Page 102 of Draekora
“I remember what he said,” Aven cut in, casting another wary glance over to his brother, but Roka was too busy laughing at something Kyia had said to be paying them any attention.
“Is that what you want?” Alex asked before she could chicken out. “To take the throne? Your family dead or cast aside?”
She, of course, knew that one day he would try and do exactly that. But the question had been plaguing her for almost a fortnight, ever since that unforgettableGarsethmeeting. Had Aven been dwelling on it all this time as well? Just how close to being the villain of the future was he?
“Of course I don’t want that,” came his fast reply, his grip tightening around her. “Stars, Aeylia. What kind of person do you think I am?”
Glancing over his shoulder, Alex made herself finish what she’d started, needing to know exactly where he stood at this point in time. “You and your father are at odds about his support of the mortals. Skraegon might be a disgusting bully, but he’s right about one thing—if you were on the throne, you could rule Meya however you wanted.”
For a long moment, all Alex could hear was the anxious thumping of her own heart, increasing with the rising crescendo of the music.
When Aven spoke, it was so low that even with her Meyarin hearing, Alex could barely hear him.
“I won’t lie to you—Ihaveconsidered his words more than I care to admit,” he said, his continued guidance through the dance steps the only thing that kept her from freezing with dread. “As you said, Skraegon is right—if my family were out of the picture, it would certainly simplify matters.”
Alex almost dropped to her knees when Aven’s tormented golden eyes locked on hers.
“But I could never instigate anything like that, Aeylia,” he whispered fervently. “I might not get along with my father all the time, but he’s still myfather. We have our differences, sure, and there are too many of them for us to ever be as close as he is with my brother, but how would I ever live with myself if I decided to… to get rid of him?” Aven shook his head, horrified by the very idea. “And Roka—he’s one of the only people in this world who I trust with my life. He’d never betray me, nor I him. He’s more than my brother—he’s my closest confidant. We tell each other everything. I could no sooner harm him than I could you.”
Alex couldn’t help jolting in surprise at his mention of her, but the unintentional reflex occurred right as he spun her out in a twirl, effectively concealing her knee-jerk reaction from his watchful eyes.
So much of what he’d said distressed her, mostly because she knew that Rokawasn’ttelling Aven everything—he was hiding the truth about Alex. And if Aven ever found out…
Alex couldn’t stomach the thought. Her only comfort was in the knowledge that when the time came for him to finally snap and change so drastically from who he currently was to someone willing to commit murder, she wouldn’t be around to witness how and why that came about. All she could do was guess the reason for it.
Perhaps Astophe would push him too far in one of their arguments, or maybe his relationship with Roka would decline over the coming years, enough that when Aven eventually decided to kill the humans, he would be willing to throw his family away.
Whatever the case, with only a couple more days left in the past, Alex decided to cast all the possible scenarios from her mind. She couldn’t stop what was going to happen, all she could do was live the hours given to her. Right now that meant focusing on the dance steps she was learning.
It might have been wishful thinking on her part, or perhaps just plain denial. But as she twirled with him around the room and their difficult conversation faded away, Alex decided she was happy enough to live in that bubble for the moment—especially if it meant she could enjoy the little time she had left with Aven as her friend and not as the raging future psychopath who wanted nothing more than to see her dead.
Thirty-Two
“Aeylia.”
“Aeylia, wake up.”
“Come on, Aeylia, open your eyes.”
A gentle shaking made Alex groan as the persistent voice kept calling to her, pulling her out of the deep sleep she so desperately needed.
It was two days since she’d danced with Aven, which meant it was two and a half days since Niyx had learned she would soon be leaving. With her festival duties considered complete once the distribution of outfits had been finalised, all Alex’s spare time had been spent continuing her training with the unrelenting Meyarin. True to his word, the sparring she’d done with Niyx in the last couple of days had been about fifty million times more challenging than anything she’d ever experienced before, and her body was paying a price that even her frequent ingestion oflaendrawas struggling to assist with. What she really needed was rest, yet it seemed that her middle-of-the-night visitor was determined to interrupt her favourite part of the day.
“Now s’not a good time, Aven,” she mumbled, recognising his voice but unwilling to open her eyes and relinquish her grip on sleep. “Come back never.”
He chuckled from overhead. “Don’t you mean, ‘come back later’?”
“Nope,” Alex said, hugging her pillow closer. “Never.” She nuzzled her face into the soft material. “Then I can”—she broke off to yawn—“sleep forever.”
A gentle tugging that became a firm yanking pried her pillow from her hands.
“I’ve been trying to catch you for days,” Aven said when she finally opened her eyes enough to squint up at him in a glare. “I can’t help wondering if you’ve been avoiding me.”
“So you decided to ambush me in the middle of the night—in mybedroom?” Alex said, every slurred word waking her up more and more, to her annoyance. “While I’msleeping?”
“It’s the only place I knew you’d be,” he said, grinning unrepentantly.
Alex was too tired to call up any concern about his feelings towards her, despite the fact that she was in quite a vulnerable position, in bed as she was. She simply didn’t have it in her to worry about boundaries right now.
