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Chusi chortled, “She probably had a Witch cast a spell on him. She is already rumored not to have a dragon. Can’t say I would put it past her and her family to go to that length.”
“Seriously though?! Hiring a Witch to brew up a love potion so their daughter can be in good standing even though she may not have a dragon?” Kaliyah added.
The girls were so engrossed in their story as they turned the corner they did not notice Kaida leaning against the wall. Even more perfect was her parents were standing in the doorway with Enzo behind them as Malinda revealed her little secret. Kaida’s frown from anger quickly turned into a wicked grin as she watched her mate step out into the hallway in front of Malinda. With a Dragon’s heightened senses, Enzo heard Malinda’s little lie, and Kaida could feel in their bond that Enzo was not happy that a lie was being spread about him. The girl looked as though she was going to shit her pants when she noticed Enzo’s disapproving frown glaring down at her.
“Pri- Prince Enzo… it is a pleasure to see you on this fine day,” Malinda said as she curtsied with her eyes looking down at the floor.
“Why did you just lie about me to the other daughters of the Council, Miss. Silverstone?”
Malinda gulped at the realization that she had been caught. Any time she opened her mouth to say something, it was only a stammering use of syllables that didn’t sound like any kind of word. Enzo patiently waited as he stared down for her to say a cohesive sentence. There was no way out of this. Enzo overheard what Malinda had said, and he wasn’t letting her off the hook.
“You will report to the King and Queen tomorrow to hear how they wish to handle this situation. To have you abuse our hospitality by spreading lies about my mate and me is sickening. Your mother and father will accompany you so they hear what you have done here.” Enzo paused and looked at each of the others huddled behind Malinda. “As for the three of you, I see that your hands in this are not as dirty, though you were willing to believe this of your future king and queen. This is a warning. If you continue to just be ‘yes men’ to someone you consider to be higher on the food chain than you, I have lost hope for our generation to rule this realm. You are all supposed to assist Kaida and me with governing our realm. That is what your parents do for mine. If this is how this will be, behind one person’s thoughts and actions instead of thinking for yourself, I may need to look for new council members.”
“NO! We can do this!”
“We didn’t think of it that way!”
“We are not yes men!”
The three of them cried out and then started to sob. Enzo looked indifferent as he watched them plead their cases to him. After a few more seconds of them begging him to reconsider, Enzo held up his hand.
“From this moment until the foreseeable future, I better see individual minds instead of a hive. The King does have the power to remove those from the Council who do not add their ideas when discussing how to govern this realm. Now leave. I am tired of this conversation and dealing with you four against your future queen. Another thing to consider is the law against creating such rumors to make people question their loyalty to the throne. Continue to spread lies about my mate and me, and that is what I can, and will, charge you with.”
Like children running from their mothers after being scolded, the four took off in the opposite direction after Enzo finished his last sentence. Others inside the meeting filtered out of the room and left along with them. Kaida wondered if they all thought they needed to leave before Enzo told them that they shouldn’t be listening or something with the way they all hurried down the corridors. After everyone scurried off, Enzo turned around and noticed Kaida standing there. His face lit up like a lightning bolt across the sky.
“I didn’t see you there! I hope those four didn’t upset you in any way,” Enzo said as he hugged her.
Kaida sighed when his arms wrapped around her. The sense of comfort his touch brought her and the love she felt pouring through their bond was why she continued to lie about her dragon. Now that she experienced what life could be like with her Fated Mate, there was no possible way for Kaida to want to let go of it.
“Doesn’t matter. It was a lie anyway.”
Enzo gently pushed her outward so he could look at her face, “did you really think I would go to another woman’s room and say those kinds of things?”
Kaida scrunched her face, “this is all new to me, Enzo. As much as I knew it wasn’t true, a part of me believed her words for a moment.”
Enzo nodded, “I guess I can see why you would say that. I am not sure how I would have reacted if I heard the same things coming out of a male’s mouth about you.”
“I don’t think you would have been near as patient and may have done much worse than you did.”
Enzo let out a small laugh, “unfortunately, that might be accurate if I were in your shoes.”
He looked around, and his eyes landed on something behind her. Kaida turned herself enough to see and found her parents watching their exchange smiling. Kaida shook her head and looked back up at Enzo.
“Ignore them. They are having a moment.”
“Oh, shut your face. Our little girl is growing up, and we are proud to witness it,” her mother said in a cracked voice as she tried not to cry.
“Why were you standing here, if I may ask,” Enzo questioned.
It took him long enough to catch that… was hoping he wouldn’t.
“I was waiting for my parents. I was hoping to have lunch with them since I haven’t seen them much since we got here.”
It wasn’t a lie. Kaida couldn’t spend much time with them since most of her time had been with Enzo.
“Oh, I have been hogging too much of your attention now?” Enzo joked.
“No! It’s just once the ceremony is over, I will be staying here, and they will be returning to our territory. I’d like to get some time with them before then.”
