The Dragon's Kiss

The Dragon's Kiss - Chapter 86 - EIGHTY SIX: Deadly

“Nngh,” Kel grunted sleepily as a gentle hand caressed her cheek.

The faint chirping of birds grew louder as her senses slowly woke up. 

Was she back in her bed? She couldn’t remember leaving Soren’s room or falling asleep. Had that girl, Alaia, escorted her back?

“You’re awake?”

It was Soren’s voice.

Kel’s eyes flew open. What was that man doing in her room?

In contrast to Kel’s panic, the man in question was seated calmly on the edge of the bed, watching her intently.

“What are you doing here?” she asked groggily, propping herself up on her elbows.

The man smiled and shook his head. “Where else would I be?”

Huh? What did that mean?

Yawning, Kel briefly scanned her surroundings, her eyes finally landing on the silver cage next to the bed. Two brightly-colored birds were perched next to each other, but something was off.

They weren’t blue.

“This..!” Kel jolted up, taking a closer look at the room.

The sofa, table and chairs all looked exactly like the ones she’d first woken up to in Subterra. But, shouldn’t the chairs and table be closer to the bed? 

Those weren’t the only furnishings out of place. Everything in the room was laid out differently from hers.

It wasn’t her room after all.

“Did you forget?” Soren placed his hand on top of Kel’s as her gaze bounced around erratically. “You fell asleep here last night.”

“I-I fell asleep?” Kel stammered.

There’s no way that was true. How could a trained soldier, who’d spent more than a lifetime’s worth of night duty, fall asleep randomly?

“You,” she accused, pointing an angry finger toward Soren. “What did you do?”

“What do you take me for?!” Soren exclaimed. “I didn’t touch you except to move you to the bed, I swear!”

“That’s not what I meant!” Kel blushed. “But now that you mention it, I definitely wouldn’t put something like that past you!”

She whipped the blanket off to check her body. Except for her shoes, the rest of her clothing seemed untouched. 

“Ha. Is your opinion of me that low?” Soren huffed defensively. 

“You drugged me not too long ago!” Kel snapped back. “It would be weirder if I didn’t have a low opinion of you.”

“Ok, just listen, Princess,” Soren sighed, rubbing his forehead. “You fell asleep on your own, honest to goodness, so I put you in bed and let you sleep.”

“There’s no chance I would let my guard down like that,” Kel grumbled, crossing her arms.

Putting his hands up in frustration, Soren insisted, “It’s the truth!”

Kel ignored him, convinced she would never do something so foolish as falling asleep in front of the enemy.

They argued back and forth until Soren lunged toward Kel, slamming his hand against the headboard of the bed.

“Look here, Your Highness. Either you aren’t as wary of me as you thought,” he growled, “or you’re more exhausted than you realized. Neither of those are my fault.”