Blakeshire (Insight #9)(67)
My heart thundered as I struggled to hold an uncaring expression on my face and not breathe at the same time.
Moments later, the doors opened again and servants slowly wheeled in the first course, along with wine.
Drake was served first. After tasting the wine, he covered his cup with his napkin. The servant seemed petrified. She moved down the table, serving the other guests. When she reached Aden and me, she covered our wine glasses in the same way Drake had.
Another servant approached Drake and served him soup. I doubted he even tried it; his spoon looked empty from where I was sitting. He took his spoon and crossed his bowl with it.
Once again, fear emerged in the servant as she served everyone else. Once she reached us, she crossed our spoons over our bowls like Drake had.
As the others ate, that cold stare of Drake’s met each one. I kept my eyes peeled on him; not only was he causing that fire to burn inside of me with nothing more than his presence, but the power and mystery he was portraying was seducing my mind, causing me to question how much of a stage he was on. He was really good at this king stuff.
Each course, the same action was taken. He refused the food, terrified the servant, and then our plates were covered.
More than once over the course of this meal, I felt Britain’s hand on my knee. I had backed away from him, gave him glares, and was seconds away from tossing him away from me with one strong push of my energy.
Aden had picked up on what he was doing to me just before the main course. As dessert was served, Aden lost his cool. He stood, held his arm out to me, bowed to Drake, glared at Britain, then walked us right out of that room like we owned the place. What made it seem so dramatic was the fact that the royal guards left at that moment, too.
As soon as we reached the hall, I took a deep, lasting breath, thankful for fresh air and wishing that my sense of smell would go on hiatus. Monroe must be behind this—these ink waves and bad odors. Obviously, she not only wanted me not to have fear, but also to see my enemies.
Right as I thought that, I tensed; a flash of diamond eyes passed through my mind’s eye, along with that haunting aroma of peppermint.
I was losing my mind. I was sure of it.
My heart was pumping—not out of fear, but excitement. I knew we had left them confused and insulted. I was sure that Britain would be put in the uncomfortable position of explaining our exit before long. That would teach him to toy with me.
Chrispin passed an amused grin to Aden. “Didn’t think you were going to make it that long.”
“He wants me to kill him,” Aden fumed.
“It took all I had, too, man.” Chrispin elbowed me. “I figured she would toss him across the room if he was too forward. I couldn’t see his hands, I just knew they were too close.” He pulled his shoulders back.
“Creator help him if Drake figures out what that boy was doing,” Zander said in a low, mischievous tone.
“Seemed busy with the female company,” I mumbled, half on stage, halfway putting a wall around my heart.
“Amusing, Xavier,” Aden said so quietly that I doubted anyone else heard him. “Looking glass,” he said to Chrispin.
Chrispin offered a confused glance before nodding to the men around us, telling them to lead the way.
Three hallways later, I saw two young guys standing guard in front of a rather modest doorway. I recognized them from Chara; they were on the boat that we traveled on when we played that courting night out. Their purpose was to give Drake balance in the palace, for him to bring in outside sources to help protect us all.
The authority that each guard seemed to give Chrispin led me to believe that Drake had exercised that confluence and placed Chrispin in charge of all those that were selected to protect not only us, but also Drake. Authority and power must come natural to each of Drake’s brothers. Even though I knew Chrispin could be as innocent and playful as Preston, right now he was all business and clearly let off the vibe that crossing him would be a bad idea.
“Let them pass,” Chrispin said to them. The guards glanced warily at each other before they finally allowed us in.
“Stella and Marc are at dinner,” Chrispin said to us. “Make it kind of quick. Stella is a bit protective of this room.”
Marc was Drake’s brother, too, the one that looked almost too much like him. Stella was his girl. I had gathered that she was from this dimension originally. Willow had brought her home to Chara.
After the doors were closed behind us, the only light in this stone room was coming from a pool of water. I glanced at Aden with questioning eyes.
“I told you before, this is not saltwater. And now I’m a hundred percent sure that your dream did not take place here. I just want you to see the rings, see if the sight of them sparks a memory or different aspect to any past dreams. There has to be a reason this is within both you and Charlie,” he said as he urged me closer.
Before I even reached the edge of the pool, I could see rings moving slowly in the water; three were solid, one was weak, faded.
I didn’t feel any odd energy or memories surfacing, but I did sense that nagging obsession that I had. I wanted to know where that water came from, how or if it connected to other areas of the palace that may still have water within them…that, or a pet octopus lingering.
“They are calling this a looking glass?”
“Apparently. It was something that Donalt had built. He had a part of a necklace Willow wears inside of it. They think the force of this caused the storms in the string that Austin always talked about. It moved under water after a few of their trials. It was called that because Donalt had led everyone to believe that whoever stood within those rings and held Willow’s heart would be able to see across all dimensions, set the intent for each.”