit her bottom lip and braced for the answer she knew was coming.
“Why do you think? This is a war map. This is something you would want to have if you ever planned to attack the fairy kingdom. So, the real question isn’t what it’s for … no, it’s who it’s for.” Chelsie squinted her eyes and then continued. “What I mean by this is, are the dragons already in league with the demons? A map like this would be very valuable to the demons.”
Reiya closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Was she being betrayed? Was Xander in on this? Was this something in the works with Lee, Xander, and Grandpa Sage? She trusted them. She felt connected to Xander and Lee. Was she wrong? Was she making a mistake trusting them?
“That’s enough, Chelsie. We don’t know enough to make such a bold judgment call.” Brody noticed how tense Reiya was and immediately tried to make it better. It was true, though. They didn’t know enough to understand why there was a map like this. Maybe it was just for their own intelligence. What if it was for their protection? Besides, with Reiya there, she could have a map made of the dragon kingdom just as easily. It didn’t make much sense to make the map for malicious reasons. Still, it also couldn’t be refuted.
“And what gives you so much confidence in the dragons? Have you bonded so much with them that your new best friends couldn’t possibly be up to no good?” Chelsie rolled her eyes at Brody. Surely he wasn’t naïve enough to believe that the dragons weren’t up to anything wicked.
Brody growled at Chelsie’s attitude. “It’s better than being like you, who believes that everyone is out to get you and no one can possibly be good.”
“Enough, please.” Reiya rubbed her forehead, trying to ease the tension. She then rolled up the map and stood up, setting the contents back onto the desk. “For now, let’s just sit on this and be alert.” It would be pointless to just ask them about the map. After all, they could easily lie about it. No, the best thing to do would be to observe things around them and see if anything seemed suspicious.
Brody pulled Reiya into his arms and held her gently. He knew she was feeling distressed and uneasy. “Try not to overthink things, Reiya. I’m sure there’s a reason for this. Please don’t be depressed.” Brody wasn’t the biggest fan of the dragons. Still, he had reason to believe they didn’t mean Reiya or the fairy kingdom any harm. At least Leviathan, Xander, and the Great Sage didn’t. That didn’t mean there weren’t other dragons who might be a problem.
Brody knew her too well. She was feeling confused and depressed. Confused as to why they would have a map like that. Baffled as to why she was so trusting. Bewildered at her feelings toward both Lee and Xander. And he was right.
Could she not trust her feelings? It was such a stabbing sensation deep inside her when she thought they might be up to no good. Her chest clenched and it felt hard to take in air. In the depths of her soul, she knew something else, too, though she would keep that to herself for now. A restlessness stirred from within her. She could almost feel her … she could almost feel her wolf. She felt certain she would be revealing herself soon.
“I think we should use caution but try to be positive about this. For now, I think keeping silent is best in order to not draw any suspicion.” Reiya gave Brody and Chelsie a weak smile before she walked out of the room. She really didn’t know what to think, but it hurt her heart to suspect them of something foul. For the sake of her people, though, she would do her best to find out the reason for the map.
A couple of guards were facing away from the group as they walked to the main hall. The guards were talking in excitement over the banquet that was being held tonight.
