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Gemar bowed his head. "Thank you for not taking offense. It sounds like you have made many friends in high places during your stay on the island."
Kaida's lips twitched upward into a small smile. "I did."
Gemar turned to Enzo. "I want to apologize to you, son. I made a mistake."
Enzo blinked at his father. "You did?"
"Yes, I did. I made a mistake telling you to reject your mate. I thought her condition would weaken you. Clearly, The Great Dragon knew better than I, and I did not see it. Kaida is from a bloodline that had never produced someone to be dragonless. That should have told me everything, and then she would not be either. So, I apologize for jumping to that conclusion. I made a mistake, and I am proud of you for not giving up on her."
What the fuck? Is this the actual king?
Enzo bowed his head briefly before looking at his father again. "Thank you for your apology."
Gemar turned his attention to Kaida. "I apologize for my behavior toward you that night. I should have never forced you to shift to prove your legitimacy. I knew better, but my protectiveness of my son clouded my judgment. I was wrong."
Kaida's mouth ran dry at his apology. Nande smiled at her, and Enzo bumped her shoulder to encourage her to respond.
"Thank you, Gemar. I appreciate your apology."
"I have informed the council to update the books to state that Plasmas tend to take longer to emerge so this does not happen again. I look forward to knowing how I should have after Enzo claimed you as his." Gemar lifted his glass of wine, making a toast, "To Kaida and Enzo. Long may they reign!"
Nande repeated her husband's gesture. Kaida and Enzo clinked their glasses with theirs before swigging the tart red wine.
This did not go as I thought it would.
The castle halls appeared empty, with no sounds anywhere she could hear. Kaida remembered the last time she was there; there was always someone in the halls or at least the voices of people inside the rooms. Running an entire kingdom required the council members, as well as others, to have frequent meetings. If the King and Queen called in the council, she should have been able to pick up someone's voice in the halls.
Where is everyone?
Enzo agreed with her that it was suspicious not to hear a soul anywhere in the castle. At least a hundred people lived inside it at all times: the royal members, council members staying while conducting business, and the people who worked for the throne and maintained the castle. They stayed on the same floor as the King and Queen, which was high up in the castle's levels. The possibility that everyone was on the lower levels was what Enzo explained could be happening. Kaida did her best to put on a brave face to keep Enzo from seeing her worry.
"We can go take a look. There is no rule about us staying up here," Enzo suggested.
Kaida was staring out the window. There was a courtyard below, and no one was walking around there either. If Kaida remembered correctly, the staff members used this courtyard the most to get from one part of the castle to another for their duties. She sighed at Enzo before answering.
"I guess we can do that."
Enzo walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Kaida leaned into him and laid her head back on his shoulder.
"What's the matter?"
"I don't know. There is something off about this."
Enzo rocked his body from side to side, carrying Kaida with him. "I think you are reading too much into it. I'm sure it's nothing."
Kaida frowned and leaned back to look at his face. "Did you ever experience this kind of quiet when living here? I didn't stay here long before, but it was always noisy when I did. People were always moving around and talking. Today, there is nothing? That screams weird to me."
"I think I have experienced a time or two like this. Mostly when ceremonies and parties were being planned."
Kaida looked horrified as she stepped away from him. "What on earth could they be celebrating right now?"
Enzo shrugged. "Maybe for our return? A welcome home party?"
"Your family hated me from the moment they met me. It's like they could smell the fact that my dragon hadn't emerged yet or something. They seemed too happy to call me out the last time I was here. Now, they are celebrating my return. This makes zero sense."
Enzo's jaw clenched. "They apologized for how they acted."
"You bought that?"
