Page 26 of No Ordinary Drakeling
“I believe we discussed putting a desk in here for Ellery.”
“We had maintenance up here all morning. This room simply isn’t big enough for another desk,” Wesley responded. “Even if we moved Damian or Zane out, we’d barely be able to find the space for another one along the lines of yours. We certainly didn’t want to give Ellery a tiny desk. We managed to clear out the office next door, so he can work in there.”
“No way I’m going to allow our emperor in an office by himself,” Damian stated.
Wesley smiled. “I knew you’d feel that way, so we put in a smaller one for either you or Zane. Let me know if you need anything else,” the office manager said, then sailed out of the room.
“This is going to drive me crazy, having you two separated,” Damian complained.
“Zane can handle protecting Ellery, and it’s temporary,” Chrysander replied. “For now, Ellery, you can have a seat. I’ve asked the Lich Sentinel to meet with us, and he should be here any moment.”
Ellery was barely in the chair when Damian opened the door to reveal a man in a heavily embroidered mandarin collar uniform, with glowing chartreuse eyes. They matched the top portion of the poison floating around the two daggers at his sides.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty,” Lich Sentinel Alaric Daray said after they were introduced. “Chrys told me about your mother. The Sentinel Brotherhood would like to help you find her if we can.”
“Please call me Ellery, Lich Sentinel,” he invited when they were seated. “I am grateful to have your help, but I am not sure if it is possible to find her. She simply wandered out of the hut one night about ten years ago. I would not begin to know where to start. I did try and locate her, but without even knowing which direction to follow, I came up empty-handed.”
“Call me Alaric. Do you have anything of hers? If we can pick up a trace of her, my men are capable of following it.”
“I did keep a scarf that was her favorite. I would be happy to give it to you if you think it will help.”
“Rest assured, I’ll return it as soon as possible, undamaged,” the Lich Sentinel promised.
“I am not sure Chieftain Fen-Lynthi will appreciate having you near his land, so I hope you will not be offended if he does not allow you to get close to our old hut.”
Alaric’s smile was feral. “Your former chieftain won’t even know we are there. I don’t plan on allowing anyone to get in our way. I cannot promise you we will find her, but I can tell you we’ll try as hard as we can. I have selected two of the Skeleton Seven to take on this task, and both Skeleton Lord Albrecht Ruarc-Daray and Skeleton Lord Cassius Daray are the types of men who stop at nothing to get results.”
Damian chuckled. “I dare you to find a sentinel who would just throw in the towel.”
“It is a rather far-fetched possibility, isn’t it?” Alaric replied. “I’ll send Cass over to pick up the scarf this evening.”
“Zane and Ellery will be home all night, so that should be fine,” Chrysander commented. Chrysander had yet another event taking him away from their home, and Ellery wondered how much longer he’d get a reprieve from attending them.
The Lich Sentinel nodded as he stood. “Ellery, if there is anything else I or the Sentinel Brotherhood can do to aid you, do not hesitate to call me. I was thrown into the deep end of Council politics myself after thousands of years with only my men, so I can appreciate how overwhelmed you must feel.”
“Thank you very much. It is certainly a great deal to take in all at once, but everyone has been very welcoming.”
After the Lich Sentinel left, Chrysander offered Ellery an apologetic look. “I guess you and Zane should go get settled in your new office.”
Realizing he was being dismissed, Ellery headed for the door with Zane falling into step beside him. Wesley pointed them in the right direction, and Ellery found himself in a room that lacked any personality. It was done in the same black and gold of his home, which gave Ellery the same cold feeling that surrounded him as of late. The only time it wasn’t there was the small portion of his day that he spent with Chrysander. Carefully, he hung up his cloak and removed his crown, then sat down at his desk.
“Don’t worry, Chrys isn’t going to keep you in a separate office forever,” Zane said after he opened his laptop and focused on the screen.
Ellery was an emperor who had no real duties besides learning. He wished he’d been smart enough to bring one of his books with him, so he had something to do. As far as the shared office went, Ellery didn’t know how to react to it. Almost a week had passed since he met Chrysander, and yet they were hardly ever together. He wondered if that was their destiny given the demands on them in their roles as emperors.
In less than six weeks they would bind their blood, interlacing their lives forever. Though Ellery hadn’t appreciated the denial of his elven customs, the thought occurred to him that it would be easier to go to bed with a man he knew—that giving himself up to another person would be less awkward if he had some depth of emotion in his heart for his other half. Now Ellery contemplated if they would ever have a chance to build the kinds of feelings he was taught should exist between two mates.
Ellery would not allow those thoughts to deter him. Fate chose him, and he would not deny her. No matter who she selected for this role, they would find themselves experiencing the same difficulties. Chrysander’s schedule was complicated because he couldn’t allow his responsibilities to fade into darkness. It was up to Ellery to accept that and do what he could to make sure somehow their relationship functioned in whatever capacity they were allowed. If he wished he could find love, then he would keep such musings to himself.
