Page 26 of Orange Spell
Everyone in the clan knew that Pearl felt that Killian had taken the throne from her.He was the old king’s only legitimate child, but that didn’t seem to matter to her.Even though she wasn’t the queen’s daughter, she felt that her place was on the throne.Instead, her brother was king, and it looked like she might have decided to get revenge.
Curran didn’t understand that.Who would want to be king?Just thinking about the responsibilities and everything that came with the role made him want to run.He could never be king, and thankfully, he never would be.He was just a dragon, even though he was closer to the king than most of the people in the clan.It was only because of his brother, anyway.Killian was nice, but Curran wouldn’t call him a friend, or even an acquaintance.He was the king, someone he saw every so often and tried to stay as far away from as he could.
“Go over what happened again,” Marlin ordered.
It sounded like his head was finally in the game, which was what Curran needed from him.
“So I was sitting there at my table eating lunch when Birch came by.He’s worried about me because I’ve been avoiding everyone, including him and our mothers.He asked me what was going on, and I told him I was fine, but he didn’t believe me.I think he said something like he’d told me not to drink too much the night of the party, and I snapped at him.I told him that I didn’t need him to protect me.”
Marlin nodded.“I’ve heard that conversation before.”
“Yeah, because both you and Birch are overprotective assholes.”
“Maybe this time, he was right to feel that way,” Marlin said softly.
Curran wasnotgoing to think about the baby right now.He couldn’t.“Anyway, we bickered, and I just know he was going to push, but his phone rang.He had to leave.”
“That’s when Pearl stepped in?”
“Yeah.I wasn’t expecting anyone, so I was startled, and even more so when I saw who it was.She came to my table and sounded worried about me.”
Marlin snorted.“She wasn’t.”
“I know.She said something about how Birch wasn’t supposed to talk to me that way and that if I needed anything, I should reach out to her.I told her thanks, but no thanks, and she mentioned Birch being close to Killian and that it would be understandable if I was wary of speaking up about him.I’m pretty sure she was insinuating that Birch might hurt me if I said anything against him, which is ridiculous.”
“That’s it?”
“Did you want something else to happen?Because I’m fine with just that.”Curran hoped he’d never have to talk to Pearl again, but he worried that now that she’d set her sight on him, he wouldn’t be able to shake her.If it had been only him, he might not have cared as much, but he needed to protect his baby.
“All right.We need to talk to Killian.”
That was the one thing Curran had been afraid would happen.“You could tell him everything I told you.There’s nothing else.”
“Maybe not, but he’ll want to talk to you.”
Curran groaned.“Do I really have to talk to the king?”
Marlin seemed amused.“Yes, you do, and remember to call him Killian when you see him.You know how annoyed he gets when you don’t.”
Because even though they weren’t close, Killian was one of Birch’s best friends.He and Curran had spent time together while Curran was growing up.Killian had wanted Curran to call him by his name, and Curran always had, at least until he grew up and understood how strange that was.Thankfully, he didn’t see Killian often enough for it to be a problem.
“Fine.Let’s go talk toKillian.”
* * * *
MARLIN’S THOUGHTS WEREall over the place.Part of him wanted to focus on Pearl and the threat she was to the people he cared about, but another part couldn’t stop obsessing over the fact that Curran was pregnant with his child.
Marlin had never really thought about having kids.In fact, he’d believed he wouldn’t have any.He’d been raised to be the king’s bodyguard, and that came with expectations, including the sacrifice of his personal life.It wasn’t forbidden for him to have a partner or a family, but how hard would it be for them if he had to spend most of his time with Killian?How complicated would his job make a family life?
He and Birch had been taught that they needed to focus on the king, and they had.They’d dedicated their lives to Killian.Marlin had thought they would continue doing so, but then, Birch had met Aaron and had fallen in love with him, and Marlin had started to wonder if maybe he could have that, too.
He’d wanted Curran for years, but he’d stayed away, both because of that and because of Birch.After Birch had met Aaron, Marlin had turned hopeful.After he and Curran had spent the night together, he’d thought for sure that he could have what he’d dreamed of.
In a way, he was.He and Curran were having a child together.The problem Marlin had with the situation was that, for now, it was all they would do together.They would co-parent the child, but Curran hadn’t said anything about them being together.Of course, they hadn’t really had the opportunity to talk about all of this, so maybe Marlin shouldn’t go all mopey yet.
“Let’s go,” he ordered as he ushered Curran toward the door.
Curran seemed to fold in on himself.For a second, Marlin didn’t understand what he was doing, but then, he realized that Curran was hiding his stomach.
