Page 68 of Dewpoint
Myriam nearly hung up on me and that practically set me off. I packed up and headed to the king’s tent. The guards made it clear I should come back, but I gave them a look that they let him know I was there or I would eat them.
“I can smell his upset, so just let him in,” the king drawled from inside his fancy setup. The setups for expeditions weren’t ever glamorous and pushed us at times but the king? Yeah, it was out of a movie kind of lavish.
Part of being the king apparently.
“I have to leave,” I told him, swallowing a sigh when steam about came out of his ears. “Your Majesty, you have mywordthat I will be back and as much as you need me. I don’t want anyone else to die and hope for the undines to be safely relocated as well. This is beyond fascinating to me professionally even. The greatest—I have to go.”
He lost his anger and worry replaced it. “Is Sagan okay? What happened?”
I ran my tongue over my teeth. “I’m not getting answers and am being frozen out because…”
He snorted. “Your nephew is a bottom-dweller who should be drowned and the people around Sagan aren’t stupid enough to trust someone else in your family?”
“Fairly accurate,” I bit out.
He slowly blinked at me. “You love her—your feelings for her are real at least. This isn’t some ploy to help your family. You truly care for her.”
“For a long time now. I stepped aside when I learned about Kole. I need to get to her. Please. I promise—you don’t need me for a few days at least while your own experts come up with a plan.”
“Go,” he accepted, still studying me closely. “I know you won’t be able to give me details, but at least let me know if she’s okay. If there is—she suffers my worst nightmare for my own children. I find myself feeling more like a father with her than just another world leader, especially with how harsh her own people act towards her.”
“I’m disappointed in my species as well,” I admitted but then thanked him before hurrying off.
It took longer than I would have liked to get back to her, still annoyed I wasn’t getting any sort of update or information as to what was going on. And then the mood of the castle was off. It was like a tension I couldn’t understand.
Except I realized it was directly related to me.
Did people think I’d failed or something was wrong since I was back earlier than planned?
I cornered one of the staff and asked, but they politely—though abruptly—brushed me off. Again and again, female and male—none of them would tell me anything.
Finally, it was one of Sagan’s trusted guards, Lydia, who found me, evidently having heard I was asking questions. She nodded for me to follow her and then spun on me when we werealone. I didn’t even blame her because she could get in trouble for speaking plainly to a member of an Alpha family.
But I respected her for not caring and putting Sagan first.
“No one here trusts you nor your intentions,” she started with.
“Myriam does,” I corrected.
“She trusts you want to fuck the queen and many of us know that too,” Lydia snapped. “Duh. But you want to lead her around by the nose and have whatever fantasy you’ve had in your head for years. That’s not good for her and none of us trust you. They won’t tell you anything, especially when you’ve already proven to be jealous and overbearing.”
I was fine with the overbearing description—even the jealous one was accurate—but then it hit me that she was saying I hadreasonto be jealous. I chuffed and took a step towards her… And she simply smirked.
Fuck. I’d completely just made her fucking point.
Awesome.
The pieces fell together though and fast. “It’s not his concern about the temples, but Sagan. He’s a real contender.”
She didn’t confirm or deny it, but that smirk stayed in place. “He’s doing a great job of proving he can be a real partner to the queen and put her first. I’m rooting for him.”
I growled when she walked off and was half planning on just confronting Sagan and taking her to bed—doing whatever to make it clear I was who should be on her radar.
Even if it was selfish and not what was best for her. I left to help her and someone moved in to… There was no good way to finish that thought that didn’t make me sound more like an asshole.
My head was a mess, but then I caught sight of Princess Maple walking with a female ancient and it was clear they didn’t want to draw attention.
So of course I followed them because that was suspicious.
