House of Darken (Secret Keepers #1)(65)
He laughed, confusing me with his mood. Was he upset or happy that my screaming woke him?
“Overlord minor is my official title, and I hate it. I’ll be the overlord major one day, when my father is ready to step down. It’s not a position I want. It’s not one I asked for. But there’s very little choice in the matter for me.”
“Do Jero, Marsil, and Star have titles?” It was fascinating learning of this new form of monarchy.
He gave me a little nudge and my feet automatically started moving, following him along the hall again.
He answered me as we walked: “Marsil is next in line after me. He’s admiral major. Jero is admiral minor. Both of these positions have official duties, mostly to do with the warriors and the war between the houses. We’ve had peace for only just over a hundred years – since the treaty. It was part of the reason we formed a bond with Earth.
“Star is the youngest, so she doesn’t have an official title. Fourth in line has no title, but if she had been first in line, born with the marks, she would be the overlord minor. It has nothing to do with male and female here, and everything to do with order of birth.” I was extra glad to hear that. “Mother is the matriarch. An overlord rules with his matriarch. Together. A true partnership.”
I was so caught up in learning about his world that I didn’t even notice that we’d left the hallway and were now standing in his room. Beside his bed. Which was even larger and more comfortable looking than mine. The ivory blanket was rumpled from where Lexen had no doubt jumped up when I screamed. He dropped down onto his side and I remained standing there, staring down at the wide expanse he had left for me.
“Get in the bed, Emma,” he all but growled. “Don’t make me throw you in here.”
I snorted, glad his normal attitude was back. It helped me move past the nerves of sleeping next to a guy. I’d never slept in the same bed as anyone before, except my parents when I was a young child.
He might not snore, but I had no idea if I did. Shit. With my luck … I definitely snored.
“Emma…” he growled again.
Straightening my shoulders, I was about to gingerly slide into the bed when Lexen froze, his body going unnaturally rigid, eyes focusing on something behind me. I wasn’t sure whether I should say something or not – I quickly glanced behind to make sure there were no bugs – and thankfully he snapped out of it before I had to decide what to do. Leaping from the bed, he quickly crossed toward a nearby door, and when he opened it I got a glimpse of rows of clothing. He disappeared inside. Meanwhile, I was still in my position at the side of his bed, wondering what the hell had just happened.
Just as quickly as he’d disappeared into his huge cupboard, he reemerged fully dressed in worn, dark-denim jeans, and what looked like a ribbed, black, fitted Henley-style shirt. He also wore boots.
“Uh, going somewhere?” I asked, my forehead wrinkling as I took in his fully clothed form.
He had a thick dark garment in his hands, and when he tossed it my way I managed to catch it.
“Put that on, we have to go out for a bit,” he said, running a hand through his hair, leaving it in a messy disarray on top, sexy and tousled without even trying. Mine probably looked like someone had dragged me backwards through a hedge.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my voice muffled as I pulled the thick sweater down over my head. It was miles too big for me, hanging almost to mid-thigh, and it smelled delicious, like the combination of whatever they washed their clothes in here, and Lexen.
No answer, and by the time I had vision of the room again I realized I was alone. Lexen’s door was open. Did he just leave me? What the hell was the point of the sweater, then?
Just as my temper started to make itself known, along with some worry because whatever was going on was random and had taken him by surprise, he reappeared in his doorway, my tennis shoes in his hands. Every ounce of annoyance inside of me disappeared and I felt like an idiot.
But seriously, that was way more thoughtful than I’d expected.
“Thank you,” I murmured when he handed them to me. “Now can you tell me where we’re going? Remember the dog conversation…?”
The starlight in his eyes glowed as he said, “I just got a message from friends of mine. I need to meet them, and I don’t want to leave you alone here.”
I paused, halfway through pulling a shoe on. “Is everything okay?”
Lexen nodded. “Yeah, we just have to be careful with our communications. Better to meet in person.”
All very cloak and dagger in the world of the Daelighters. I was intrigued, and glad he wasn’t going to leave me behind.
Lexen led me out the bedroom door and along the hallway. We ended up going down multiple flights of stairs, until we ended up in a small basement-style room. It was freezing down here, and I snuggled into the sweater, keeping my hands in the wool-lined pockets.
“This is one of the older transporters,” Lexen explained as he closed the door, turning me toward the flickering ball of light near the back, a duplicate of the one we had taken from Earth to Overworld. “We don’t have many permanent transporters left, just this one and the one on the main platform between the four lands. Generally, if we need to travel, we just engage the network for a temporary transport. I only use these permanent ones when I need to hide my movements, since tapping into the network leaves a trace behind.”