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Naia had to stop swooning for the handsome fae and keep her wits about her. If neither her brother nor father were here, she was the one in charge, and had to honor her position and her kingdom. Taking the lead, she climbed the stairs to the second floor in brisk steps, trying to smother her anger, calm down her fury—as if it was possible.
All her time spent with River had done nothing to protect her kingdom, her family. All his sweet words to her had never meant he was her ally. The worst was that she should have known it. She should have known it all, and yet she’d been fooled like a silly girl in love—an appropriate and utterly embarrassing description of her.
Ugh. For someone who had always wanted to do something that mattered, she’d proven her incompetence in the first test. Silly, silly, Naia. Her father’s admonitions against stupid love were starting to make sense.
At least River had listened to her and remained behind. Naia turned to Arry once they reached the second floor. “Has the rest of the kingdom been warned?”
“They’ve been put on high alert, but there’s no sign of any other attack.” He sighed. “Yet.”
Yet. That was the right word. Scary, right word.
The young man continued, “The wounded are being treated, and we have sentries looking for more intruders. Your brother set it up well before he… he left.”
It was so unlike Fel. And her father, gone? Again, so strange.
They arrived in front of the thick wooden door leading to her father’s office. It had a combination lock, made so that it would always be accessible to Fel and Naia if the need came, as this was another place from where the king oversaw Umbraar and connected with potential allies. It was the first time she was turning this lock in more than a year, as she hadn’t been here recently. More and more her father had discouraged her from coming to the fort. Even Fel, who once had been obsessed with weapons, lately had been more interested in staying home and practicing his magic around the manor.
But now she was back—and had to do her best to defend her kingdom.
Naia got in, took her place at her father’s desk, then pointed to a chair, where Arry sat.
When she rested her hands on the table, she realized they were shaking. Fear, anger, horror, so many mixed emotions. Most of all, she had to know where her brother and father were. “What happened to Fel?”
“Uh…” Arry sucked in a breath. “It’s a little complicated.”
“No, it’s not.” She hated to be harsh with someone she used to consider a friend, but she wasn’t going to sit here waiting to hear a long story while worry gnawed on her insides. “Is he dead?” Her voice almost cracked with that dreadful thought, that dreadful question. Arry had told her Fel was alive, but she wanted to be sure. “Hurt?”
“He’s alive and not hurt, but…”
As she exhaled in relief, a figure appeared on the corner of the office, behind her brother’s friend. River, of course, standing there, unglamoured, his eyes their usual reddish-brown, his horns showing. Naia grabbed a small book and threw it in his direction, but he dodged it. Prick. He should have been thankful she hadn’t thrown a paperweight or a blast of fire.
Arry turned to check what she was staring at, then faced her, a puzzled expression on his face. “Something wrong?” So he hadn’t seen anything.
Naia had no idea River could turn invisible, which only added to the list of many things she didn’t know.
“A lot,” she replied. “People are told to stay away and they don’t.”
Arry got up. “I apologize.”
“Not you,” Naia said quickly. “Sit. Tell me everything.”
He sat down, his eyes wide. Naia schooled her expression not to appear so angry, as Arry was clearly misunderstanding her. River was no longer across the room and Naia exhaled, but then she felt someone touching her shoulder.
“No secrets,” River whispered in her ear. What a hypocrite.
If she weren’t in such dire need to hear Arry’s explanation, she would do anything she could to send River away, but she didn’t have time for that now.
Arry narrowed his eyes and glanced beside her. Could he see River? Or maybe it was because she had just glared in that direction.
The boy sighed. He had very light brown hair, almost gold, and a nice face. It was still odd to think that at some point in the past Naia had thought about him in a different way, not only like a family friend. That past didn’t make any sense now.
He cleared his throat. “I’ll start from the beginning, if you don’t mind.”
“I do, actually.” She tried to sound calmer. “Start by telling me what happened to Fel.” She then added, “Please.”
Arry stared at her for a moment, then blurted, “He turned into a dragon and left.”
“A… dragon?” She swallowed. “You mean a… big… animal?” He couldn’t possibly mean that. This talk of dragons was bizarre enough if they were just these dragon lords whatever, but real dragons?
