Hidden Stones

CHAPTER 9 | My Part

MARINA

Silence. Utter and complete silence. That's what have been going on since Myra and I entered the East dining hall.

The king was sitting on the far end of the table. His lips in a grim line. His face passive and cold. His brown hair was tussled like he never bothered combing. His clothes were in navy blue with touches of gold. He was busy being stoic that he didn't so much as glance when the butler announced our arrival.

On the right side of the table sat the male witch or in their most accepted term, warlock. He was sipping wine when we entered. He stood up and nodded in greeting to Myra as she placed herself at the left side of the king, facing him. Then he slid his gaze on me, studying. I ignored his stare as I sat down beside Myra. But I can't help noticing that despite living in the north, his hair is blonde just like mine. He was muscular and really tall. He got this sophisticated aura around him like he was more of a diplomatic than a warrior. 

Well, that makes sense. He's a warlock, he doesn't really need to be stuck in hand to hand combat when he can decimate his enemies with only his thoughts.

Nobody have spoken a word which made the atmosphere in the room uncomfortable. The tension only lessened when the food arrived and the warlock told us to help ourselves. Now, only the clanking of utensils echoed and instead of being engrossed on the food, the sound made me remember the bread knife the other night.

I glanced around the table. Myra was focused on slicing steak on her plate, and I barely heard her mumbling something about Eastern meat being more tender. The warlock was munching on vegetables and was clearly thinking deeply on something as I saw him shake his head from time to time as if he had thought of something disturbing.

I glanced up at the king. He was staring at his food and it was clear that he didn't had an appetite at the moment. When he caught me staring, I immediately ducked my head down. On the corner of my eye I saw him frown. Moments later, he pushed his plate aside.

A couple more minutes of uncomfortable silence ensued when suddenly Myra spoke up. "It's clear that food is not what we want to deal with at the moment..." Se roamed her gaze around noting that no one has really eaten much.  She clasped her hands in front of her as the king frowned. "So why don't we just cut to the problem?" She waved her hand and all of the food clattered and disappeared. 

The warlock scowled. "I was still eating."

"No, you were busy thinking." Myra corrected which made the warlock scowl even more. "Let's just get this over with." She glanced my way for a second and proceeded to address the king. "Marina has accepted that I pick her mind-"

"Do you really think she had a choice in the matter?" The warlock scoffed. "She deliberately hid her identity and somewhat had a connection with the que-" He abruptly stopped himself  from mentioning the woman, fearing the king would be upset.  The king doesn't look bothered but I clenched my fists at the mere thought of them thinking that I had a connection with her. "I mean... I thought she was your princess? You said so three nights ago." He continued.

Three nights ago? 

I was out for so long it was a miracle that they didn't reached for me again.

"She claims she isn't. But I think otherwise." Myra narrowed her eyes at the warlock when he raised his brow. "But regardless if she's Adrianna or not, she's still a person. She had a right to her own mind. And besides," She emphasized. "you don't know if she's a criminal and only the worst criminals are subjected to mind reading."

"Why do you agree?" 

A cool voice asked from the head of the table. I stilled. Was he talking to me? I lifted my gaze and saw the king staring, waiting for me to answer.