King of Blood

Chapter 3 - Lyanna

On her way home she'd had time to think about her exit of the coffee house. Perhaps it was rude of her not to even smile at the man as she left. That didn't matter now anyway. She couldn't be distracted, and that human was bad news. Of course she could recognise when a male was flirting with her. She could imagine the signposts all around Evansmore now.

'TREASON IN THE FAMILY:

NYDALE PAYNE'S DAUGHTER CONSORTED WITH HUMANS'

No, she couldn't let that happen. If Aleksander was on the throne when her father did what he did, her family name would already be tarnished. Though, she did wonder, what was worse? A human male or a Seelie woman?

She was struck from her thoughts when she reached the apartment, the door slightly ajar. Again, she cursed herself for not being more prepared, all her weapons were inside the flat, she hadn't even thought to bring a dagger. With no other choice, she entered the flat confidently, removing her coat.

"Close the door, sweet thing. It's letting in a draft." All the confidence she had mustered up vanished in an instant. On the sofa where Alistair sat not that long ago lounged Aleksander. Aleksander with no glamour or human clothes. She did as he commanded and walked right past him to deposit her coat on the kitchen counter.

"Are you mad?" She asked. "Coming here with no glamour? You could undo everything we have done to keep ourselves safe in one sighting." His eyes darkened at her audacity.

"Sit." He ordered. Doing as she was told, she took a seat on the opposite sofa, her body closed and locked tight as she waited for him to speak. His eyes followed her form, eyeing the changes the glamour had made. "Glamour efficient?" He asked.

"Naida did a great job, no one suspected a thing."

"Good." He crossed one leg over the other, his muddied boots staining the floor. She grumbled internally. "I was going to send Alistair with this information but you can't trust that oaf with anything."

"He was your friend once." She muttered.

"People change Lyanna, you should know that." His eyes went to the kitchen. "Why don't you pour some drinks? I brought some wine to keep you going. Even I wouldn't wish that human swill on anyone." Lyanna did as she was commanded and went over to the kitchen. She took two glasses from the side of the basin and filled them both with a decent measure of wine, the sweet smell welcome after the coffee house and rancid human air.

When she turned back, the king had migrated from the sofa to the small dining table where he laid out some documents. She handed him the glass and they both drank deeply.

"What is all this?"

"We have discovered that the queen's dog has been attending this educational establishment, so I took the liberty of getting you a place there."

"Won't this just put me in his plain sight?" The king ignored her and continued to rifle through the papers.

"Have you chosen a name?" He asked.

"Leah." He scoffed.

"How plain. Humans were always unambitious."

'The human male liked it', she thought.

"Never mind," he handed her a pen. "Sign your own name, the hand should match." She took the pen and gleefully signed away her life. She was happy to have a tie to somewhere away from home. Perhaps, this small piece of a house could become her home if she was there long enough.

"Another thing," Aleksander collected the pages and set them in a neat pile for her on the table before leaning on the side. "This place, I'm told, has a library of documents detailing humanities advancements. I want you to read up on them. How their weapons are doing, where their boarders are now, things like that. Can you do that for me?" He asked, stepping towards her and raising a hand to her cheek. A hand that was once warm now cold and bitter. Lyanna bit her cheek and tried not to squirm. "Do you ever remember what we were like when we were young."