Maeve

Kalon and I hadn’t spoken since we got back to our rooms. We changed out of the overly fancy dresses into still overly fancy loungewear in complete silence. All I could think about was what I had learned earlier about her. I knew so little about her, and as a result, had to fill in all my own imaginings for who she even was. Today however, flipped those perceptions on their head. Could she really expect me to just ignore that?

Huffing, I jumped onto the bed across from hers, my legs crossed. She regarded me with a short look, before going back to straightening her items in her bag.

“We should probably plan on leaving soon, now that Elyas is safely back. We have no place here. Where we can go, isn’t certain, but as long as we’re here, we’re putting both him and us in danger.”

I wanted to retort that he would still be in danger of The Mariposa if we left, only moreso if we weren’t there to protect him, but our leaving was not an argument I currently was prioritizing.

“A brother, huh?”

Kalon froze, her actions halted at my mentioning the elephant in the room.

“Not just any brother, but he looked important. Like he would be a businessman, a high tier,” I pressed. Please, Kalon, give me something. “I know in The Mariposa, it was seen as taboo to talk about our pasts. I understand that.”

Kalon turned, looking at me as she settled down on the bed. To my relief, she wasn’t quite glaring at me yet. Just looked hesitant, guarded. Like she always did.

“But we’re not in the Mariposa anymore. All we have is each other at this point, Kalon. We have to look out for one another, I promise you, I will look out for you. But it would help, if I knew who all I am trying to protect you from.”

She was beginning to open up until I mentioned protecting her, at which point, her eyes darkened, and she was now definitely glaring at me. “I don’t need your protection.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I crossed my arms, unbothered by her stubbornness. “I know you don’t need it. But you want it. Just the way I don’t need it, but want it. That’s why you and I became such fast friends after fighting each other in the trials. You don’t have to let the world be there for you, but one person can’t hurt, right?”

She was silent a long moment, staring at me, considering. Finally, her expression softened, and she sighed.

“My parents were very absent from my life, both of them heading a corporation to this day I don’t know the details on. My brother and I were expected, furiously, to follow in their footsteps. There was… many consequences if our grades weren’t satisfactory, if our hair wasn’t perfectly so in meetings, our steps not just right in a ball. I resented every part of it. But my brother… he wanted to earn his parents’ love. So, he followed their every demand. I couldn’t do that. So, I left. And I never looked back.”

My eyes were wide at her admission, hearing from the story from her mouth. It made her make a lot more sense, the way she could be so uptight, so poised at times, while so reckless in others. The way she was her own worst critic in training, training longer in the day than anyone else in the Mariposa, training until her movements were perfect.

“So, your parents? You have no clue where it is they work? What they do?”

Kalon shook her head. “It was all very hush hush. My goal, in the Mariposa, was to find out what it was and put an end to it if I saw fit. Azriel was aware of this goal and had promised me he would find out for me… If he ever did, he never told me.”

“And your brother? What did he want? What do you think he wanted?”

She rolled her eyes. “He claimed he was just curious how I’ve been. I’m almost certain he just wanted to spy on me to report back to our parents…”

Her walls were going back up and I could see it as she averted her gaze, suddenly very interested in her pillow sheet.

“What else did he say, Kalon?” I said, as gently as I could, like you would talk to a scared child.

“He warned me, threatened me not to mess with our parents and their business. I don’t think he knows who I work with, but he apparently has some inkling I am actively trying to work against him.”

I nodded, figuring as much. “Well, maybe seeing you with Elyas will throw him off. Make you think you’re chummy with the royals.”

She shrugged. “Maybe.” She looked at me, her gaze even more serious. “So, we’re protecting each other, correct?”

I furrowed my brows, grabbing my pillow to clutch to my chest. “Yeahhh,” I said, waiting to see where she was going with this.

“Don’t fall in love with that man, Maeve.”