The Dragon Knight; The Awakening of the Legend

The Awakening of the Legend (Chapter 44)

“Excuse me?” I gaped at him. Did he seriously say that to my face just now? Struggled out of his hold and got to my feet. I wanted to glare at him but I had never imagined that the moment I was standing again that the bad feeling would return. I grabbed my head again and bit my lip to keep any complaints from slipping out.

Slowly the bad feeling disappeared and, almost tentatively I let go of my head. I inhaled deeply before letting it back out slowly. That was not fun. What was that? I never got the chance to think about it, or ask someone. Robin grabbed my arm and steadied me; I hadn’t even noticed I was slightly swaying.

“Are you okay?” Robin asked, completely serious and worried.

“It’s just the heat.” I mumbled not meeting his gaze. How was I supposed to explain some bad feeling? I didn’t know where it came from; I didn’t know what caused it. I just knew that it hurt my head and it felt wrong.

Lucky for me Kevin didn’t think I was lying, which Robin probably did. “Oh come on, now you’re exaggerating. It’s not that hot right now.”

Turning to look at him, I raised one eyebrow and stated flatly. “It’s supposed to be winter right now.” Before turning to Robin and adding, “And what are you doing here?”

“You make it sound like you didn’t know he was coming. And like you don’t want him here.” Kevin joked with a smile. I resisted the urge to tell him that that was exactly right. But I wasn’t going to tell Kevin that because it would raise all kinds of questions. Nor was I going to say it in front of Robin because was just a bit too mean.

Instead I brushed it off and turned around to where I knew the kitchens were. At least this was a castle built out of stone and not the inside of some giant tree where everything looked the same. “Whatever. I’m hungry and I still have to finish packing before I can go.”

“I am sure the cooks can get breakfast up in a few minutes and then we can all eat together. Be patient.” King Brant spoke up. I hadn’t even noticed he was there. But of course he was; he had been talking with Kevin and Robin. And the look he gave me made it quite clear that if I protested I would be asked questions.

So forcing back a sigh, I turned around with a warm smile on my face. “Okay, sure. There is no rush so I don’t see why not.” I replied but on the inside I was feeling a lot of frustration. I was so close… so close to getting away. If that bad feeling hadn’t thrown me off balance no one would have even known I was up and about. “I’ll go and see if Zjarr is awake. This is most certainly not the moment to have her worrying.”

I could feel them watching my back as I made my way up the stairs. It was hard to walk at a normal pace while I wanted to run. It was hard to breathe normally when I wanted to scream out my frustration. But the moment I was around the corner I ran flat out.

I wanted to get away from them, away from Kevin, who had played some role in getting Robin here. I didn’t know what he had done but I was sure he had done something. I wanted to get away from King Brant, who I felt knew more about everything than he let on. And most of all I wanted to get away from Robin, who was very likely to stop me from going, from leaving again.

He must have been mad at me for leaving like that, without saying a word to him. He must have been mad because I had kept things from him. The only reason he could have possible found me here was with help from Svadilfari. And if the Mage helped him, he had probably told him everything I hadn’t. He had every reason to be mad at me.

I paused for a moment in the middle of a corridor I didn’t know. Pressing my back against the cool stone wall, I slowly slid down until my butt hit the ground. This was the perfect time to lose my calm. No one was around, not Zjarr, not Kevin, not Robin. No one. Just me. The perfect time to let it all out before I had to put up the act again.