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He set his hand on the table and frost moved across the surface. Interesting. Shifting my attention to Nev when he smiled before his eyes shifted to a bright blue. The lights in the dining room shone so bright I had to close my eyes. Light magic.
My eyes shifted around wondering what kind of magic everyone else held. It was likely that some didn’t have any magic at all.
“I wonder when the next trial will be?” I sighed with impatience. “You would think that it would move quickly.”
“The king just likes to keep us guessing,” Nev sighed bored.
“Well, I’m going to town,” Haden said as he stood up from the table. “You guys are welcome to come if you want.”
We got up and followed him into the hallway. Cassius stood with a group of other guards. He didn’t look up at me or give me an ounce of attention. When we passed them, I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn’t bother looking back. When we got to town Nev and Haden led me to their favorite places. They had grown up in the Kingdom of Kizar and visited the Crimson Kingdom often with their families.
The town was quieter today. Not as many fae lined the streets. It was peaceful as the sun shined brightly on us as we wandered the streets.
“Why did Crimson let other Kingdoms join, but not Cerithia? Why not just have Crimson fae participate?” I asked.
“Well, I can only assume that if Crimson wants the final task to be completed they need to allow other Kingdoms to participate because there are very skilled fae from the other Kingdoms. Only taking Crimson fae would be a disservice, as they may not have the fae needed to complete the task,” Nev explained with a shrug.
“But if that were true, then why not Cerithia?” I asked again.
“Crimson and Cerithia have been enemies for the nearly three hundred years I’ve been alive and I’m sure much longer than that,” Haden responded. “They hate each other. I think the final task will have us doing something to Cerithia.”
“Makes sense I guess.”
When the sun started setting, we dipped into a small cafe for dinner instead of going back to the dining hall. The cafe was quaint with dim lighting and old wooden furniture. We took a small table by the window. It was empty except for two other couples in the cafe with us, but they were too deep in their conversations to notice us.
Once dinner was in front of us, Haden turned his attention to me. That uneasy feeling came back. A sense of running away invaded me, but he wasn’t talking to me or saying anything. Why wasn’t Nev noticing this awkwardness?
Nev seemed oblivious as he was joyously eating his food without a care. My eyes shifted back to Haden. He was still staring at me, but before I could say anything he turned away. I started considering if it would be smart to back out of the alliance with him. Dinner was silent, but Nev didn’t bring up the silence like he wasn't there to witness the awkwardness.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Haden smiled.
“What?”
Haden's eyes shifted to Nev for a short moment. Something told me to not give him a reaction because that is what he wanted from me.
“The food.”
He was toying with me. Nev still didn’t say anything until Haden stood up. Nev smiled at me like he usually did. Something odd was going on. All I knew was I wanted to get away from Haden.
A fae with gray hair approached our table and gave me a welcome distraction. “Dinner is on us. Go out there and kick some ass in the trials.” We all thanked him as we stood. When we stepped out of the cafe it was eerily dark and quiet. The Wisp had appeared close by me, but she was dark red this time. She floated between me and the guys. They had started talking, but I was too uneasy to pay attention to what it was about. My heart beat wildly with apprehension and the overwhelming desire to leave Haden's presence as we got back to the castle.
“I’ll see you later.” I was desperate to say my goodbyes and be away from Haden.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Haden said with a smile. “I’ll walk you to your room.” The Wisp exploded into a powerful red flame between us. She didn’t like him either.
“That’s not necessary,” I said as nicely as I could muster but started backing away from the two of them and edging towards my room.
“Haden’s right. You should have him walk you to your room. There are some dangerous fae here, Thea.”
I wanted to tell him that I thought Haden was a dangerous fae, but that wasn’t possible. Nothing was going to change their minds, so I hurried past them without another word. The hallway was dark and silent as we moved quickly. When I got to my door, I turned to him standing too close. I took a step backward.
“Thanks. Goodnight,” I said weakly before turning to open my door.
He grabbed my arm before I could manage it, though.
“I’m glad you decided to form an alliance with us.”
“Let go of me,” I said, struggling to wrench my arm free.
