(Starla)
"I have no hidden agenda. I came because you called for me," I quietly answered, keeping my gaze fixed on Azkan. His scaly skin glistened under torches, making him appear even more handsome.
"Then why the sudden interest in the Academy? First you followed me to the wall, and now you want to visit the academy?" Azkan accused, leaving me flabbergasted.
Runa smugly smiled, possessively rubbing his arm
"I merely wished to see it. I am not here to gather any secrets," I defended myself.
The tension at the table was palpable now. Runa’s dangerous eyes were fixed on me, cold and assessing.
"Come now, brother. Relax. It was my idea to take Starla to the Academy." Alistair waved it off. I didn’t know why Alistair trusted me when we had just met, but I was glad to have someone on my side.
"Don’t defend her," Runa reprimanded, making Alistair throw her a look, a fox throws towards a hen.
"I will."
Azkan, on the other hand, continued to observe me, his expression judgemental.
"Enough," he finally snapped, his voice cutting through the silence. "We are here to eat. Not to spar."
"I’m not sparring," Alistair said innocently. "I am just making conversation. Runa is the one causing trouble."
"Your conversation is like a blade," Azkan answered in annoyance. "Sharp, pointed and aimed towards my guide."
My Guide. Somehow his words pinched my heart.
"Aww! That’s the nicest thing you have ever said to me." Alistair flashed an annoying smile towards his brother.
Azkan frustratedly sighed and agitatedly closed his eyes. Alistair seemed to pull everyone’s leg.
The meal continued in strained silence after that.
Runa kept her hand on Azkan’s arm, her body angled toward him, possessive and proprietary. She served him food, poured his drink, made sure he was always looking at her.
Alistair, for his part, made a game of it. Every time Runa touched Azkan, he would comment. Every time she tried to claim his attention, Alistair would bring the conversation back to me.
"So, Starla," he asked, "What is the most interesting thing you have seen since you arrived?"
I thought about it. "The Wall. It’s really incredible. I never imagined anything like it."
"The Wall is impressive," Alistair agreed. "But it’s also depressing. Five hundred years of separation. You know, back in the day, before the Wall, our people used to trade with yours. Share stories. Some even..." He paused, his grin returning. "Some even fell in love."
Runa’s nostrils flared. "Those stories ended in betrayal."
"Some of them," Alistair agreed. "But not all. Not every human was Jhay."
The name hung in the air like smoke. I saw Azkan’s jaw tighten. Runa’s eyes blazed.
"Alistair! Don’t say that name," Azkan fumed, his voice low and yet dangerous, bordering on madness. A warning he gave his brother.
"I am just saying," Alistair meekly answered, holding up his hands, "that maybe we shouldn’t judge all humans based on one betrayal. Especially not the one who saved our brother."
Runa’s gaze snapped to me. "She is hiding something. I can feel it."
I went very still. She wasn’t wrong.
"Everyone hides something," Alistair said smoothly. "You try to hide your jealousy. Azkan hides his feelings. I hide my brilliance." He winked at me. "It’s what makes us interesting."
"You are impossible," Azkan muttered, but there was something almost fond in his voice.
"That’s what makes me charming too." Alistair took a bow.
***
Thankfully, the awkward breakfast ended, and Runa rose, her expression frosty.
"I have duties to attend to," she said, her voice clipped. "Azkan."
She nodded stiffly at Azkan, ignored Alistair and me completely, and swept out of the room.
The door closed behind her, and Alistair let out a dramatic sigh of relief.
"Finally. I thought she would never leave."
"You were deliberately provoking her," Azkan’s voice was laced with disappointment while he wiped his robust lips with a napkin.
"Provoking? Me?" Alistair pressed a hand to his chest in mock offence. "I was merely engaging in friendly conversation."
I could hardly contain my laughter.
"Your ’friendly conversation’ was like setting a fire." Azkan gestured with his hand.
"And you are the one who put it out," Alistair said, grinning. "You are good at that. Being the mediator. The calm one." His grin widened.
"Frankly though, how do you stand her and her fakeness?"
"She is not fake; you simply hate her," Azkan countered, his eyes sliding towards me.
"Not fake? You and I both know that she can’t guide you. How long are you going to live under this illusion?" Alistair dropped the amusement from his voice. "But I am your brother; I already see one suffering; I can’t continue with both of you."
"That’s enough, Alistair. I don’t suffer." Azkan loudly banged his fist on the wooden table, which trembled under his unmanly force.
I flinched while Doodles scurried away from under the table with a yelp.
"Of course you don’t," Alistair huffed, patting his brother’s shoulder in annoyance. "You are the Commander. You don’t have feelings."
He turned to me, all friskiness gone. "Do you want to see the Academy now? I promise there will be less tension."
I glanced at Azkan. He was staring at me, his amethyst eyes holding depths of emotions and pain. The eyes that could easily drown someone.
"Um," I said. "Sure. The Academy sounds great." Anything to get away from this brooding hunk of muscles and scales.
"I would like a word with you before you go," he said rigidly, making me go pale.
"Can’t it wait?" Alistair asked, irritated.
"No, wait outside," he dismissed his brother.
"I will wait with Doodles." Alistair marched away, closing the door behind him and leaving me alone with this beastly brother.
My heart restlessly pounded as I gathered courage to glance in his direction.
Azkan pinned me with a hard stare. "Stay away from Alistair. You try to get too close to him or hurt him, and that will be the last thing you will ever do."
Great, more threats by the broody Beastman.
"I have no intentions of hurting him or anyone. A little trust would be a courtesy you could extend to me."
Azkan scoffed. "Trust is a delicate word. It’s not something I extend to humans. You have been warned because I will be watching you."
His words should have terrified me, but they didn’t. I was stubborn, and now I was going to make this my goal to build trust with him.
No matter what it took.
I got up to leave when he hit me with another sentence. "Alistair might appear charming and funny. But you don’t know him. He will consume you before you know it. If you are smart, you will keep your distance."
Was that a warning or simply a wrapped concern?
I had no clue.