Blakeshire (Insight #9)(65)
“Old man, speak clear,” Aden breathed out.
“You are a guest here. The king—or prince, rather—will sample the course. If he finds it unfitting, he will cross his dinner wear over his plate. Neither the pair of you nor he will eat or drink; however, the inner circle will.”
“Starving the company?” Aden bantered.
“No, saving them. It is an old tradition. The court eats to endure the suffering that was meant for the guest.”
Aden raised his hand to his firm stomach. I could only guess he was starving and not in the mood for Russian roulette with dinner.
“It should not take too much out of your night. Then we can discuss whatever you are researching,” Alamos said as he glanced to the ancient blueprints on the table.
“I’m good,” Aden answered flatly.
“If you have any questions, feel free to seek me out. I rarely come out of my study. My understudies didn’t realize who you were when you came before.”
“No worries.”
Alamos nodded. “I’ll wait in the hall while you dress. Simple black gown.”
“Do we not need Olivia and Chrispin, or even Charlie?” I questioned. Before, they were like our guards or ambassadors. I wasn’t sure why Aden and I were invited to this dinner and no one else.
“I mentioned this is a quaint dinner. Normally I would just need Aden, but I feel that if you are there it will solidify that our intentions are to proceed with the courting of you to our king. Of course, the royal guard will be lining the room.”
Good. That meant at least Chrispin would be there. Zander, too. I kinda owed him one. I never would have forgiven Drake for what I saw in that girl if he had not prepared me for it.
“Drake knows I am going to be there?” I pushed. I had the impression that he didn’t want anyone to know where his interests were—but then again, for all I knew Drake was playing me just as Britain had predicted.
“He was not pleased. But there are gambles we all must take if we are to win in the end.”
Aden glanced down at his jeans and band shirt. “I’m going to change.”
Alamos followed him out.
As I went to change, too, a thousand questions were cascading through my mind. Why would Drake send Alamos to tell me about this? He knew I had a problem with Alamos. Why was Britain there at my first death? Would they really want to steal my vessel? Is that what Drake wants? Is it my soul he is pulled to, or my image? Was this childhood trauma even worth chasing? Should I bail, run home to my normal life? I could deal with the dark whispers, the shadows; they were never this trying on my soul.
I found a dress that was a lot like that robe I had on before. It was a little bit thinner, but still too hot for my comfort. I was sure I was supposed to wear a slip or something under it, but I opted for fitted briefs and a tank top. I tucked the locket against my skin.
In the bathroom, I found combs to hold my hair in a French twist. I didn’t bother with more makeup than what was needed to highlight my features. There was a jewelry box on the vanity. Most of it was costume jewelry that I rarely wore but was usually lying all around my room at home. I found a chain that looked close enough to my locket and put it on in an attempt to hide the real one. There was a charm on there, but it was nothing more than a silver circle.
When I decided that I looked elegant enough for whatever this was, I left my room.
I found Aden and Alamos by the doors that lead out. Aden looked amazing; the black modern suit he was wearing made him look far older and reserved than I knew him to be. “My drummer boy in a suit,” I teased. Aden rolled his eyes as he smoothed out his tie.
“Suppose you have the keys to that?” I said dryly to Alamos.
He looked at me like I was insane. “I was not aware that it was sealed.”
“Did you pass through a cold ghost to get in here?”
His perplexed expression told me that he hadn’t. “Is Donalt targeting you now?”
“Does it matter if he is?”
“I suppose not,” Alamos said as he pushed the lever next to the steel bar, causing it to rise. The doors opened on their own in that instant.
Aden smirked at me, but I ignored him as I took his arm. He was now on stage with us, too. Days ago when I was brought here, Draven played the role of a distant king. I was his sister and Charlie was his counterpart. Draven was chosen to play that part because his energy mirrored Drake’s in some way—and well, at the time Aden was MIA.
When we reached the next set of double doors, we found Chrispin and Zander, along with seven other men; though their energy was peaceful, they each held the ‘you don’t want to cross me’ attitude in their stern expressions. Aden and I took our place in the center of them as Alamos led the way.
I was going to have to figure out how to ditch these guards later. I had to be covert if I was going to uncover anything in this vast palace.
I would swear to you that each time I walked through this palace, I was never taken the same way. It was like a enormous maze; too many rooms looked too similar to the others.
We must have walked close to a mile before we reached another massive double doorway. Men in black robes were guarding it; with a nod from Alamos, they bowed, then opened the doors for us to walk through.
The aroma of sulfur was so thick that it nearly made me gag.
Inside, just a few feet before us was a table no less than a hundred feet long. There were other guests already in place. I recognized Xavier at the other end of the table. He was seated near the throne at the head of the empty end of the table. The other guests were a mix of men and women. Of course, the only way I could tell they were women was by the cleavage they were displaying. All their faces were a wave of ink, much like the majority of the men.