The Queen of the Night

Chapter 18

Draco leaned against the wall but pushed himself off when I stepped into the hall. "We're in a lot of trouble, huh?" Draco whispered while the fat man continued down the hall.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think you more than me."

Draco bit his lip and took a deep breath. "Guess I'll go in and see him." He hesitated, taking a deep breath while his hand rested on the door knob but then he turned back around toward me. "You probably have a lot of questions, huh, Cinderella?"

My mind went to the growling, the roar, and the way his features morphed. I had only a few questions, but he disappeared behind the door before any of them could form in my mind.

I didn't know what to do anymore. Should I wait out here? Should I go back to my room?

"She didn't see anything?" I heard Draco from the other side. Curiosity took hold of me and forced my ear close to the door.

"I never said that," Eden snapped. "And keep your voice down."

"But isn't it a good thing if she didn't see anything? Why am I even hiding this from her? It's not like she's human. She hides her identity like we hide ours."

"I'm hoping it'll pass..." Eden sighed and I could faintly hear his cup scraping the tray. "After all, we aren't very liked by her kind."

"You mean you don't get along with Matthew." Draco scoffed. "I get along with her just fine." There was a silence of a long pause. "Something tells me this isn't one of those 'phases' most dragons my age go through. This isn't a false start. Perhaps, father, it is time to put all of our differences and our quarrels behind us. Especially with the rise of The Order and these attacks against us, and the people we rule, we could use some allies. We have a common enemy, so why doesn't our family and the Necrarch family unite against this enemy?"

There was another long pause. When Eden spoke I could almost hear the smile in his voice, "Maybe you're right, Draco, maybe there should be unity between our families. You will make a very wise ruler when the time comes."

"Eavesdropping is rude, you know."

I jumped back against the wall. Matthew gave me a disapproving look, coupled with his stern voice, I suppose I was in even more trouble than Draco was. The fat man from earlier opened the door and walked in the room. "Master Matthew is here, sir."

"Send him in immediately," Eden didn't look toward us, though the door was left open. Matthew walked in and turned to close the door but Eden stopped him. "Come in, child," his voice sounded a bit more annoyed than when he was talking to Draco. Matthew shot him a glare as I walked in. The fat man shut the door behind himn and nobody spoke until he was out of the room and well out of earshot.

"There is nothing here worth discussing, Eden," Matthew spoke boldly. I joined Draco next to the fireplace, but stayed on the opposite side so that it separated us. Draco stood so close to it that I wondered if the heat even bothered him, or if he was like me and simply unable to feel it.

"There is a lot to discuss. If you sit and speak civilly..."

Matthew interrupted, "If you allow me to take Amelia home..."

"What exactly is worth discussing?" I whispered to Draco. He responded by chewing on his thumb nail. "What?"

"What did you see last night before you passed out, Amelia?" His tone was serious.

At first I could only stare at him, my eyes scanning his face and the fact that he wouldn't look at me, the way he leaned so casually and yet he acted as if the answer held a weight to it that would decide the fate of the world he and his family lived in. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question!" He snapped.

I huffed stuttered through what I remembered, stumbling over my sentences and carefully choosing my words while I watched his body language shift unpredictably. He flinched at the detail about the roar and when I stopped talking I heard silence. Even the fire didn't seem to crack like it should. I looked over at Eden, who studied me, his eyes sliding up and down as if trying to find a lie in my story. Matthew's mouth gapped slightly, his eyes shifted from me to Draco. I wasn't sure if he looked worried, or shocked, or a little bit of a bunch of emotions to create a new one. The sound of a log shifting threw everything back into motion.

"That is where we are at, Matthew. There is a lot that needs to be discussed."

"I'm not understanding," I looked directly at Matthew. "What needs to be discussed? There isn't anything except that I broke the rules. I understand I did and I understand that we," I gestured my hand to indicate both me and Draco, "could've been seriously hurt. But...I mean, this discussion doesn't really warrant this kind of a reaction, right? After all, it's only natural for teenagers to break the rules." I looked at Draco, but he didn't see me. He looked through me at some unseen object. "R-right?"

Eden cleared his throat, "Amelia, there is much we need to discuss based on the events you described. He seems to think this might not be a phase."

I felt like I wasn't being heard. My questions were going unanswered, beaten around an unidentified bush and I felt my hand shake, and lift, and come down. Matthew gripped my wrist tightly before I could hit the wall. It was tight and light, his slender fingers formed as if it were made to catch a wrist as small as mine.