Ryn

Chapter Sixteen

Friendly relations are to be kept between colonies. Being an outsider invites hostility, which births war. War is honorable and should not arise because of a neglected relationship.

This is Our Law.

~ From the Dragonling Grimoire

Dmitri and Alek weren't too happy that I spent a large majority the rest of the trip avoiding them. I had made a new friend among the court - Queen Gertrude's daughter, Elizabeth - and used most of my time to hang out with her or Derek. Liza was a smart girl; she showed me how to read star charts and how to use backhalls to evade anyone who would be looking for me.

I found the latter to be increasingly useful every day that passed. Dmitri had employed Leon to keep an eye on me and the redhead had shadowed me for three days until I confided in Liza about it.

We were in the library when I finally broke down. It was a beautiful place, just as grand and extravagant as the rest of the castle. At four stories tall, it wasn't as large as the libraries back in the Thunderstorm colony, but the bookshelves were made of heavy ebony carved with fantastic shapes. Each staircase was a delicate spiral with gray marble steps.

But the crown jewel of it all was a magic dome on top. Literal magic. Liza had explained that an elf had enchanted it hundreds of years ago. It moved to display the various constellations at night. We were using it to help me learn where all of them were at the moment - Liza would point to one of the maps on our table and I would have to say what constellations were closest to the indicated one. I loved it, but Leon made it difficult to focus.

"It's just weird." I hissed as I glanced over my shoulder. Leon was hovering in the corner, eyes zeroed in on us like he was hunting his prey. Liza glanced up, her pale blue eyes widening in surprise.

"I didn't even see him!" Liza whispered back frantically as she scooped up the charts and rolled them up so we could put them back in their holders. I began to help, picking up my favorite - Lupus - as I watched Leon from the corner of my eye.

The fyn was watching us with increased interest, his jade-colored eyes trained on us like a hawk watching a mouse. I hated feeling like a mouse. "Is there any way we can, you know, lose him? Secret passageways? Maybe a magic cloak to turn us invisible?"

"That's just ridiculous." Liza said as she tucked a chestnut brown strand of hair behind her ear. "No, we can just take some of the servant's hallways. They're crowded and bend a lot." She put the scroll holders back in their places on the shelves and took my hand, practically dragging me out.

Servant hallways? Why did servants need special hallways? But, now that I thought about it, it made sense... I hadn't seen many servants throughout my stay. I blinked as Liza pulled me around a corner. How oblivious could I be? That made total sense once I actually stopped to think-