Alistair and The Dragons

Chapter 23 - New Lab

Alistair's POV

"King Alistair, your guests have arrived." Xander said, waking me from my zoned out trance. I smiled as Selah and Ryuu walked through the large double doors across from the throne. I quickly stood to greet them.

I rushed over to Selah and fell into her embrace. It had been at least a week since I had last seen them. It was good to see a friendly face.

"Hey Alistair." Selah said, pulling away.

"Hi." I said back. I glanced over to Ryuu who was trying to discreetly stare at Xander standing at my side. Ryuu's eyes shifted back to me but the only emotion they held was contempt. I inwardly sighed and smiled at Selah.

"I have a surprise for you." I said, catching Selah attention.

"Oooh, I'm excited. I would love a tour by the way." Selah said, looking up at the architecture on the ceiling.

"I'd be happy to give you one. After the surprise of course. Please follow me." I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards a door to the side of the throne room. I opened the door and held it open for Selah, Ryuu and Xander to walk through.

"You don't need to follow us." I said as Xander walked by me. Xander said nothing and I sighed, accepting defeat for today. I led them up a flight of stairs and down a hallway a few doors before stopping. Selah shook her hands hands excitedly.

"Okay, close your eyes." Selah did as I said, letting me lead her through the door we had stopped at. I waited for Ryuu and Xander to enter before speaking.

"Open them." I said. Selahs eyes shot open, examining the room. Her eyes widened in realization. She turned towards me and grabbed my arms.

"Is this lab for me?!" Selah bubbled, dropping my arms and jumping towards the glossy white tables nailed to the floor.

"The entire thing." I said, laughing at her expression. She looked like she was going to drool. Selah switched her gaze to the white cabinets lining the walls and the shelves that sat against them. She rushed over to the huge window and popped it open, letting in a slight breeze.

"I love this. Thank you so much!" Selah said, taking another look at her new lab. My eyes shifted over to a barely smiling Ryuu. He really didn't want to be here.

Selah startled me when she grabbed my shoulders and began pushing me out the door.

"I want that tour." Selah ordered. I smiled, nodded and began showing her around. Selah was all over the place when I showed her the main labs. She had no sense of personal space when she entered and quickly scared most of the elves working there.

After forcing her away from the labs, we made it to the hallway holding my room. I stopped at the door closest to mine.

"This room is open to you whenever you like Selah. You may come and go as you please." I said, "There's a room here for you too, Ryuu." I added afterwards, hesitant to try and talk to the unhappy hybrid. Ryuu only nodded and I quickly turned away.

"Which one is your room?" Selah questioned, breaking the awkward tension in the air. I pointed at the door nearest to her room and she took off. Xander took a step forward but I shot a hand out to stop him.

"It's fine." I said, watching as Selah pulled my door open and barged inside. Xander nodded and I began following in Selahs footsteps. I followed Selah inside my room, laughing as she ran around touching everything. Xander didn't take a step inside and it seemed Ryuu preferred to do the same.

Selah stopped her examination at the large bookshelf in my room. She slid her fingers over the titles, stopping when she hit on that was unmarked. Upon pulling it out, I realized it was the Kings journal. My eyes widened and I turned to my nightstand where I remember setting it with a few other books. I must have put it there by accident. Selah opened to the first page and I quickly rushed over, snatching it from her hands.

"Why don't we go check out the kitchen and get something to eat?" I said, shoving the book back on the shelf. Selah frowned at me but perked up at the sound of food. She nodded and drug me outside to lead the way. I hated hiding things from her but I didn't know if I wanted anyone to know about the amulet or portals or any of the other secrets that journal held.

I ate a small meal with Selah and Ryuu, talking about random things and the stuff I had missed back at the house. I missed Selah. Even if Ryuu ignored everything I said, I still missed him too.

"We probably should head back to the house. It will be dark soon." Selah said, standing up. I nodded my head in agreement. We began a slow walk out to the front doors, passing by my room and going through the throne room. A few guards opened the front door of the castle for us, letting us view the nice setting sun.

"It was really good to see you Alistair."  Selah said, giving me a back-breaking hug. I hugged her back, not wanting her to leave. "We'll come back soon. I'm gonna put that lab to good use."

I smiled and said, "You do that. Thank you for coming. Both of you." Ryuu glanced at me and nodded but that was all. They began to walk down the steps when I got an idea.

"Hey wait up." I called, stopping Selah before she got down the first step. "Wanna take the dragon way back?" I smiled, holding out my arm, allowing Varon to crawl out on my arm.

"Really?!" Selah said, gasping.

"Of course." I said, smiling. Selah squealed, shaking Ryuu's arm in excitement.

"I'll take that as a yes." I nodded at Varon, signalling for him to grow. He jumped off my arm and landed on the ground for times as big as he just way. Selah gave me one more hug before climbing onto Varon, bubbling with glee. Ryuu carefully stepped over Varons wing and shakily climbed onto the large green dragons back.

Selah waved goodbye just as Varon took off into the sky. A scream was forced out of Ryuu's mouth when they lifted into the air. He grabbed onto Selah and held on tight. Once they were out of sight, I turned around and headed back inside to move the journal to a safer location.

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Picture is Selahs new lab
Hope you like it!