“Oooo… So demanding so early,” Lex mocked. “I like it.”
The brunette in the bed stirred. “What’s going— Your Majesty!” The girl nearly shrieked in surprise at seeing Aydra in the room and pulled the sheets up over her breasts. “My Queen—I—”
Aydra nearly laughed and she held a hand up. “I’ve seen worse in more compromising positions, Aani,” she told her. “Lex, I’ll see you in a bit. Aani, clean yourself and your friend up. Your father will expect you innocent once more at breakfast.”
Aydra exited Lex’s room and made downstairs for the terrace below the Throne Room. It was a favorite place of hers to go whenever she woke so early.
The crisp night air welcomed her. Two crescent moons waved at her from over the ocean far below. She moved her hair off her neck and pulled it into a messy ponytail atop her head as she reached the stone edge wall. Stray curls fell out of the bun and tickled her face and neck. She could see most of the kingdom from that terrace. The only people out in the streets far below were the bread makers, smells of honey and yeast filling the air. She closed her eyes and pressed her palms into the stone, leaning over it as the wind circled around her.
“You know when I chose this spot, I had thought I would be alone to watch the sunrise,” came a deep groggy voice she recognized all too well.
Her eyes opened, and she turned just slightly, finding Draven sitting on the ground in the darkness behind her, back leaned against the opposite facing wall. He was packing his pipe, the only glimpse of him being the strongest of his features silhouetted in the moons light. His hair was down, the thick unkept waves pushed over to cover the left side of his face. She turned and leaned her own back against her wall and crossed her arms over her chest.
“A bit early, isn’t it?” she asked with a raised brow.
He didn’t look up as he continued to pack it with a pale looking herb she wasn’t familiar with. “This is my morning herb. A different sort from that of yesterday evening.” A match was pulled from his pocket and he struck it against the stone as he’d done the night before. It illuminated his face as he pressed his lips around the pipe and took a long draw, head leaning back against the stone upon his holding it in his lungs for a moment. A long O of smoke exhaled from his mouth. She watched him take a long, deliberate, look over her body as his eyes opened, and he pulled his knees into his chest.
“I take it you had a pleasant night,” he said.
Aydra felt her brows raise at the memory of it, and then did a double-take at the smug look on Draven’s face. Her jaw clenched. “The herb?”
A gentle huff of amusement left his lips, and he shook his head. “No idea what you mean.”
Her arms hugged tighter against her chest. “That would explain a few things,” she mumbled. “I haven’t come that quickly with Ash in ages.”
He choked on the inhale he’d just taken and doubled-over coughing, gripping to the stone floor. She felt a smirk on her lips.
“Did I say something?” she asked.
He clenched his chest and then shook his head, attempting to regain his composure. “No, I just—I wasn’t sure you knew how to joke.”
“Who says it was a joke?” she asked, finally meeting his gaze.
A quirk of a crooked smile rose on his lips and he stood from the ground, crossing the space between them to lean over the wall as she was. He extended his hand with the pipe towards her, and she eyed the green herb in it, not entirely trusting that this was a weaker brand as he’d said it was.
“I smoke that now and I won’t be able to manage the rest of the day,” she told him.
He puffed on it again and nodded towards the east. “I think we have a bit of time we could take care of any… urges… you might have.”
Her lips pursed in his direction and she almost rolled her eyes at his raised brow. “You’re disgusting.”
He scoffed under his breath and straightened up. “Have you any word if they found the Infi?”
“Nothing. But I was watching them some during the night. Rhaif’s men are completely useless,” she answered. “You’ll show me proper disposal when it is found, not the others.”
Draven paused a moment and stared at her. “Why are you the one beheading criminals?”
“I refuse to give orders of which I am not comfortable taking care of on my own,” she answered simply. “I am in charge of the security within this kingdom. I will be the one to take the lives and quell the punishments of any who we see fit to take.”
Draven’s eyes fluttered closed, jaw tightening, and she swore she heard a low growl emit from his throat, but she didn’t have a moment to ponder it. He inhaled the herb deeply, fist clenching and unclenching at his side as his eyes opened once more and met hers. Her weight shifted beneath the intense weight of his gaze, and her brows raised at him.
“What?” she asked.
He straightened and leaned over the banister again. “Nothing,” he said quietly. “This title… it’s new, is it not?” he finally asked.
“It was given to me upon my discovering the Infi the first time. I brought him before Council and then took care of his execution myself.”
“And exactly how many of these punishments have you had to fulfill?” he asked with a tilt of his head.
Her jaw clenched. “The inner workings of our kingdom is not your concern.”
“So two, then?” he dared to say.
Lex appeared at the doorway then, and she raised her brows between the pair standing on the roof. “My lady,
