Nentarli [COMPLETE]

~ Nineteen ~

We spun around to see Blaike standing in the doorway with his hands behind his back. I hadn't seen him since the morning before, he was all cleaned up and looked less solemn than he had been.

He wore a cream coloured, long sleeve shirt and brown leggings, he had the same boots on and a short sword strapped onto his belt. My eyes widened, I looked at Emy quickly, whispering close to her when more embarrassment creeped in.

"How long has he been there? We should have shut the doors when we came in. I bet he heard me singing!" I hissed and cursed, risking a glance at him and he beckoned us over.

I could feel something else lurking beneath the embarrassment but I pushed it down as far as it would go.

Emy laughed extra quietly and whispered back. "Calm down, he looks like he just got there and besides, it's not like your singing was anything to be embarrassed about. It was sensational, Cass, it really was."

She nudged my elbow and walked in front to reach Blaike before I could argue with her.

As I reached them, I glanced at Blaike while his attention was on Emy and her interrogation-like questions. The stubble he'd had since we met him was gone and his face looked much cleaner. His hair looked like it had been washed and brushed through but somehow still managed to look ruffled. Emy was questioning him about where he'd come from and how long he had been standing there.

"... less than a minute, your parents' asked me to find you and bring you to the dining room."

He had some semblance of a smile throughout his reply and I wondered if he was telling the whole truth. Emy seemed to have a similar thought and she switched tactics to asking about the singing directly.

His smile widened a fraction. "Sound travels far in this house, you would be surprised who heard singing and who didn't."

I frowned when he glanced at me, that cryptic response didn't really answer the question and the glint he always seemed to have in his eyes didn't indicate what he meant either.

He pointed to the doors, "We should close these up and get to the dining room, the food will be ready soon."

I guessed I wasn't going to get the answer to Emy's question and it tied my stomach in knots to think he might have been listening to my singing. We waited outside the doors for him to close them up and then followed him to the dining room. We walked past rooms Emy and I hadn't got to yet, I made a note to come back to them when we could.

My attention turned back to Blaike as we walked and I noticed he seemed much more relaxed now than he had in the last few days. His whole demeanour was more serene and he was more cheerful when he spoke to the various people we passed. I was wondering what could have made him so cheerful when we walked through one more door and into the dining room.

It was a striking room which immediately distracted me from my thoughts, the elongated table was the first thing to catch my eye. It looked like it would seat fifty people or more but it had only been set up on one end, for maybe a handful of people. Kayle and Kaleb were already sat talking as we made our way down to them.

The room was decorated in white and light shades of blue, it felt nice somehow, as though we were walking through the clouds. When we reached Kayle and Kaleb, they abruptly stood up and stopped talking, with the look on Kayle's face I had a feeling I didn't want to know what their conversation had been about.

Emy moved to stand behind one of the chairs closest to them, glancing between the guys.

"So, do we have assigned seating or can we sit wherever we want?"