Page 7 of Feral Guardian
The enchanted copper gate of the academy opens at our approach and my fear only increases. I can’t ignore the thoughts circling in my periphery any longer.
She’d banished me from her side when she was ordered to attend the academy and now…would she do it again? Would she prefer the protection of the queen’s guard? I’ve trained my whole life to be at her side, but if she sends me away, what will I have to do to ensure she’s safe? What lengths will I have to go to?
There’s a lone figure standing at the end of the long gravel drive. She’s a shapely woman with auburn hair and a soft lilac dress. She cocks out a hip and a smile overtakes her face.
The air is punched from my lungs as I recognize the gesture.
“Lily,” I murmur in disbelief.
The closer we get, the greater my unease grows.
My throat is tight and dry. My lungs are burning. I want to breathe but I can’t.
She’s gorgeous.
“Alastair Osrick Brunay, you cameall this wayfor little old me?” she says mirthfully.
Her voice has smoothed with time, losing some of the high-pitched cracks of childhood. Her smile is stunning and her green eyes sparkle. Zephrom help me, shapely doesn’t come close to defining what’s happened to her body. The low-cut lavender dress reveals that she’s grown quite a bit.
Fuck, she’s become a woman.
Lily clucks her tongue. “Always the silent protector.”
I realize I’ve stopped in front of her but have done nothing else. I dismount, clearing my throat. “Princess Lilianna, I’m here to escort you back to Fynren Kingdom.”
She scowls. “That’s it? Four years I haven’t seen you. No, ‘hello, how are you?’”
Guilt and anger ripple through me one after the other.She’sthe reason it’s been four years.
“Apologies, princess. How do you fare?”
“I’m good!” she says, her face brightening once more. “How are you?”
“Better now,” I say, despite myself.
She bends down and grabs one of her smaller trunks and I realize she’s surrounded by her things.
“Why is no one here to help with your belongings?” I ask, taking the trunk from her.
The foozling queen’s guards don’t even dismount.
Lily grabs another chest from the pile and moves toward the carriage. “They’re all very busy in there learning which fork to use for the appetizer.”
“I wasn’t asking about the students,” I say. “The guards, the servants, where are they? Why were you waiting out herealone?”
I fume at the thought of what could’ve happened to her.
She shrugs. “They’re probably tied up.”
“Princess, youdidn’t,” I growl as I set her chest on the back of the carriage.
Her grin is as bright as sunshine. “Didn’t what?”
She’s still the same prank-pulling child she’s always been, now just in a woman’s body.
I sigh as I take the trunk from her hands and place it beside the other. I turn to the guards who still have not dismounted.
“Get down here and help,” I bark at no one in particular.
