The Unknown Alchemist

Chapter 18 - Privacy

Sari was pushing her food around her plate at dinner that night when Adelyn stomped in and collapsed into a chair at the table. She poured herself a big glass of wine before she even looked at the food.

"I just spent nine hours meeting with the delegates from Thanes and Hadisota about these attacks on the east coast." She nearly finished the glass in one gulp. "My ears are bleeding from the sound of their bickering."

Sari refilled her sister's glass, relieved she had been spared the meeting of stuffy primes. Instead she had sorted out trade partnerships with Terraly and gone over the latest reports from the supply lines for Corinth. Prime life wasn't all luxury.

"Where are Arctos and Roedin?" Adelyn asked.

Sari grunted and swallowed. "They were sent home without their supper."

Adelyn rolled her eyes and looked at her brother. "What for this time? Or, do I even want to know?"

Sari explained, "In summary, the males got separated from Avery today on her first visit to the city. She was somewhat scared out of her wits but other than that, completely unharmed. But Roedin acted as though she had been abducted and took it out on Arctos."

Adelyn sighed and started heaping food on her plate. Between bites she described the torturous meetings with the primes, but Sari wasn't paying attention. Her thoughts wandered back to the human who had locked herself in her bedroom.

"You don't think she would do anything drastic, would she?" Sari interrupted.

Adelyn blinked in confusion. "The alpha prime of Hadisota? Well I don't think she'll take action without more forces backing her up. She can't even pinpoint the source of the attacks--"

"Not the alpha prime. Avery. We haven't heard a sound from that room all day," Sari clarified.

Adelyn cocked her head. "What do you mean by 'do anything'? As in, hurt herself?" She shifted in her seat. "That seems a bit extreme. Having a panic attack doesn't mean you want to die."

"But she does. I mean, she has. Tried to before. She cut her own wrists. I saw the scars and asked her about them. She almost sounded disappointed that it hadn't worked."

Hayden bounced his fork up and down and Adelyn sat back in chair.

"Well? Should we do something?"

"Do something about what?" Niamh sauntered into the dining room and plunked herself down at the table. She snatched a bun from the basket and smeared it with butter before stuffing it in her mouth and looking around the table.

"Check on Avery. She had a bit of a scare today," Sari explained.

Niamh shrugged and reached for a glass of wine. "So what else is new? She's afraid of her own shadow. Why is this time any different?"

Adelyn shrugged a shoulder and looked to Sari. "She has a point. The smallest thing seems to trigger a meltdown. I mean, what's her problem with Dellane? I think he's a bit pedantic but she's downright terrified at the sight of him."

Niamh snickered but Hayden cleared his throat pointedly. "We are supposed to be supporting her, helping her adapt to the city, not mocking her insecurities."

"We are?" Niamh spat. "Since when it is our responsibility to teach humans how to live? They think they're so much better than us because they have no animal in them, and yet she can barely carry on a normal conversation."

"That's not fair, Niamh," Hayden admonished.

"There are lots of things that aren't fair," Niamh said darkly.