Page 62 of Drama Queen

“When are you going back to your… realm?” Carver asks, seeming unsure if he’s used the proper word.

It’s a simple question, but there’s none of the heat I’m used to when he talks to me, and when I look up, I find his face a blank mask. He doesn’t seem embarrassed the same way I am, but he also doesn’t seem like the same asshole I’m used to.

It’s the most genuine he’s ever been with me, and it takes me a second to realize he’s talking to me because of it.

“Ugh, well, as soon as you tell me,” I say, looking around the room and realizing that by this time tomorrow, I could be gone, with or without them.

“If you decide to come with me, we can leave as soon as you're ready,” I trail off, looking down at Zeph in the mirror. I can see he doesn’t want me to give them another option. If he had his way, he would have me drag them back, kicking and screaming. But I would never do that, and he knows it.

“If not, well, I don’t really have any reason to stay.”

“What about school?” Silas asks, and Aldric nods in agreement.

“I only registered because the bond brought me to the school. As far as education goes, I’ve got everything I would need in my realm, minus finishing the Academy, but that’s more specialized, not so textbook.” I shrug, unsure exactly how to explain, considering I’ve never been there myself. When I’d asked my father about it in the past, he simply said I would learn how to rule the Unseelie Court.

Not super helpful.

“I know this is a lot, not only to ask but for you to understand in general. But I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary.” Zephyr growls at my words, but I ignore him for the moment. “I needyou if I want to have any hopes of our kingdom surviving…of us surviving…” I trail off, unsure what else to say. There’s so much, but none of it feels right to say until they have made their decision.

I could tell them about the bond and the way it reacted, but I’m not sure why it’s doing that and it seems wrong to give them more to worry about.

“Give us until the morning, and we’ll let you know,” Aldric says, snapping me from my thoughts. He pushes up from the couch and heads to the door. Carver looks like he has more he wants to say, but instead remains quiet, following Aldric out without another word, leaving me, Silas, and Zeph in the mirror.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, unsure what else to say but feeling like I need to say something.

“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. You didn’t do this. It was done to you, the same as us. You're just the messenger,” Silas says, offering me a smile that lights his face up.

He’s so fucking sweet that my heart squeezes just looking at him.

“Thanks,” I say with a sigh, letting his words really wash over me. They're true, but I can’t help feeling bad knowing they have lives, dreams, and futures here that I’ve come to tear apart.

With a nod, Silas stands and heads toward the door. “I’ll talk to them,” he says before he walks out, closing the door behind them.

I sit in silence for so long that I forget Zeph is still here until he talks. “They’d be stupid to turn down a chance with you, my queen,” he says, and I almost drop the damn mirror.

“They have lives, Zeph. They don’t owe me shit.” I shake my head, unable to picture this going my way.

I should have never come.

“No, they don’t. But I do. With or without them, we’ll figure this out. I promise.”

SILAS

Yesterday was a lot.

I’d never been interested in most people, preferring to stick to myself and my books, with the exception of my brothers.

Emory changed that. I’m not sure what it was about her. It could be so many things. She’s beautiful, smart, doesn’t take Carver’s shit, doesn’t have heart eyes for Aldric, but most importantly, I feel like she sees me.

My brothers have always been the ones people see, and I was fine with that, preferred it even.

Until her.

When Emory said she needed us, I wanted to tell her without a doubt that I would be there for her. It wasn’t even a question for me, but I could see my brothers' hesitation.

Neither of them knows her like I do. Most of their interactions end in a fight. Aldric loves to pick on her in class, always calling on her as if she might, for once, not have the answer, and Carver loves to say anything he can to get a rise out of her. I’m not sure what it is with those two, but they fight like cats and dogs, and I get the feeling they enjoy it.

It’s strange, but it works for them.

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