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He shakes his head back and forth as he raises his hands in defense, “No. I’m not doing it. I’ll sleep on this field tonight before knocking on a stranger's door at night.”
Having enough of their roundabout conversation, I step forward, revealing myself as I light fire between my fingertips. “No one will be sleeping in my training field, I’m afraid,” I announce as I cross the grass, stalking toward them.
The three men freeze in place, clamping their mouths shut at the sound of my voice. Their eyes bulge from their heads, widening when they see the flames illuminating my hands.
“Who are you, and why are you here?” I ask as I close in.
The shortest one speaks up first, “I-I don’t know. We don’t know why we’re here.”
My flames grow hotter, expanding in size as my temper shortens. “What do you mean you don’t know?” I bark.
He jumps, nearly falling backward as my deep voice assaults his eardrums. Words don’t leave his mouth as he quivers, shaking his head while closing his eyes.
He can pretend I’m not here, but that’ll only get him into more trouble.
I turn toward the taller man, glaring at him while I wait for someone to answer.
Cracking to the pressure, the tall man’s voice is unsteady as he speaks, “We truly don’t know, sir. We-”
“High Lord,” I growl, cutting him off as I correct him.
“High Lord,” he quickly repeats, swallowing his fear. “We all arrived in this field at the same time, and we don’t know why. We’re all lost.”
My mind snaps back to Arryn, the lost traveler Adeena decided to keep as a house pet. He had said he was lost… and now these three men are lost in my field.
The third man clears his throat. “We don’t know where we are. We were going to knock on the castle doors, but we hesitated because it was late and we didn’t know who lived here.” He eyes me up and down, visibly terrified and regretting being here.
I watch the three of them for a moment, scanning them repeatedly as I attempt to decide what to do. I can’t leave them out here in the field. I could kill them for trespassing, but I don’t think Adeena would be very happy with me, and they could be telling the truth…
I roll my eyes to the back of my head, letting out a long sigh. “You may stay here for one night, and one night only. You will leave at first daylight.”
The smallest man clasps his hands together like he’s praying to the gods. “Oh, thank you, sir!”
“High lord!” the tallest man corrects him immediately, then looks to me. The fear in his eyes tells me he’s looking to see if I’m going to decapitate him right here and now for misuse of my title.
“Right, my apologies. Thank you, High Lord,” the smallest man says apologetically.
The other two nod and thank me in unison.
A wicked smile crosses my lips. “You’re just in time for dinner. Follow me.” I turn toward the castle, waving them on as I begin to walk. “We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry up. You’ve wasted enough of my time already.”
I’m being cold with them, but I don’t care. I don’t like this one bit. First, Arryn shows up in my forest, supposedly lost and confused, and now these three dumbasses are here arguing in my training field. It’s suspicious.
One night, then they’re gone.
The three dumbasses follow me inside, keeping a safe distance from my flaming hands, but following close enough to annoy me. We scale the stairs leading to the front entrance to the castle. I open the doors using my power, asserting even more dominance.
I lead them down the hallways while they walk in silence. The loud sound of chatter fills my ears as we get closer to the dining hall. I hear Adeena’s sweet laughter, immediately easing some of my tension.
Once again, I don’t recognize some of the voices I’m hearing, and it sounds like there are enough people to fill the entire room…
I turn the corner, abruptly stepping into the dining hall.
The room goes silent as I stand there, taking in everything going on.
All eyes fall to my flaming hands, and while I want to stoke the flames, growing them larger and hotter, I choose to put them out instead. The look Adeena is giving me is enough to make me behave.
Adeena rises from her chair, changing the deadly glare into a soft smile as she says, “You’re a little late, and I decided we shouldn’t keep this many people waiting.” She gestures to the table full of people.
