AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Irian and the human woman step away from the forge then, and Irian notices me.
He gestures to the woman as I step out of the smithy, and they both follow me.
“Krista,” Irian addresses the woman. She pulls her mask, goggles, and gloves off, revealing her creamy skin and brilliant green eyes. “This is Lasta. The captain of the royal guard. We work directly under him and take all our orders on weaponry from him.”
Krista does not look directly at me but keeps her eyes down and nods politely. She claps her hands together behind her back and bright color rises in her cheeks.
I do not say anything to her, and she steps back, away from the little circle we’re in. She continues keeping her head down, and I can tell that she is trying hard not to listen to the conversation.
She knows her place. She is respectful. And she is very talented,I think to myself as I remember her quiet confidence inside the smithy, where she skillfully managed the entire forge without Irian even knowing that she was doing it.
The same words ring in my head over and over again, the same words I thought when I first saw her the night before.There she is.
The urge to say it out loud is almost overwhelming, so I lift my mug of kaffo to my lips while Irian tells me about the progress they have been making.
I want to say it out loud.
I want to say, “There you are. You’re the one. You’re going to carry my eggs inside you. I’ve been looking for you.”
But I don’t say it out loud.
Instead, I listen carefully to Irian.
Irian is one of few people who knows about my fear that a war is coming. That is why he agreed to take on more people at the smithy – people like Krista and a few more naga.
That is why we are working on building our stores of weapons. We are even expanding the smithy and the armory so that we have more space for production and storage.
Irian and I continue to speak, while Krista stands quietly and subserviently apart from us. The gentle wind in the air lifts her scent towards me then, and my stomach tightens at the smell of her.
Her scent, spicy and bright, is mouthwatering. I find myself staring at her before I drag my attention back to Irian before he can suspect anything.
There she is. I’ve found her.
The words ring in my head again, and this time the words are accompanied by music that I have never heard before.
You need to get some fucking sleep,I think wearily to myself.
I do not look at Krista when I walk away from Irian and the smithy. I don’t acknowledge her, or the fact that she’s the one I have been looking for since Zalith and Slyth found their human mates.
I didn't even know I was looking for her.
I didn't even know that I wanted someone in my life, let alone a human woman.
What I do know is that lately, I can barely look at Zalith and Aurora, or Slyth and Lorelai, without wanting to bellow angrily at all of them.
Lately, I have been spending less time with all of my friends, and more time obsessing over the war. I tell myself it’s for the good of the kingdom, but now I admit it might simply be so that I do not have to see them all together.
Happy. In love.
But there she is.
Now that I have seen Krista, I know I must have her. I have known it, I think, since I saw her last night, walking back to the palace from the smithy.
She is perfect for me.
I may want what Zalith and Slyth both have, but I also know that I could never put up with a woman like Aurora or Lorelai.
But Krista is it. She is perfect for me.
