Chapter Thirteen – Lily

Lily couldn't help but glance over her shoulder as she left her room, walking quickly. The protective detail that Eyrl had assigned to her quickly fell into step beside her. She knew she could have them search her room – again – but the palace already thought she was paranoid. She knew that they wouldn't find anybody inside.

Efira had gone too far this time, though. They had to listen to her!

She found Zaner in the library, preparing her lesson plan for the next day. The elderly dragoness got to her feet and bowed to Lily as she approached.

"Who cleaned my rooms today?"

Zaner's brows rose until they disappeared into her hairline. "Nobody. As you have instructed, the door has been kept locked and you're the only one who has been in there at any time."

Lily put her hands on her hips. "Somebody else has a key, because I certainly haven't been leaving myself threatening messages."

The two guards that had followed her here both put their hands on their weapons. One of them growled. "My lady, if you are receiving threats you should tell us at once, not roam the halls. What did the message say? We will have it analyzed and—"

"It's not that type of threat."

The guards glanced at each other, exchanging the familiar looks that said they'd already decided she was overreacting. Zaner put an arm around her. "Why don't you show us?"

Lily let out an annoyed huff and led them back to her chambers. It was the first incident since she had gotten it locked every day. Clearly, Efira had managed to find a way inside regardless. Was she hoping to drive Lily away through a mixture of intimidation and by making everybody else think she was crazy?

When they got back to her chambers, Lily showed them what had frightened her. The white sheets of her bed had been replaced by blood-red ones, and a fairytale book about a princess devoured by dragons sat on her pillow. As soon as she stepped back to let them take a look, she could see that their interest waned.

"You may wait outside," Zaner said to the guards. She waited until they were gone before shaking her head. "Not this again. My lady, I understand pregnancy can be a stressful time but you can't keep doing this. Red sheets and a book—"

"A book about a human princess being eaten by a dragon!"

Zaner let out a sigh. "It's only a book. There must have been a mix up in the staff's instructions today, and you must have forgotten to lock your door. As for the book, it's of Earth origins. Someone must have seen it and thought it was yours. It does seem rather crude, though – a whole book dedicated to that sexual act."

Lily wanted to scream. She dug her hands into her hair and held her breath, counting to ten before she released it. "Not that kind of eating, Zaner. It's not a Stlozyn dragon, it's the mythical beast that killed and ate people for dinner."

The maidservant put a hand to her chest. "How barbaric!"

"It's Efira, okay?" Lily put her hands on her hips. Over the past few weeks, her clothes had started to feel a bit tight around her middle. While it was exciting to have witnessed how her child was growing, the constant threat of Efira never being taken seriously was making her life miserable. "She wants me gone and she's playing these head games and using your biases against humans to make me look like I'm crazy!"

Zaner didn't reply, but her thoughts were clearly written over her face. Lily ground her teeth together. "I'm not staying here. I'm going to move in with Eyrl."

"My lady, until you are officially wed—"

"I don't care! I'm not staying here!"

"What is going on?"

Lily turned to see Eyrl in the doorway. Relief flooded her as she raced for him and threw herself into his arms. She began to tremble and her eyes flooded with tears. "It's Efira. She's still threatening me."

Her prince tensed. "Zaner, leave us."

Lily couldn’t say she was unhappy to see the maidservant go. Once the door was shut again, she stepped back from Eyrl. There was a guarded expression on his face and her heart sunk, already knowing what he was thinking. She tried not to become upset about what he hadn't yet said, though. Instead, she pointed out the sheets and book and explained what had happened. The doubt increased in his eyes.

"I locked the door. I always do."

He nodded slowly. "I see. Well, you will just have to come move into my room until we get these things sorted out."

It wasn't much, but Lily nodded. She didn't want to get angry with him, not after the awful day she had already had. It was just frustrating that nobody would take her seriously. Efira wasn't even being subtle about it anymore, and yet, because she couldn’t provide a detailed analysis of what the dragoness had said to her, it was chalked up to misunderstanding. That by itself was enough to make her want to shout at them. Any sort of emotion only made it worse, though.

Eyrl wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Some of her frustration towards him melted away. Maybe it wasn't exactly smooth sailing, but he was trying. He struggled to see what she was seeing, but he tried.

“How is your school program doing?”

She recognized the attempt to change the subject for what it was and her jaw clenched briefly, then slowly relaxed. If that was the way he wanted to play it, then fine. It would be better to get her mind off it, anyway. There had been something she wanted to talk with him for a while, and maybe this was the perfect time to bring it up.

"It's in a review," she told him as they left her chambers and the threat behind. The guards fell in step behind them and Lily tried to ignore them. "Just like your prison project. The last I heard, it was going to take them two months to even look at it, and it's usually another two months until you hear one way or another about it."

Eyrl nodded. "That's true. However, you should be preparing for the next step so that you can implement it as soon as you've received approval."

"Everything is already in place. Eyrl, I want to go home."

The prince stopped dead. He turned to her with wide eyes. His chest heaved and a tendril of smoke escaped his mouth. "I-I see."

She heard the emotion in his voice and how he struggled to contain it.

"If you're not happy here, of course, I won't make you stay but—"

"No." She closed her hands over his and stepped closer, although the presence of the guards stopped her from kissing him like she wanted. "It's not that at all. I want you and me to go to Earth so I can introduce you to my parents. I'm pregnant with your child and they've never even talked to you."

There was no mistaking the relief on his face. He hugged her tightly, but when he released her, he shook his head. "Given the circumstances . . . " He put a hand on her stomach. "I think it would be best if we stayed. The boards aren't trying to get rid of me, but—"

"Please. I miss them. And I just really, really want to show you everything . . . and maybe pick up some of my old things that I've been saving for my children. Like the cradle that my granddad hand-carved for my mom and her siblings – that I slept in as a baby."

"And this is something of great sentimental value, correct?" Eyrl's brows furrowed. "Because we have many options that would most likely be more effective—"

"It's sentimental," she interrupted. "Don't you have anything from when you were a little child that you loved and that you want to give to our child?"

He shook his head. "Once I hit puberty, my mother collected all my childish toys and had them sent to colonies where they would be more fully appreciated."

Lily wished she could say that shocked her, but in truth, nothing she heard that Xæm did surprise her in the least. One thing was certain, though: she was going to make plenty of trips to Earth once the baby was born so that her child could know the warmth of what grandparents were supposed to be like.

She started walking again, her brow furrowed. "I don't want my child to grow up like you."

"What?" Eyrl was visibly startled. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean I want this baby to be able to keep their toys and have sentimental attachments . . . and be able to laugh and cry and run around, being a holy terror, and learn who they are without being constantly tamped down"

Eyrl took her hand. "I want that, too. Why do you think I chose you as my mate?"

She leaned into his arms. At least they had that in common.