Page 12 of Draekora

“Where can I get some?” Alex asked, entranced by the brilliant flames dancing at her feet. Testing Kyia’s words, she crouched down and reached out her hand, carefully moving it forward until the fire tickled her fingers. Sure enough, Alex felt only a pleasant warmth envelop her skin, rather than the searing pain of burning flesh.

Kyia laughed. “Unfortunately, there’s very littlemyraesavailable to us these days. It’s a rare commodity amongst our race.”

Alex let out a dramatically disappointed sigh. “I guess that means I can’t steal your powder and take it home with me?”

Grinning, Kyia said, “You can try, but I don’t think you’ll get very far.”

Alex didn’t think so either.

“Come,” Kyia said, moving away from the fireplace. “Roka has asked that you dine with us tonight.”

Following the Meyarin from the room and onto theValispaththat whisked them speedily through the palace corridors, Alex felt the swish of her dress brush against her bare ankles.

“Uh, Kyia? Aren’t we a little overdressed for dinner?”

While Alex felt like a royal imposter for traversing the palace in a dress that flowed like running water from her shoulders to the floor, her only comfort was that Kyia had traded in her weapon-strapped warrior getup for a similarly elegant gown— hers being a deep forest green that brought out the emerald in her eyes.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Kyia responded to Alex’s query, “but I thought it best if you weren’t covered in mud during your first meal with the royal family and some of the ruling council.”

Alex’s pulse stuttered. “The royal family? As in…?”

Before Kyia could answer, theValispathcame to a halt in front of an impressive double-arched doorway that opened inwardly upon their arrival.

The air rushed out of Alex as Kyia boldly led her into the opulent dining hall where seven Meyarins were seated around a large, ornate table.

All eyes were on Alex as she followed the graceful strides of her escort. In comparison to Kyia’s effortless movement, Alex was certain her own steps were reminiscent of a drunken giraffe on rollerskates. Beautiful dress or not, there were undeniable differences between her mortal self and the perfection of the Meyarin race.

Not usually one to care about such things, Alex still felt her face heat up at the eyes gliding over her. She had to remind herself that it had been thousands of years since most Meyarins had set eyes on a human; they were merely curious. But she still couldn’t help feeling as if she didn’t quite live up to their expectations. Regardless, she held her head high and returned the stares directed her way.

Alex was grateful to see Roka and Zain had saved two empty seats between them, and as Kyia ushered her towards them, she noticed another familiar face.

“Your Majesties,” Alex greeted respectfully when she and Kyia neared the two Meyarins seated at the head of the group—one male, one female—wearing intricately jewelled Myrox circlets across their foreheads. She offered her most graceful curtsey to the royal couple, silently thanking D.C. for all the practice she had enforced upon her in their spare time back at the academy last year.

“Alexandra Jennings,” King Astophe said, rising to his feet and offering a kind smile. The rest of the table stood as well, and Alex felt even more heat flood her face. “It is good to see you again. I trust you are well?”

“I am, thank you,” Alex answered, before tacking on a quick, “Your Majesty.” Curtseying lessons aside, D.C. had taught Alex very little about the correct manner in which to address royals. Roka had always been an anomaly, being so friendly that Alex had felt completely at ease around him since the first day they’d met.

“Alex,” Roka said, reading her anxiety and moving to her side, “you already know my father, King Astophe. But allow me to introduce my mother, Queen Niida.”

The queen was the only Meyarin who had remained seated when the king rose, but at Roka’s introduction, she slowly moved to her feet and eyed Alex shrewdly. While lovely to behold, the darkly beautiful Queen Niida displayed no outward affection or kindness. Her ruby lips were pinched tight and her golden eyes blazed with repressed emotion, reminding Alex all too well of the way Aven often glared at her. It was remarkable that both sons had inherited the queen’s eye colour, yet only Roka’s gaze managed to hold any kind of warmth when he looked upon Alex. In fact, the queen’s piercing stare was so cold that Alex had to resist taking a step back.

“It is an honour to meet you, young mortal,” the queen said, her lyrical voice like a song. The gentle tone she used was at odds with her harsh body language, causing Alex no small amount of confusion.

“And you as well, Queen Niida,” Alex said, carefully pronouncing her name just as Roka had.Nye-duh. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to curtsey again since she’d already done so once, so she looked away from the queen’s frosty gaze and back to Roka for guidance. His lips quirked in response and he gave an amused shake of his head, swivelling her around until she faced the others standing at the table.

“My father’s council,” Roka said, gesturing towards the three other Meyarins. “Or at least, part of it.LasaRiza,LoroGaiel andLoroRoathus.”

Alex nodded at them each in turn, first the willowy female, Riza, and then the two males: the strangely feline Gaiel and the wizened old Roathus. The latter was the oldest Meyarin Alex had ever seen, causing her to wonder just how long he must have lived in order for his hair to turn grey and the wrinkles to start lining his skin. The Meyarin race was immortal, Alex knew, but it surely had to have its limits. Roka and Aven were both thousands of years old, yet they only appeared to be in their late twenties—or early thirties at most. Astophe and Niida looked perhaps in their late thirties or early forties, and they were obviously considerably older than their children. Roathus, however, was pushing what would equate to the appearance of a seventy-year-old man. Alex felt overwhelmed just being in the same room as him, fully aware that he likely owned the wisdom of the ages.

“Please be at rest,” the king said to the table, prompting them to take their seats again.

Roka led Alex to her place between Zain and Kyia, with the prince taking the chair on the other side of his betrothed.

“You endured that well, little human, especially knowing the council wanted to lock you up not so long ago,” Zain said into her ear. “Well done.”

He sounded genuine in his praise, so she sent him a smile of gratitude while hiding her shaking hands under the table. She’d actually forgotten that the council had wanted to hold her captive in a desperate attempt to keep her from opening a doorway for Aven to reach Meya. If it hadn’t been for the king and Roka’s support, she probably would have been imprisoned, just as Zain had said. But given that Avenhadmade his way through a doorway she’d opened—unintentionally or not— Alex wondered if perhaps sheshouldhave been incarcerated until the threat had passed. And judging by the looks of both Gaiel and Riza, not to mention the queen, she was not alone in such thinking.

Unable to hold their hostile gazes, she looked to the table, noting absentmindedly that it was made of dark wood, but it also had intermittent splashes and whirls of both Myrox and gold along its design. It was almost too fancy to eat off—or so she thought, until a grumble from her stomach offered an audible sound of disagreement.

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