𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅

chapter eighty-seven

Emriana

I gave the door a few knocks before peeking my head inside the room. Dana lifted her head from her book, a smile growing on her face.

"Em!" I laughed as I entered our old room, hugging her before taking a seat on my old bed along with Akira.

"I hope I'm not bothering you," I said, and she shook her head, putting her book down.

"Of course not. What brings you here?" She asked.

I reached into the pocket of my dress, and pulled out a small leather pouch, and handed it to her. She raised a brow as she undid the knot and looked inside.

"What's all that money for?" She frowned.

"You can go visit your brother now, and I'm coming with you," I said, and her eyes widened.

"Are you serious? This is too much," she pushed the pouch toward me, but I stopped her.

"Take it, please. Think of it as a thank you for always being there with me throughout this whole thing," I said, and she nodded, her eyes becoming glassy.

"Emriana," she cried before pulling me into her arms and squeezing me tightly.

"You have no idea how much this means to me," she cried into my shoulder, and I smiled, hugging her back.

"You deserve to be able to see him. Family is important,"

"You really want to come with me?"

"Of course. I've never been to Droomi, and I thought it would be a fun trip for the two of us, although I doubt they would let me go alone with you," she laughed, pulling away as she sat on the edge of my bed next to me.

"How's married life?" I chuckled.

"Amazing, honestly. They're so sweet," I grinned, and she laughed.

"Where are they?"

"I don't know...meetings, I think," I shrugged.

"There was actually a reason why I wanted to come see you today," I said, and she smiled.

"What is it?"

"I wanted to know...if you would be interested in becoming...um—

"Are you asking me to become one of your royal ladies-in-waiting?" I nodded at her, and her eyes lit up.

"YESSS," she hugged me. "I've always wanted to do that,"

"It would just be you. I don't want anybody else," I said, and she grinned.

"We'll be able to spend all our time together now. This is so amazing!" She exclaimed, hugging me again.

"I'm glad you said yes—

I was cut by Akira, who growled at Dana, and she quickly let go of me, pushing herself away from the bed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked him, but he didn't look my way, only continued to let out low roars toward Dana, placing himself in front of me.

"Akira," I called for him, and he turned his head toward me, acting strange as he began to sniff me.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked, stepping back from the tiger.

"I don't know, he's never done that before," I frowned as I tried to calm him down, but he just stayed tensed as he watched Dana with irritation.

"I'm sorry about that. Did you want to come with me to breakfast?" I asked her, shushing the animal beside me.