Ari looked like he wanted to fight with his father some more or maybe go after Sanchez again, but I darted forward and put a hand on his arm.
“Ari, please,” I murmured. “Can we not do this now?” With all these angry old men staring at me, I added mentally but didn’t say.
Ari must have seen the upset look on my face, because at last he nodded. Despite my firm promise to myself that I wouldn’t let anyone make me feel inferior, it was incredibly hard to keep my resolution after what Sanchez had called me. It also didn’t help that the rest of the men who had been Drakes were all glaring at me like I was a piece of dog crap Ari had dragged home on the bottom of his shoe.
“All right,” Ari said, looking at his father, not me as he spoke. “We can talk in private later. But I want it to be known that Kaitlyn is mine and no one is to harm her.”
There was a growl of protective possessiveness in his voice—an echo of his Drake that I knew everyone in the Audience Chamber could hear.
His father stared at Ari for a long moment and then nodded.
“Fine. No one is to harm the girl,” he said, raising his voice. “Now get her out of my sight!”
This last seemed to be directed to the human servants, several of whom rushed up to me, as though to hustle me away.
The moment they touched me, however, Mr. Seahorse—who had been hiding close to my neck, camouflaged by my long hair—flew up into the air in front of me. He chimed angrily and blew his tiny, two-inch jet of fire at the man who had taken hold of my arm, causing the servant to gasp and pull his hand away.
“What’s this?” he gasped. “A chimeling? Here in the palace?”
“But such a thing has not been in the last ten generations!” the other servant exclaimed.
“His name is, uh, Mr. Seahorse,” I told them, feeling a bit foolish. “I think he’s just worried you’re going to hurt me.”
I was a little anxious about that myself. Although I knew Ari wouldn’t tolerate anyone doing anything to me in front of him, it seemed like they were trying to take me away from the big Drake. And who knew what might happen to me in the depths of this huge castle?
“Kaitlyn saved the chimeling from a hisser when we stopped for the night.” I thought there was a hint of laughter in Ari’s voice—he seemed to be over his anger and was enjoying seeing the awe on the faces of the servants and the other assembled Drakes. “I think he’s adopted her. Best be careful—he’s a fierce as my Drake.”
This provoked a general round of laughter from everyone but Sanchez and the mood in the Audience Chamber lightened maybe just a tiny bit. The Drakes still weren’t happy about me being there—especially as Ari’s bride-to-be—which sounded kind of extreme, when I actually thought about it. But they were looking at me differently, now that Mr. Seahorse had made an appearance.
Speaking of my new pet, he was still flying back and forth in front of me, his golden wings a humming blur, as he chimed in anger and warning at the waiting servants.
“It’s okay,” I told him, holding out a finger for him to perch on. “It’s all right, Mr. Seahorse. They aren’t going to hurt me.”
My assurances seemed to calm him down because, with a final tiny finger of flame towards the nearest servant, he came to rest on my extended hand. I put him on my shoulder and he sat there, still staring alertly at the servants, as though daring them to put their hands on me again.
There were more murmurs of amazement at this little performance and the servants didn’t try to touch me again. Instead, they bowed and the one who had tried to grab my arm before asked respectfully,
“Will you come with us, Miss? We will bring you to a place where you can refresh yourself and choose clothing more fitting to your station.”
He nodded at my rumpled and creased Nocturne Academy uniform with a hint of distaste on his face, as though I had arrived wearing dirty rags. Well, given the magnificently embroidered silk and satin robes Ari and his father were wearing, maybe I had—at least in their estimation.
“Thank you,” I said, nodding. “I’d be pleased to.”
“And I would be pleased to go with you,” Ari said firmly, when the servants started to lead me away.
I shot him a grateful look—I really didn’t want to go off on my own in this enormous palace. If I got separated from him, who knew when or how we would ever find each other again?
“Fine. Go and see your mother.” Ari’s father’s voice was little more than a growl—there was definitely a hint of his own Drake in it. “We will speak of this later.” He nodded at the servants. “Take them away.”
“Yes, my Alpha!” the servants said in unison. They both bowed and then they led the way to the back of the Audience Chamber, where I saw a small, human sized door in the corner.
Well, the first part of meeting the parents was over, at least. And it had gone pretty much as badly as I had thought it would. I wondered if Ari’s mother would be as upset as his father.
I was betting the answer was yes.
75
Kaitlyn
“That went well,” Ari said, as we followed the servants and crossed through the human doorway and into another long , marble hallway. But at least it wasn’t as huge and vast as one that also served as a portrait gallery. This part of the palace seemed to be built to human dimensions, I noticed with some relief. It was much less intimidating than the enormous, vaulted marble ceiling
