someone was speaking to her. “It is nice to meet you, Perina.”
“Perina!” Alcander shouted from Lomay’s door. “Kiora has things to do.”
“Prince Alcander,” Perina yelled back, grinning. “As I have told you before, you must learn how to relax.”
Kiora giggled.
“Maybe I need to cut your clothes a little larger, Alcander,” Perina said, pursing her lips thoughtfully. “I think they are raising your blood pressure.”
“Perina!” Alcander shouted.
“All right, all right.” She laughed, leaning into Kiora. “He acts as if the fate of the world rides on how many steps we take that day,” she whispered, winking. “You are good for him though. He has been calmer since you arrived.”
Kiora looked over her shoulder to see a scowling Alcander in the doorway. She whispered, “Calmer? Really?”
Perina burst out laughing. “You better go before he exiles me.” She walked off, still chuckling.
Kiora walked over to Alcander, grinning.
“Glad to see you are making friends.” Alcander’s eyes were on Perina, who was still laughing. “What did you say to her?”
“Hmmm, me? Nothing,” Kiora said, ducking underneath his arm.
He turned to follow her. Eyeing her wet hair he asked, “Don’t you know how to dry yourself?”
His constant questioning of her knowledge aggravated her. “I like to let my hair dry on its own,” she said snidely, making a mental note to look up hair-drying as soon as she got back to her room.
His eyebrows raised, but he said nothing.
She looked around. “Where is Lomay?”
“Probably spying on the Shifters, if I had to guess,” he said, holding out his arm. “Are you ready for dinner?”
Her cheeks burned with sudden shyness and she linked her arm with his, trying not to notice the slight buzz of magic at his touch.
At dinner Kiora watched for Drustan, but he was not among the group of Shifters delivering the main course. She hoped he was all right. Both his and Lomay’s absence renewed her worry.
Kiora picked up her fork but hesitated. Giving a large smile to the few around the table who had noticed her hesitation, she leaned towards Alcander and whispered, “There is no dragon today, is there?”
Grinning just as wide as she, which was strange for him, Alcander replied, “No, I asked that it be left off the menu. The Shifters were pleased to have the extra meat.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” His smile reached from his lips to his eyes.
After dinner, Shifters arrived carrying dessert trays. Drustan was among them. Kiora gave a grateful sigh of relief—he looked all right. She longed to catch his eye, to talk with him. But Drustan avoided her at all costs, even angrily refusing to deliver dessert to her when another Shifter pointed him in her direction.
What was going on? Kiora looked to Alcander. He shook his head almost imperceptibly.
“Later,” Alcander mouthed before turning his attention back to his plate.
Taking a bite of a fluffy white dessert, Kiora tried to push the frustration out of her mind by distracting herself.
Looking down the table, she couldn’t help but smile. The little winged boy who had tried so hard to talk to her the other day had tipped his chair back on two legs and was flapping his wings furiously to keep himself balanced. He was very pleased with himself until his mother caught sight of him and swiftly pulled him back down on all four legs. Noticing Kiora’s laughs, the little boy grinned from ear to ear, stretching tall in his chair as if he were the pride of the camp.
Alcander turned his head to the side as the Shifters moved their way down the table. “They are watching him,” he murmured, barely moving his lips.
Kiora tried to nonchalantly observe the Shifters. Alcander was right—they were either watching Drustan or her. She understood Drustan’s actions a little better now. He was being watched, tested. Despite being a Shifter, they did not trust him.
Smiling, she turned back to Alcander, pretending to carry on a very amusing conversation. “They don’t trust him?”
He smiled in return. “Nor should they. I brought him back alive. It makes them suspicious.” Alcander scanned the end of the table where the Shifters were just finishing their delivery of dessert. “Can you call to Drustan?”
“Yes.”
“Tell him to fight back,” Alcander said before he stood, the smile falling from his face as he grabbed what was left of his dessert.
Kiora wanted to ask him what he was doing, but he was already storming towards Drustan.
“Drustan,” she called, “Alcander said to fight back.”
She saw Drustan flinch as her thoughts reached his, but other than that