Page 49 of Draekora

And with those promising words, he motioned with one outstretched arm for her to precede him to the table where Aven was waiting for them.

Mind still reeling, Alex did exactly that, desperately trying not to show how shaken she was with every step she took.

Sixteen

Alex wasn’t sure how it happened, butsomehow she survived her morning.

While drinking a fruity nectar that again proved the Meyarins had the best food in Medora, Alex listened in silence as Niyx and Aven conversed. It was surreal for her, since everything they said was sonormal; just two friends catching up over a drink. She couldn’t get her head around Aven asking Niyx how his father was, if his mother was still determined to marry him off by the end of the year and if his sister was pleased hervarrungardresults allowed her to join theZeltora. Their conversations were so… mundane.

Even Niyx’s return questions to Aven were borderline boring, mostly with him asking about the upcoming end-of-season banquet. Apparently Aven was tasked with planning the annual celebration to farewell the summer. The prince claimed the event was coming along nicely and was on track to be the grandest festival in Meyarin history. But according to Niyx, Aven said that about every event he had a hand in planning, such was his cocky confidence.

As the two of them chatted, Alex truly felt like a fly on the wall, eavesdropping on her future enemy and his best friend. Whenever Niyx tried to draw her into the conversation by mockingly offering to translate for her—his dry tone always just a shade too amused for her liking—she repeatedly told him she was happy being left to her own thoughts.

‘Happy’ was a stretch of the imagination, because ever since realising that the Niyx of the future knew about Alex’s trip to the past, she couldn’t stop thinking about what else he’d told her inside his cell. At the time she’d thought he’d been spouting the inane ramblings of a mad Meyarin left alone too long, and she’d barely paid him any attention. But there was something he’d said at the end, something that had sounded like a warning, if only she could recall it. The best she could manage was a reference to change, or perhaps a lack of change. None of that helped her now, though, and anything else he’d said was lost to her subconscious.

She spent most of the time atDe Talentorn between sipping her drink and straining her memory as she half listened to the two Meyarins catch up as if they hadn’t just seen each other yesterday. Putting two and two together, Alex realised Niyx had been involved in whatever ‘urgent business’ had called Roka and Astophe away from dinner last night—the same business that had prompted Roka to suggest Aven be wiser when choosing his friends.

Given what Alex was learning of the insouciant Niyx—both past and future versions of him—she wholeheartedly agreed that he was trouble with a capital T. But there was also something about him that intrigued her. He was so cavalier, so casually lackadaisical that she almost envied him. Even when Aven told him straight up to stop flirting with the clearly flustered Alex—which happened every time he swapped over to the common tongue—Niyx simply laughed outright and obscenely replied, “Fine, but only because you saw her first.” He then misinterpreted the expression Aven threw his way as disbelief and laughingly added, “By the stars, I swear it, Aven. You have my word. She’s all yours.”

Alex, for her part, had wanted to throw her drink at the both of them for talking about her as though she was nothing more than chattel. Not to mention, doing so within hearing range. But of course she resisted, suspicious that Niyx was trying to provoke her into revealing her deceit.

At the anticipated language-learning rate, she figured she had maybe two more days of acting like she was oblivious to anything but the basics. So, on the off chance she might overhear something of worth, she ignored the byplay between the two Meyarins and continued sipping her beverage, onlyimaginingthrowing it in their faces.

When they were all finished with their drinks, Niyx excused himself by turning to Alex and saying in Meyarin, “Until next time, gorgeous. And hey, if this one strikes out with you”—he jerked a thumb at Aven—“then I’m always happy to step up and give it a shot. You never know; you might just find me charming. One way or another, I canguaranteewe’d have a good time.”

The roguish wink Niyx sent her was so implicitly wicked that Alex had to dig her nails into her palms to keep from blushing.

She was grateful when Aven diverted his attention by shoving him in the shoulder. “You’d better thank the stars she can’t understand you,kregon. And for the record, I’m not going to ‘strike out’ with her because I won’t be attempting to strikeinwith her. Aes Daega tasked Roka and me to teach her the ways of our people, nothing more. By the light! What’s the matter with you?”

While they bickered back and forth, Alex tried to revisit her mental happy place rather than linger on the idea of Aven trying to strikeanythingwhen it came to her. That was just… There were no words for how wrong that was. She only managed to keep a grip on her sanity by distractedly wondering why ‘kregon’ wasn’t able to translate fully. All she could tell was that the future Roka had been right about it impolitely referencing the rear end ofsomething, she just wasn’t sure what. Not that she particularly wanted to know.

Lost in thought, she missed Niyx whizzing off on theValispathand only realised she and Aven were alone again when he called her name in question.

“Vassa rae,” she said again, apologising for tuning out and offering a weak smile as her heartbeat hitched now that it was just the two of them once more.

“That’s all right, Aeylia,” Aven said, his common tongue pronunciation hesitant but clear. “You must have been quite”—he searched for the correct word—“bored listening to Niyx and me. I apologise for negating you.”

Alex’s brow furrowed at his last sentence before she realised what he’d meant. “Do you mean neglecting me?”

Looking sheepish—and that was an expression Alexneverwould have imagined seeing on Aven’s face—he said, “Neglecting, yes.” He sighed to himself and muttered in Meyarin, “It’s like the blind leading the blind. What a nightmare.”

Unable to help agreeing with him, at least for the last part, Alex actually had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Come, Aeylia,” Aven said in his native language as he motioned for her to follow him, “and I shall introduce you to the wonder of our fair city.”

Quelling her apprehension—for the most part—Alex stepped up beside him and allowed him to lead her through the streets of Meya.

With frequent use of theValispath—which to Alex was comparable to a ‘hop on, hop off’ bus tour—Aven went about showing her around his favourite parts of the city. He took her high up onto the Golden Cliffs to offer her the best view of the stunning metropolis laid out across the valley and reaching high into the heavens; he took her to the base of one of the waterfalls so she could dip her feet in the clearest water she’d ever seen; and he took her into the heart of the city where Meyarins were bustling around and going about their daily lives, running errands, trading wares, even practising combat as if for street performances. It was all so normal, but with the picturesque backdrop of something only found in an epic Hollywood blockbuster.

No matter where Aven took her, Alex could only marvel at the architectural phenomenon that was the citadel. The spiralling buildings with their arcs, curves and graceful flowing lines seemed to pay tribute to the simplicity of nature in a way that enabled Meya to defy the ages and remain timeless. Trees of both silver and gold grew in abundance around the shining Myrox-lined buildings, making it seem like the city was both part of, and separate to, the surrounding forest.

Every step Alex took brought a new wonder, a new miracle of design, and she was surprised to realise she was genuinely enjoying her day, regardless of her company. Perhaps evenbecauseof her company, given that the language barrier meant she and Aven remained mostly silent during the sightseeing trip, which enabled her to fully appreciate the experience without distraction.

Everything was going so well until Aven used theValispathto transport them to what appeared to be the entrance of the city.

It was early in the afternoon and, having just eaten a delicious lunch Aven had purchased for her from a street vendor—some kind of sweet, grainy bread filled with toppings she couldn’t recognise—Alex was more content than ever. In fact, she was fully relaxed and at peace, almost charmed by the gentlemanly behaviour he’d consistently displayed throughout the day. She should have known better than to be lulled into a false sense of security. Because given everything she’d experienced in the last few days, nothing wasevergoing to be as easy as enjoying a day out in a foreign city with her sworn enemy without catastrophe striking.

And strike it did.

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