“Fine, Venari,” she muttered. “I’ll play your games.”
“My Queen—”
The sound of Lex’s voice coming up the stairs calmed Aydra’s nerves. Lex bounded into the room, wide eyed.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Aydra said at the sight of her Second. “I thought my sister had been stupid enough to come on her own.”
“I tried to stop her,” Lex said as she crossed the room and hugged her. “How are you? Are you okay? You—” her face furled in disgust and she took a step back “Ugh. Sweet Arbina. Has he not let you bathe since your being here?” Lex held her hand up to her nose. “And look at the state of your hair—” She began quickly looking around the room then for the wash.
“Haven’t exactly been able to help myself to the bath,” Aydra admitted.
“You would think the Venari would be able to contain himself long enough to help you at least get to it. How long?”
“Only a few days…”
Lex raised an expectant brow.
“Okay, so I’ve just been bird bathing since I arrived,” Aydra finally admitted.
“Disgusting. If this is how he treats wounded guests, he and I will have to have a chat.” Lex found the bath behind a door and began drawing the water from the pump tap. “Come on. You can’t go down to breakfast like that.”
Aydra held up the lace dress Draven had given her. Lex’s brows furrowed.
“What the Infi is that?” she asked.
“It’s what he expects me to wear to breakfast,” Aydra answered. “Said it was the only dress Balandria had.”
Lex took it from her hands and then looked around the room. Her eyes fell on the black sheets on the bed, and a small smile grew on her face. “We can work with this.”
When Aydra and Lex made down the rope a half hour later for breakfast, she was met with staring gazes from the other Hunters in the clearing. Raised brows followed her hobbling figure, until finally she reached Draven standing a few yards away, his back turned to her.
Balandria was the first to notice her of the pair. Her brow raised and she smirked.
“Hm… Looks like someone’s not playing your game,” she mused, grinning at Draven.
Draven turned, and both his brows raised as he gave her a full once over.
They’d taken his black bedsheets off and fashioned it into strips, making Aydra a sheeted bodysuit that stretched from her crotch over her left shoulder, and then wrapped around the rest of her hips and torso. She had taken the lace dress he’d given her and merely pulled it around her hips, ripping the top part and then tying the sleeves behind her, fashioning her signature waist cape that she favored so much.
“Are those my sheets?” he asked upon seeing her.
“You literally gave me nude lace to wear,” she mocked. “What did you think I would do?”
“You tore my sheets,” he stated.
Her chin rose, and she fought the smile that threatened her lips. “I’m practiced in ripping things, as I’m sure you are,” she said in a low tone.
His surprise turned smolder, and he chuckled under his breath, eyes darting to the ground and then back up to her gaze. “All right, Sun Queen,” he muttered, the vibration radiating over her skin. “I see you.”
Aydra averted her stare to the widened eyes of her sister sitting down at the long table in the middle of the treeline. “I see you tamed her,” she said with a upwards nod.
He turned fleetingly back to see Nyssa, and then said, “Leave it to the charms of Balandria,” with a smile in his Second’s direction.
Balandria gave a small smirk and raised her glass to him. “All in a day’s work.”
Breakfast proved to be more fun than she thought it would be.
Nyssa sat between Balandria and Draven, and she sat quietly between them, eyes darting around the table nervously as she was the smallest one there. After a while, Nyssa seemed to relax, allowing herself to laugh at some of Balandria’s jokes and speak with her quietly. Aydra caught her eye after a while and smiled back at Nyssa, giving her a quiet wink at the surprise of happiness apparent in her sister’s features.
The Hunters told tales of what awaited them that day, and what they’d found in their nightly patrols. Aydra laughed as Dunthorne told her his own stories of beasts he’d fought with in his past, another Hunter joined in to tell her of how Dunthorne was not as masculine as he thought he was.
Once, Aydra leaned back in the chair and looked around her, staring at the laughing faces of the free men and women around her, telling jokes at one another’s expense, eating equally with their king. She’d never known such a family of equal people existed. Having been taught her entire life that she was somehow better than the Dreamers in her streets simply because of the Tree she’d been born beneath.
And when Draven attempted to keep quiet, she was told stories at his own expense, to which she couldn’t help but try and memorize so she could use them on him later.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of this, sir King of the southern realm,” Dunthorne mocked. “You haven’t always been so strong and mighty as you think you are.”
Draven’s amused eyes narrowed at his Third, mouth twisting in annoyance.
“Please tell me more,” Aydra begged, turning to Dunthorne at her side.
“Lies,” Draven interjected.
Dunthorne grinned. “What about the time we went to the mountains, and you were caught in Dahrkenhill’s square with your pants down?”
Aydra’s eyes widened, and the amusement faded from Draven’s gaze.
“I need to hear this,” Aydra begged.
“You really don’t,” Draven argued, eyes darkening beneath his furrowed brows.
Dunthorne began to tell the story in grand detail. Draven bit his cheek and tapped his cup on the table as Dunthorne spoke. Dunthorne paused and grinned at Draven when he was done, taking a swig of his drink. Draven
