Page 45 of The Dragon of her Dreams

“No, not at all,” he said. “We all just arrived, so the dining room is set up. Come.”

I begrudgingly let the king drag me into the dining hall, where everyone was already seated and waited. No one had started eating, so either my timing was strangely perfect, or they’d waited for me.

“Please, sit,” Damon said as he took his place at the head of the table.

Vanya was waiting, a seat next to her available for me.

“Hello, everyone,” I managed to say, nodding my head to the rest of the family as I took my seat. “I didn’t think you were arriving until tomorrow?”

Everyone was there, even Iain and Veronica.

Queen Cass answered my question, “We were anxious to come home.”

“Please, eat,” the king said.

Everyone began reaching for the platters and serving themselves.

A servant walked up and discreetly asked me if I’d like wine or whiskey.

I immediately requested whiskey, realizing I would need fortification to get through whatever conversation was coming.

“It’s so great to be home,” Veronica said appreciatively. “Though it’s so much colder than I remembered. We’ve been in the human world too long again.”

I smiled at her.

Veronica’s gaze zoomed in on me. “Have you ever crossed the Veil, Jaegar?”

“No,” I answered truthfully, reaching for the roasted potatoes slathered in melted herbed butter. “I’d never left the North... before a few days ago.”

“It must have been such a shock,” Vanya said quietly beside me. She was dressed in a beautiful, dark dress, her long hair piled on top of her head in an arrangement of elegant curls.

I shrugged. “Yes, it was, but I’m home now.”

A strange silence followed my answer before Theo spoke. “Jaegar, can I ask you something?”

I nodded. “Of course.” The creamy pasta dish I’d heaped on my plate was settling well into my cold belly, and as I took a long sip of whiskey, I sighed, finally relaxing.

“You love this kingdom, don’t you?” he pressed.

I frowned at the crown prince. “Of course. It’s my home.”

What an odd question.

I picked up my fork and speared a chunk of potato before putting it in my mouth.

“I don’t think that now is the time to talk about that,” the queen said carefully.

My brow furrowed in confusion. “About what?” Were they considering kicking me out of the kingdom or something? Had they finally decided they couldn’t deal with me being part of their world and wanted to be rid of me once and for all? “You’re not going to ask me leave, are you?” I asked. I wasn’t sure I’d survive being cast out of the only home I’d ever known.

Barry joined in on the conversation and laughed. “Oh, no. Not at all. You love this place even more than us.”

I glanced sidelong at Vanya.

She gave me a soft shrug, as if to say she didn’t know what they were talking about.

The king picked up his wine glass and took as sip before speaking. “My sons are trying to tell you, inelegantly I must say, that we’d all like you to take a more active role in the running of the kingdom.”

I glanced at the queen, then Vanya, then back at the king. “A more active role than what I’m currently doing? Building houses for my people?” I didn’t think anything was more important than that.

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