Blue

A Day

In the span of the next four days Tallulah had to excuse herself from the presence of Atlas any time a new female made herself known. The urge to strangle each one was too much for her and often she found herself dry heaving in the training fields after letting her anger loose.

Her dreams were no better. Atlas' face and her husband's continued to meld themselves together in their pursuit to harm her. She kept that information to herself, Ander and Mykel didn't need to know.

She found herself more often than not, awake and pulverizing a dummy long before anyone else was awake for the day. She could tell others were concerned but they didn't pry.

She knew that Atlas had no interest in these other females, but the better half of her mind wouldn't let it rest.

All of this was taking a toll. She wanted to escape everything right now...but she couldn't. If she had known the issues she'd be facing by choosing her current path she would've decided differently.

She couldn't bring herself to wish she'd never met Atlas, but she wished they'd met under different circumstances. Perhaps they'd met when she was first married, what would have happened there? Would he have demanded an annulment right away? Would he have thought she wasn't faithful and she didnt know of her heritage? It was too much to think of all at once.

Tomorrow was the ball, and so many people had arrived into the city that she and the rest of Atlas' guard had been on a higher alert. She knew Atlas was waiting on a particular someone to come for the event, a Lord, but she didn't pry and find out who exactly that was. It had him strung out with nerves though and she was all the more curious for it.

She had been present for a lot of the upper echelon' appearances, they really had come from all over. A lot of these people had brought their daughters as well, the older females, ones that were comfortable flirting with Atlas, everyone already knew there was no connection and it seemed that the younger females, thi8gh all still of age, were intentionally being kept from Atlas until the ball. Like it would be a surprise reveal if any were his mate.

She hated this. But she would play a part in it as well she had to remind herself of this a lot. In fact the very day she found out about the ball, Ander had taken her to a dressmaker on their break for the day. It was a very rushed appointment. She had been immensely opposed to the idea of showing up as herself, but maybe it could blossom into something. She didn't get to choose the color scheme of her dress, Ander was in charge of that but they had come to a set design for it. One that would cover everything.

Mykel had been assigned as Atlas' guard for tomorrow night, just a singular guard because the ball would be heavily populated and one person could stick to Atlas easier than a group as well as the fact it would be easier to conceal one guard member instead of four or five. She was off for the night, and half of the guard would do perimeter for the duration of the event, and she would have the first watch the morning after.

On their breaks she had been hastily taught some dances, ones that were far more formal than the barn romps that she'd witnessed in her old city. It was fun and it offered her more time to get to know Mykel as her brother.

She learned that their father, who she already knew wasn't supportive of Mykel's pairing to another male, was also cruel. He would never hit his mate, but he would verbally abuse her. And for once she realized that either way , if she'd been brought up as his child or as her mother's like she had, her life wouldn't have been ideal.

After His brother came of age, Mykel was free to do as he wished, because he was no longer the heir. His brother found his mate within a year after coming of age, and according to Mykel, she was a shy woman, and their matching was a decent one.

The dragon lords always hoped to keep their lines strong with good mate pairs. She thought this was ridiculous when Mykel told her. They couldn't help who they were fated for. And she thought back to her situation in that moment, had she been brought up alongside Mykel, would she be already mated to Atlas?

She learned that not all dragons were of greater houses, many were peasants like her, Ander was. She had to know some of this so she wouldn't appear completely ignorant of her status tomorrow night.

She had been so withdrawn from her heritage while growing up, that learning all of this made her want it all but baby steps had to be taken.

For certain she was excited to be able to show Atlas who she was, though some parts would remain hidden. Her facial scars for one would be too recognizable. She had found a paste that could cover the main ones easy enough. She had practiced applying it to her face so everything appeared seamless and she was able to paint over it once it was dry. The method wasn't absolutely perfect, but it did what it needed to. This was the way she'd present herself to Atlas.

The dress was to be a surprise to her but it made her anxious. The only thing she knew was the color. Gray. That color wouldn't have been her first decision, but she had been reassured it would look good.

Dinner this night she took in the room, not caring to join the men and women that graced their presence. She had done this for the last two nights as well, no one questioned it and she didn't care.

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I have mixed feelings about this chapter. I was a little too consumed with writing about what comes next in the story and I feel it reflected in the writing of this chapter.