Bear Protector - Bella Love-Wins Page 0,41

to her room, her familiar flew off out the window that very second, leaving Kiera with no one to ask. No one with experience that she could trust, anyway. Believing Reena might know, she went searching for her. The woman was not in her laboratory or the greenhouse, and her assistant was not sure of her whereabouts either.

God, was everyone at the fortress avoiding today?

From one moment to the next, she was either soaring on a cloud from her time with Xander, or frantic with worry about these overnight changes. How on earth did she manage to levitate both herself and Xander without even meaning to? How could she read the Chancellor’s mind with no effort, and from inside the shifter camp? Did any of these early morning events have anything to do with losing her innocence?

Because the questions would not stop, she spent the day in the library, nervously consulting numerous spell books and ancient grimoires for answers. She found nothing. If she could not figure out what was happening to her and why, it was only a matter of time before Chancellor Minassus would start asking questions.

If he knew anything about it at all.

At dinner in the main dining hall that night, her fear came to fruition.

She did her best not to attract any attention from the Chancellor, who sat in his usual spot at the head of the long table built for over twenty diners. The conversation around her was mostly gossip and polite banter. For a while it seemed like any other dinner, and fortunately, no one asked her to explain her absence over the past few days.

Everything changed when two young witches began to speak about preparations for the first winter storm. Kiera shivered slightly, hoping no one would address her. A part of her wanted to publicly ask the Chancellor whether each prior Chosen was dead, and why the new Chosen witches were never told. Whenever she focused on him, she got a flash of his thoughts. At the moment, they revolved around how busy he had been this past week, but every few minutes, the Chancellor’s mind would wander.

This glazed chicken is not as tasty as the last time it was served.

At least the bread is fresh.

Maybe I should bring in a few cooks from my village.

I wonder if that old hag next door to my mother’s house is still alive.

Ahhh. Yes. She is, and it appears her spicy rosemary glaze is still the talk of the town.

What are these young ladies yammering about tonight? I should be more strict with them at the dinner table. Or have dinner alone in my study. Too bad I need to show my face a minimum of one meal a day.

I should get an assistant to keep them in line.

No, I should re-institute a mandatory hour of daily silence…at dinner time.

Yes.

Kiera wanted to laugh. The time was not right for any reaction, though. She could not afford to be noticed, so although she was only half-way through her meal, she placed her cutlery on her plate. Wiping her mouth with her napkin, she got to her feet.

“Do excuse me, everyone…your Eminence.”

“Retiring so early?” Chancellor Minassus’ voice carried down the long table, silencing everyone else’s chatter.

“Yes, Chancellor.”

“How have your meetings with Commander Oslo gone so far?”

Kiera cleared her throat. “Very well, sir. The soldiers have been working diligently on preparations and new defense tactics for the first storm.”

“And the men to be turned?”

“I’m sorry, your eminence. What of them?”

“Are they in good spirits?”

She had no idea what to say. What she wanted to tell him was that he gave them no choice, so why did he care about their states of minds. Or how would she have any idea, given her mind was occupied with coming to terms with the fact that she would be dead in six days. Or why not make it optional to join the Regional Protection Unit, while also opening the ranks to women with the 236-k gene. Not that women would necessarily want to make such a sacrifice, but why not? Those questions to him would not go over well, so she settled for, “I supposed they have accepted their fates.”

“They have to. We need every possible shifter this year. The coven of seers is predicting a long, cold winter, with many blizzards and at least ten weeks of sub-zero temperatures. There’s no telling how many destroyers will attack this season…” he paused for a moment, eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her