CHAPTER 13: Work Friends

I stayed up late thinking because I felt like I had so much unresolved. I looked at my phone when it started ringing. It was an unfamiliar number, so I let it ring. I stared up at the ceiling thinking about my birth parents. I wanted to spend more time with Konn and learn more about my mother. I didn’t even know her name yet.

            When my phone rang again, I couldn’t ignore it, so I answered. It might have been important since they called twice in a row. “Hello?”

            “It’s Lexus.” 

            I wasn’t sure how he got my number. I wouldn’t be able to believe he asked someone for it. “And? Why are you calling?” 

            “I need a place to sleep.” He was asking to sleep in my room. That would be the complete opposite of avoiding him. 

            I closed my eyes. “I’m sure there are several empty rooms in the castle.” I opened my eyes. “Why can’t you sleep in your own room anyway?” 

            “I’ve been having insomnia.” I’m not sure what kind of explanation that was. “If I try to sleep near you, I’ll feel at peace from the mate bond and it should be enough to put me to sleep.” I couldn’t act like I didn’t get it. I have times when I have trouble sleeping because of my racing thoughts. 

            I didn’t say anything because I needed to think about it. I heard a knock on the door, and I knew it was him. I hung up and answered the door. “You can sleep on the chaise lounge sofa.” I wasn’t going to let him sleep in my bed since the sofa was close enough for him to feel the peace of the bond. “Did anyone see you?”

            “That’s better than nothing.” He walked in and sat down on the sofa. “No one saw me walk here.” He watched me walk to my bed. “I heard you spent the day with Konn.”

            I didn’t expect him to want to talk, especially because the bond would strengthen. I couldn’t help but reply. “He works hard and long.” I got into my bed. “He told me a little about what it means to be a holder, about my mom… and he introduced me to his wife.”

            Lexus took off his shoes laid back on the sofa. “That’s interesting, actually I heard Lynn crying.” 

            I felt guilty even though I didn’t know the details yet. “What?”

            “Konn didn’t exactly come clean about his affair right away. The oracles saw you in a vision and told my parents Konn had a daughter.” He really wasn’t planning on anyone knowing about me. “My parents confronted him about it, and he confessed. He told them all about you. They ordered him to bring you back so they could see if you could be the holder. Konn said he was waiting to tell my parents about you. He wanted to be sure his younger son Gray didn’t have the abilities. My parents were too impatient for that, they didn’t have faith Gray could be the holder.” He gave me so much background I was in deep anticipation for when he’d get to the part about Lynn. “Lynn had to know about you before you came. The night Konn told Lynn about his affair I don’t think she wanted to see him after the news, so he worked late. I walked by her room to get to Cade’s. I wanted to know how he felt about suddenly having a sister. When I walked by her room, I heard her crying. The walls aren’t thin so I couldn’t hear much but it was clear she was crying. I think a worker was in there because I heard murmurs. The only words I heard her say was something along the lines of, ‘How couldn’t I have been good enough?’”

            I stared out the window. “Would it be stupid of me to feel responsible?” It felt like the moon and was staring at me, but I knew that didn’t make sense. 

            Lexus was in a spot where the moon light hit him just right. “Yeah, it would be. It’s not your fault you were born.” He was right but I still felt bad. “Hand me a blanket and pillow.”

            I sat up and tossed him a pillow and a one of the few blankets in my bed. “Would you sleep up here on my bed if I asked?”

            He took off his shirt then put the pillow behind his head and pulled the blanket over him. “Maybe.” I assumed he was going to say yes so, I felt a little rejected. “Dragon shifters have strong senses of smells. If I slept with you, I’d have to take a long shower to get your scent off after a whole night of being in the same bed. Why are you asking me what my answer would be when you know you’re not going to ask me to?” 

            I was asking because I wanted him to but like he said, we both know I won’t directly ask. “I’m curious.” I wanted to talk to him for longer but for obvious reasons I didn’t. 

            In the morning I wasn’t surprised to see him gone. I knew he’d try to leave before it got too late in the morning so he could slip out before workers flooded the halls. I got up out of my bed and laid on the sofa for a second. I didn’t lay there too long in case his scent would get on me. It smelled good and felt warm for the little time I was there. I took a shower and got ready for the day.

            When I reported to Konn he assigned me to the garden. He wanted me to work there for the rest of the morning. I saw Arma and felt instantly better. “A familiar face, thank god.” 

            Arma was already planting in the garden. She looked up after I spoke. “Hey Aqua.”

            “Hey Aqua.” I looked behind Arma to see Vella. “You’ve been assigned the garden today? Lucky you because it’s probably the least boring job in this castle, according to me.” 

            I chuckled nervously. “Yeah… lucky me.” I felt awkward being around her. “So, what should I do?”

            “I can train you,” Arma answered. “You might not be assigned the garden anytime soon but at least you’ll know what to do whenever you are.” She got up and led me to another part of the garden. “I’m so glad you need training.” She whispered.

            I raised an eyebrow. “Why?” 

