“She’ll be safe there,” I added, knowing how persuasive Jaik would find that.
Hanna kicked me lightly under the table. “So why don’t you come with me then? I know Jaik just wants to keep you safe, and you always wanted the chance to finish at Madame Posselbaum’s. You hated that you had to quit.”
Jaik looked stone faced at the idea. That stony expression—as if he had zero feelings—was the cover when he had a lot of feelings. Maybe Jaik wanted me here where he could protect me, and yet he also wanted me close. Even Prince Jaik couldn’t alter space and time to his liking.
“That’s a great idea,” Jaik said woodenly. “You always wanted to go back, didn’t you? Alis stole the opportunity from you to graduate, and now you have a second chance.”
“First of all, I’m twenty-four now.”
“You are never too old to chase your dreams,” Arren put in from the end of the table where he’d gone almost unnoticed and forgotten as he ate a piece of steak larger than a book. It was an unusually positive sentiment from Arren, no doubt just because he hoped I would chase my dreams right out of their lives.
“Would you be safe there?” Jaik asked.
I was starting to feel penned in like I always did, given all the lies between us all. I hated that I couldn’t tell them I was a dragon too, but the elders had prevented me from doing that.
“I’ll be safe with you, as long as I don’t have to wash any more of your dirty socks.”
“You’re never going to get over that, are you?”
“Have you met your socks?”
Hanna stared around at all of us with a look of exasperation written across her pretty features. She brushed her hand impatiently through her reddish blonde hair, which was something that I had seen Branok do in frustration dozens of times. I didn’t like the idea of my sister mimicking anything from this group of degenerates.
“Why don’t you all just talk to each other?” Hanna demanded. “It’s obvious that you want to be together, but you’re playing this weird little game where you act as if you don’t care if she comes back with you,” she pointed from Jaik to me, “and you act as if you don’t care if you go back with him, but everyone knows it’s just nonsense! So why don’t you just admit that what you really want has less to do with safety, and more to do with the fact that you want to be able to play tickle—”
I dived across the table to slap a palm across my sister’s lips before she could finish that sentence. Her eyes twinkled mischievously above my hand.
“You don’t need to think about any of that,” I said firmly.
“Well, in your dreams, it was pretty obvious when you weren’t having more nightmares, that you were having the very best of dreams.” My sister raised her chin, clearly aware that she was being obnoxious but undeterred anyway. “And if you have to live a life full of nightmares, I’m glad you get to have the dreams too. I just wish you’d admit how you feel.”
“Well, I probably wouldn’t do that at the dinner table.” I couldn’t help but steal a glance at Arren who wasn’t welcome into the threesome I shared with Talisyn and Jaik. However, Arren seemed very intent on his steak. Maybe he was happy to be left out.
Hanna just smiled, then said, “Arren, would you teach me how to play king-and-castle? I noticed that there is a game room on the first floor. It looks like no one ever even uses it, which is a travesty.”
Arren got a familiar stubborn look on his face, but Jaik said, “That sounds like a great idea. I know how much Arren loves king-and-castle.”
Arren looked at Jaik with a distinctly murderous expression, but he still got up from the table. Still chewing his steak, he followed Hanna out the door. I could’ve sworn he looked a little bit terrified.
Hanna paused at the door and he opened it for her, turning back to give Jaik a long suffering look.
“You can tell he’s an only child,” Talisyn said.
But now that Hanna and Arren had gone, I returned to thinking about Branok and Lynx. “So Alina was enchanted by Lucien? But no one can identify the enchantments? So how do they know that he forced her to love him?”
“Lucien’s confession seemed pretty convincing,” Jaik said impatiently.
I wasn’t sure why he seemed in such a jerkish mood tonight. Even more so than usual.
“Wasn’t he tortured? I’m not sure I would trust any confession obtained under torture.”
“Why are you so concerned about Lucien?” Jaik demanded.
“I have a very different question,” Talisyn said. “I wonder why it is that Honor isn’t more concerned with Lucien.”
I stared at him, feeling suddenly betrayed. “What is this, gang up on Honor day?”
If they wanted to gang up on me, I had better ideas about how they could do it.
But Talisyn had a thought that he wanted to vent. He leaned across the table toward me propping his chin on his hand. Even though he always seemed light hearted and playful, his gaze seemed to cut right through me.
“You’ve been very concerned about how Caldren is doing back home and why we left him behind,” Talisyn said, “but Lucien has been missing and you don’t seem concerned about our wayward dragon shifter.”
My heart stopped in my chest. How could I have been so stupid? But I made myself smile at Talisyn. “Maybe the campaign you guys waged against him to convince me that he’s some bad guy worked.”
“Nice try, sweetheart.” Talisyn grinned at me. “But I happened to be able to tell pretty well by now that being a bad guy is not much of a deterrent to you.”
“Are you telling on yourself, Talisyn?”
Jaik’s gaze had taken on the sharp predatory focus that I knew well, and loved when it wasn’t deployed in my direction. “You were with Lucien when you were caught. Did he do something to you? Did he draw you into some kind of trap?”
“No, nothing like that. I can see why Branok and Lynx can’t trust him, but I can’t imagine Lucien hurting anyone.”
“But something went wrong with Lucien?” he questioned. “Or you would be concerned about making sure he was safe?”
“I happen to know that Lucien always comes out on top,” I said. “Look at him, he was in the dungeon and was expected to be executed and now he’s a dragon royal, the most respected and lauded group of men in the kingdom, everyone’s heroes.”
“Flattery is not going to get you out of this conversation, Honor.” Talisyn said. “There’s something that you’re not telling us. And we’d all do anything to keep you safe and to make sure you get your share of your father’s inheritance, that Hanna is happy and cared for. So I think you owe us the truth.”
“I don’t think relationships should be a tit for tat of who owes what, Talisyn,” I said.
“He doesn’t mean it like that,” Jaik said. “We’re all here for you and your sister. But if there’s, you know, something that might put you in danger again, if Lucien can’t be trusted, you have to tell us about it.”