Page 129 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
And I would. At least from her perspective. Gods… I’d see my baby sister die. It was a horrifying thought.
Clara squeezed me tighter, letting out a broken sob.
When we both calmed down, we went to the dragonsguard wing to have dinner with the rest of the team. It was strange to see my two worlds collide, to see my sister and my team in the same spot. I fought to control the muscles in my jaw when Wes sat beside her or the way she relaxed when he did.Of course he’s a comforting presence to her. They lived together for six months.Still… it was more than a little infuriating. That nasty possessive side of me refused to die down.
Even with months of the best food and medicine anyone could ask for, my sister still tired easily. She relaxed into the chair with a little too much relief, and I immediately kicked myself for letting her excitement to see everything cloud my judgment.
“How do you like the castle?” Gareth smiled warmly at her. I shot him a relieved look, because I had no idea what to say to break the awkward tension. The only thing I’d been doing was glaring at the others to behave.
Clara flushed. “It’s nice. Everything’s so lovely here.”
“Of course it is.” Aurelia scoffed. “We’re the dragonsguard. As if we’d settle for less.”
Clara’s shoulders slumped. I shot Aurelia a glare, which she ignored.
“Not every castle feels the need to be pretentious,” Wes cut in before I could say a word. It was hard to ignore how Clara brightened. Something ugly rose inside me. “It’s far more refined to show restraint. I thought House Benson knew that.”
“And I thought—”
“Behave, children.” Shadows rose from the table as Kieran’s sharp voice rang out. His shadows hung threateningly above Wes and Aurelia, right over their mouths. “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
He caught my eye and nodded minutely. I relaxed in my seat. Kieran would protect her. Not only that, so would Wes.It’s a good thing she has allies. Stop being so fucking possessive.I never thought I’d have to share my sister before. Not really. It was an entirely new experience, and I wasn’t sure I liked it.
Aurelia huffed but kept her cutting remarks to herself.
Kieran gave my sister his ‘Captain Kieran Caddel’ smile. Or rather his ‘I’m-the-leader-of-the-dragonsguard-and-you-can-trust-me’ smile. “It is nice to meet you, Clara. I know your sister and I haven’t gotten off on the right foot, but we have settled our differences.”
I refused to blush, especially when Kieran looked my way.Godsdammit, now I’m blushing.I took a sip of my drink.Stop being so obvious. Aurelia can’t know.I glanced at her, but she wasn’t even looking my way.Good.
Clara studied him. I’d never thought my sister could be intimidating until she gave him a silent once over. “Okay. We can start fresh.” She turned her gaze to the rest of the table. “I, uh, I brought you all some presents.” We had to lean in to hear her. My sister always talked quietly when she was uncertain—though she had none of that meekness when she’d spoken directly to Kieran just now. “Wes said the servants brought them to my room, so I’ll bring them to you all later. It’s nothing much. Just some trinkets and paintings I made. They’re awful—the paintings, but I… I wasn’t sure what to give nobles.”
“They’re lovely.” Wes cast a warning glance around the table.
I ground my teeth. “I’m sure they’ll all appreciate them.” I leveled a glare at Aurelia. To back up my words, a shadow lifted ever so slightly from the table, as if wagging its finger at everyone.Thank you, Kieran.
Aurelia huffed. “I wouldn’t reject a present.Ihave manners.”
“It’s hard to believe you’re related tothat,” Ben said dazedly, pointing his fork at me. “You’re too nice. It’s a little unnerving.”
“Fuck off.”
Clara giggled.
Ben gave herthe look. It was a simple fluttering of his lashes and a charming smile. “If you ever want to—”
“I will cut you.” I grabbed my knife and pointed it at him. “I will wait until you fall asleep, and I will stab you. Do you want that?”
Nimue snickered. “I’ll hold him down.”
Ben raised his hands in defeat.
I scoffed. “Come on, Clara. We’re going to my room.” I grabbed her hand, not waiting for a response, and led her to my room. I felt like a dragon, wanting to hoardher away from all the others.
Clara admired my room, and her eyes sparkled when she noticed her painting proudly displayed on the wall parallel to my bed. “You hung it up?” Her blush went all the way down to her neck. “But it’s awful.”
“You made it. It can never be awful.” I grinned. “Besides, it’s abstract, remember?”
That sparked a laugh out of her. “Yeah. Abstract.”