            “I don’t like being around Vella.” She handed me a pair of gloves.

            I put them on. “Is it because of something to do with Cade and Lexus?” 

            “You caught on already? Yeah, Vella is cheating on Cade with Prince Lexus and it’s so obvious. Cade won’t listen to me and Prince Lexus could get me fired at any moment, so I stopped trying to convince him. If I’m fired because of Prince Lexus, then it’ll be clear to Cade that I’m right. I’m safe now but if I did convince Cade that she’s cheating then Lexus won’t have anything to hide, and he’ll get me fired.” She groaned out of frustration. “I think a few of the other workers might have noticed but they’re too afraid to say anything.”

            I couldn’t stop thinking about how she said ‘cheating’ instead of ‘cheated’. “You think they’re still cheating? Like it was more than once?” 

            Arma shrugged then grabbed some tools. “Vella is acting defensive with Cade still so it’s probably still going on. I saw Lexus walk into his room early this morning in his pajamas as if he were returning to his room after being somewhere else. He wouldn’t have left his room in his pajamas unless he was somewhere else overnight.” Now she was getting Vella confused with my interaction with Lexus. 

            It’s not like I was doing anything wrong, I was just helping him sleep. I slept better last night too since my mate was close. “I heard he gets insomnia, maybe he just went out for fresh air and didn’t feel like getting ready.”

            Vella handed me a tool. “I heard he has insomnia too and that he self-medicates for it. Being high usually puts him right to sleep.” She demonstrated how to use the tool.

            I didn’t say anything else because I realized he did have another choice to fall asleep, but he chose to come to me instead. “Arma, are you and your family close?” I changed the subject.

            “We are,” She answered. “I just don’t want to be here forever you know. I want to travel but family is a really cherished thing in this kingdom. I know human families split a lot when children get older or when marriages end. Here families tend to stay close… Sorry you don’t want to hear about that.”

            I did because it seemed like she needed someone to talk to. “I want to hear about it, but we can focus on the work if you want.” Arma nodded and started teaching me the basics of gardening. 

            The morning felt like it flew by. I reported back to Konn for my next task which was cleaning. He gave me a short list of rooms to clean along with a cleaning cart. On my way to my first room, I saw Stewart. “Hey Stewart.” 

            He waved. “Hey Aqua. You’re on cleaning duty?”

            I waved around my sheet of paper with room numbers. “Yep, I just came back from the garden. Could you show me how you clean? I want to make sure I’m reaching the standard.” 

            Stewart backed his cart out the room. “Sure, I have a lot to tell you anyways.” We pushed our carts into the first room on my list. “The Princess has been skipping classes and sneaking out of the castle.” I was confused why he was telling me this but then I realized it was work gossip. “She’s getting the age where she’s curious about stuff her parents don’t agree with. Lexus was the same way, but he doesn’t need to sneak out anymore. He has enough freedom now that he’s older.” Lexus would probably sneak out to meet the werewolf pack before.

            “I guess I can’t blame her, do you think she’ll be safe?” I asked.

            “Yeah, she’ll be fine without guards as long as she’s only going into the city.” Hopefully, that was the case.

He started showing me his process but stopped to say, “Oh okay I almost forgot, so a few of the guards overheard the King and Queen talking about you.” That concerned me. “They were saying they didn’t feel confident that you could be up to the task of being an adviser. I wouldn’t worry about it because it makes sense that they view you as a wildcard.” I wasn’t raised to obey and serve like Konn and Cade. “They want to keep it a secret from the press that you’re from the human world. Have you told anyone outside of the castle? Cade only told me, Arma and Vella.”

I chuckled nervously. “I told one of the werewolves of the local pack… I’ll text him now not to say anything.” I pulled my phone out and started typing. “I don’t think he’ll tell anyone.”

“The King and Queen might want to meet with you soon and if you do then you should tell me everything.” I wondered if all the workers here liked gossip as much as Stewart. “Did Arma tell you about Prince Lexus late night? She thinks he met with Vella, but Vella doesn’t always stay in the castle. I’m a live-in worker but she’s not. Workers who don’t live here have the option of staying in a guest room if they sign themselves in, but I checked the sign in sheet, and she didn’t sleepover.” I wouldn’t want to try to sneak around with Lexus with how much Stewart and Arma pay attention to their surroundings. “There’s always stuff going on in the castle and it keeps me entertained,” he joked. “I’m glad because otherwise it’d be boring living and working here. Oh, and one of the Chefs is sleeping with one of the event organizers and it’s a mess.”

“What kind of events are held here?” I watched him clean.

“Balls, coronation, birthdays, holiday celebrations and whatever other social gatherings they can think of.” I wondered if workers were invited.

“When’s the next event?”

“The full moon ball we hold two a year, one every six months. The first one is going to be at the end of this month.” Would me and Lexus reject each other before or after the ball? After we were done with the first room, he went to do the rest of his and I was prepared to clean the rest on my list. Stewart and Arma made me feel a little bit more at home here.