Chapter 10
"I remember that dance!" Lawrence grinned at me and I raised an eyebrow. My tattoo tapped his arm and he wrapped it around his finger.
"It was beautiful. I think it was that moment that it really hit me what you were," he sighed and I smiled.
"Is that why you freed Linessa?" I asked and he nodded watching my tattoos slowly move up his arm.
"Linessa?" Finn questioned and I looked up at him.
"Linessa was his personal slave for about as long as I had been my master's," I replied.
Linessa hadn't been able to learn all of the sword dance before she was captured off of the coast of Argon. So on the way to the capital she begged me to teach her. I didn't mind and when I asked my prince the only answer he gave was,
"I'm no longer your master." So from dawn until dusk, I made sure to teach her every step painstakingly and at the end of each day she was exhausted. I did leave some of her energy for her to fly back with me.
"You're such a hard teacher!" she complained to me the day that we were to arrive at the castle.
"You were the one that wanted to learn," I said bluntly and she sighed.
"I know but to know the Sword Dance at your age. It's just incredible! My father wasn't able to teach me all of it but to think that you can teach me...I'm just so happy," she smiled at me and my face softened.
"It felt like you were missing something didn't it?" I probed and she nodded flying next to me.
"As if I lost a body part or even one of my tats," she agreed and I rolled my eyes at the slang. Her brown eyes gleamed tiredly but joyful at the thought of learning more. We had only practiced for half a day to make sure they didn't arrive without us even though Linessa swore we'd be fine. I didn't say that we wouldn't but even if we were, I still couldn't trust them not to plan an attack on my prince.
"We're here!" Linessa called to the ground huggers and I landed silently next to Phyralis and my prince. The dragon had gone off for a couple of days by himself and even now he usually disappeared most of the day. So I was surprised to see him in the middle of the day.
"Welcome back, I suppose," I said to him and he snorted.
"You don't look too happy," he retorted and I shrugged.
"I was hoping you'd disappear for a year and then come back. It's not my fault that you tried to kill my prince," I remarked and he muttered something under his breath that I didn't even want to try and catch.
"He tried to kill your prince?" Linessa gasped and if looks could kill, he would be dead.
"It's been settled so don't kill him. If he does it again, I'll have a reason too and it'll be his fault and I'll try to bring his body back to his family. If my prince would let me," I stated the last sentence in a slightly louder voice so that Aiden would hear me. He glanced over at me while talking to the Arctic prince who also glanced over at me. He gave me a slight nod but the other prince's gaze didn't leave mine until a few seconds later. Confused, I played with my tattoo for a moment before asking the one question that had been bothering me for quite a while.
"Who is Prince Lawrence?" I demanded of my pupil and she practically dragged me another fifteen feet from the royalty.
"Don't ask so loud! He gets curious about people who ask about him and then I'll be trying to explain the both of you to each other," she scolded and I frowned.
"How is that a bad thing?" I asked and she sighed.
"He'll get into your head and use you for whatever he wants to then he'll just throw you away like all the other women he's had. It's horrible to see him do that and I've told him I hate it. He seems to be looking for someone specific but...he hasn't found them yet. His latest toy is a woman by the name of Lacey. She's one messed up woman. I wouldn't go near her with a ten foot pole if I had a choice," she whispered to me in a low voice and kept her eyes on me. Phyralis was listening without much care and yawned loudly.
"My ears are burning," he directed to us and I grinned at him.
"Only in your dreams," I replied and he winked at me. Rolling my eyes, I turned back to Linessa and saw that she was giggling. Raising my eyebrows, she stopped and continued but she was still grinning.
"Why do you want to know all of this anyway?" she questioned and I shrugged.
"My prince will be with him for many years to come. I should at least know what kind of person he is and what subjects to avoid while around him," I replied honestly and she nodded.
"Well, he's got a sister that your prince is going to marry and she's one cold ice cube. She loves nothing more than being a judge in her father's court system and even after being told she was going to marry your prince, she started having an affair with one of the diplomats in her room every night. Everyone knows about it and if she doesn't stop, she might screw up her wedding vows. She hates the Argons more than anyone I know and it's sad that you have to be there during that. She doesn't hate me because she doesn't know where I come from but she thinks that you're from Argon so...you'll be disliked to point where I can only hope that she won't be too horrible to you," she said with a tinge of fear in her voice and I frowned at her.
"What do you mean?" I questioned and she gripped my forearms.
"She's the one that called for the slavers to bring me here. She was going to pick the strongest one and have them as her toy. I was saved by my master but all the others...I had to listen to their screams through the walls. I couldn't take it so I asked my master to move me. He did but it wasn't much help. I was paranoid for months afterwards until he finally said that he would make sure that she couldn't get me. She's a demon so what your prince will have to live through will be...horrific," she briefed me and my tattoos comforted her own, which were moving restlessly across her arms.
"What does the king think about this?" I demanded and she shook her head. Her hands got a harder grip on my arms and started shaking.
"He doesn't care. He grew up hating the Argons and if he had the chance he would kill all of them. The only one that isn't as biased as the other royalty is Prince Lawrence. The war's been going on far too long and its messed with all of their heads. The only reason Lawrence isn't as caring is because he hasn't seen the bodies of his countrymen. Whenever they came back, he was always in bed with his latest woman. He's lucky that none of them have ever gotten pregnant...but I can't blame him for that. It's the only thing that's kept him sane," she confided in me and I nodded. It seemed that we had a lot more to worry about then the citizens. The royalty was out to get my prince too.
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