Page 89 of Draekora

Aven made it sound as though the whole city would be taking part in the celebration, filling the palace to capacity until the Meyarins spilled into one massive street party. Given the scale of the event, Alex had been apprehensive to help at first, but it turned out that with Astophe and Niida’s—mostly Niida’s—last-minute decision to finish the banquet with a masquerade ball, Aven needed all the help he could get when it came to the only part of the night’s planning he considered to be outside of his expertise: fashion. The rest was covered, from the food to the music and everything in between. But when it came to the clothes that the royal family would be gifting to each and every one of their citizens to wear for the celebration, he was at a loss and happy to delegate that mammoth task to Alex and Kyia’s governance.

With neither of them having any idea where to start, they were both relieved when the queen took up the cause alongside them, launching herself into fashionista mother hen mode. Between the three of them—and a host of other helpers, including the king himself at times—within seven days they worked wonders, having the production of thousands of decadently formal outfits and masks well on their way to completion. Feathers and frills, silks and sparkles—their innovative creations stretched the boundaries of fashion, resulting in unparalleled miracles of design.

Aven, in Alex’s mind, owed them big time, even if she came to enjoy their haphazard planning sessions surrounded by scrawled drawings and fabric samples. It was the most girlishly carefree she’d felt in a long time, and she revelled in the feeling. With only eight days to go, she knew they were well on their way to experiencing the best dressed festival in the history of Meya, and Alex couldn’t wait to be a part of it.

Presuming, of course, that she was still in the past when that time came. Xiraxus had yet to give her a solid idea of when he’d be ready to return her to the future, but every day he assured her he was getting stronger, which meant they were drawing nearer to the time when she’d have to leave her new friends behind—half of whom, in the future, wanted her dead.

But that, she knew, was a problem for another day. As for now, she would live in the moment, enjoying her time in the past while it lasted.

“I have something to tell you,” Roka said, ducking his head to avoid the blur of Alex’s wooden sword slashing through the air, “and you’re not going to like it.”

“There are a lot of things I seem to not like,” Alex said, targeting his torso this time, “especially when they come with a warning like that.”

She parried to the right, to the left and then left again, with Roka effortlessly meeting her attempts with his own dummy sword. It was beyond frustrating considering she was currently keyed into her Meyarin power andstillshe wasn’t offering up any kind of worthwhile assault against him.

“Come on, Roka! Attack me!” she cried for what felt like the thousandth time that week.

Everything they were currently doing—ornotdoing—was messing with her psychologically, from the knowledge that Roka would never hurt her to the craptastic wooden swords that wouldn’t slice butter. She only hoped the Roka of the future would give her a better run for her money, especially if his past self continued to suck so badly as a teacher.

“Just hold on for a second,” he said, relaxing his stance and dropping his sword arm.

“You know, Icanmulti-task,” she huffed out. “I’m able to carry on a conversation while we fight—if that’s what you want to call what we’re doing.”

Inside the domed Myrox barrier, no one else could watch or hear them, which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it kept Alex’s mortality a secret, but a curse because it kept Roka treating her like she was made of glass. Alex wondered, not for the first time, whether he’d finally take the kid gloves off if she surprised him with a public attack. But since she couldn’t risk getting a scratch and exposing her humanity, her hands were tied. At least until she becamereallydesperate.

“Maybe I’m the one who can’t multi-task,” Roka said. “Or maybe I just want your full attention.”

“Then say what you have to say so we can get on with it,” Alex said, crossing her arms. If she’d held a real blade in her hands, she would have sliced open her stomach with the move, but the wooden toy barely snagged on her outfit, so blunt as it was.

“I’m going to be away from the palace for the next few days,” Roka said. “A fresh round of recruits just finished theirvarrungardand have been accepted into theZeltora, and it’s up to me to make sure they all start their training on the right foot.”

Disappointment washed over Alex. Even if her time with Roka wasn’t progressing at a speed she would like, anything was better than nothing.

“Are you sure you’re the best person for that job?” she asked, raising a sceptical brow. “Or do you like your elite guards using wooden swords to protect your kingdom?”

Thankfully, he grinned and accepted the dig with grace. “Don’t worry, Aeylia. Unlike you, I’m confident they won’t trip over their own feet and impale themselves if I let them use proper weapons in their training. It’s real steel for them.”

“You,” Alex said, narrowing her eyes, “are not very nice.”

He laughed out loud, and she glared all the more for it.

“Why are you the one who has to start their training, anyway?” she grumbled. “Teaching the newbies doesn’t seem like something a prince should have to do.”

“Normally the head of the guard would take on that responsibility, but since our previous leader stepped down and we haven’t found anyone to take her place yet, the duty falls to me,” Roka explained. “I only need to get them settled and then others in the guard will take over their training from there on out. I’ll be gone a few days at most, but I wanted you to know so you don’t think I’ve abandoned our mission here.”

“Mission aside, you know who would make a great new leader of theZeltora?” Alex said casually.

Roka’s tone was wry when he replied, “Let me guess, Zain Erraeya?”

Smiling widely, Alex said, “It’s like you read my mind!”

The prince looked like he wasn’t sure whether he was more amused or exasperated. “Or maybe it’s because you’ve been saying it for over two weeks now.”

“Have I? My, how time flies.”

“Aeylia—”

“Roka, has it occurred to you that perhaps since, oh, I don’t know,I’m from the future,” Alex said with glaring emphasis, “that maybe I know what I’m talking about?”

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