Page 92 of Their Chosen

“After last night, I can't help but be afraid. The Queen is unstable, and I fear you have drawn more of her attention than I am comfortable with,” he admitted, a grimace twisting his lips.

“It's not like I meant to, you know. I didn't set out with the goal of let's piss off the crazy Queen.” I snarked.

He huffed at my sarcasm. “I know that. You'd have to be some kind of stupid to do that. Which, despite your naivety to our ways, you are not.”

“Aww. Thanks for that. I'm so glad you see that,” I replied sarcastically. I couldn't help it. It was my secret weapon for dealing with any emotions I didn't want to address.

He ignored my jibe and continued, “But I can't, for the life of me, figure out what started it. I watched you last night, and you didn't have that much to drink, so how did you fall into that servant?”

My brain got stuck on one fact that he probably hadn't meant to admit. “You were watching me?” I asked him.

“Yes. I was. If you must know, I watch everyone. You can only really know someone if you watch how they behave when they think no one is watching,” he growled, but I sensed the half-truth in his statement. “But you didn't answer my question. What happened?”

I frowned at that, thinking back to last night. Trying to remember what was happening before that moment where everything went sideways. “I was just standing there, talking with Baer, Lennox, and Arryn. I had just asked Baer when we could leave when the Queen stood to make her announcement that she was leaving the party.”

I gasped as I remembered. “Someone pushed me!” I told him. “I don't know who, before you ask. I was just trying not to fall on my face.”

It was his turn to scowl as if he was searching his own memory for who could have been around me. “Well, whoever it is, it's safe to assume that they intended something like that to happen.”

“Which means someone was trying to set me up,” I finished his thought. “I've known since that first night that someone was after me, but since they hadn't done anything else, I didn't think it was that big of a deal anymore.”

“What do you mean?” he questioned, leaning forward in his chair.

“Someone broke into my room. I had to throw a vase at them and threaten them with my knife. Didn't the guys tell you?” I asked, really thinking someone had told him.

“Oh. About that…” he trailed off, an almost sheepish look on his face.

“What?”

“That was me,” he said plainly.

“What!?” I sat up too quickly at that and grimaced in pain.

“I knew I had been selected as your consort, but I didn't know anything about you. I needed to learn more before I made myself known.”

“So, you decided to break into my room and threaten me?” I exclaimed.

“I didn't threaten you,” he stated defensively. “I simply searched through your things and was trying to get a look at you, when you woke up and then proceeded to threaten me.”

“As if that makes it okay?” Clearly, he didn't understand the violation.

“As I said before, I have a lot weighing on me, and it was important that I made an educated decision on what to do about the bond.” He continued trying to defend himself.

“Okay. It still doesn't make it right,” I told him before deciding to let it go. “What made you decide to step forward?” I asked him, genuinely puzzled about his reasons.

“Besides that I really didn't have a choice? It was the fact that you threatened me with a knife and then threw a vase at me.” He chuckled at that thought and I couldn't help the smile that tugged at my lips. “You were smart enough not to throw your knife and leave yourself defenseless. You were strong and cunning. So, I knew that you couldn't be the worst option I could have gotten as my Chosen.”

“Aww. Stop, Callum. You keep saying such sweet things and I think I just might swoon,” I said, teasing him. “So, this whole time, the guys have been staying with me, thinking someone had broken in and was a threat.” I said aloud to myself, amused that there hadn't been one all along. “Do the guys know it was you?” I asked him.

“No. I didn't think anything of it. I just thought you wanted them to stay with you,” he admitted. “Although now, I'm here because I truly believe there is an actual threat.”

“Yeah.” My thoughts turned to last night.

We both grew quiet, lost in our own thoughts. I was about to drift off again when I heard him speak again. “I'm glad it's you.”

“Hmm...?” I hummed in question, needing more clarification.

“I'm thankful that, of all the Chosen, it's you,” he said louder and with more conviction. “Seeing you up there last night, facing down the Queen, made me think that just maybe, there might be some hope for us all.”

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