Dragon Blood

Ten: Missing

Jonathan sipped his wine and stared around the ballroom as Lady Alana chatted his ear off. She kept hinting at him to go dance with her, but he pretended he wasn't picking up on it. The only woman he wanted to dance with was avoiding him.

He hadn't seen Skylar since she'd left him on the balcony. He understood her reasons for backing away from him during their kiss, jumped away actually, but it had still stung. Especially since it had been the best kiss of his life. She'd responded so enthusiastically to him, melted in his arms, and when she pushed him away... Well it would suffice to say it had ruined his evening. The only comfort had been the disappointment and confusion he'd seen in her eyes. She felt the same way he himself did. Now he just wanted to talk to her.

Alana tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and leaned against him while she sipped from her own glass. She continued talking about a dress or some other garment he really didn't care about. He scanned the crowd for Skylar. He'd last seen her with Draco, but that had been hours ago. Avoiding him or not, he should at least have been able to find her in the crowd, right? He wondered if anyone else was missing her, or if it was just him. After her first few dances, the party had gone into full swing and was no longer all about her or gaining her favor. He hoped she was having a good time, wherever she had gone off too.

That was actually a lie, and he couldn't even convince himself that he truly wished she was having fun. If she was having fun, that meant she'd met a suitor she actually liked. He didn't want that. No, he didn't want that at all. It was selfish of him to want her when he couldn't have her, but he did it anyway.

He'd had a crush on her since she was eleven years old. She was the only thing that could make him smile after he lost his father. He'd loved her for nearly as long. The necklace he'd gotten her was the only way he'd ever been able to tell her.

He told her that the necklace was from his grandmother because it would have been inappropriate for him to give her jewelry, but he'd seen the necklace, saw how it matched her eyes, and just needed to buy it for her. When he saw her eyes light up when he presented it to her, he was glad he'd bought it. He'd have to write his grandmother and explain his white lie, just in case Skylar ever wrote her or saw her and thanked her for the necklace his grandmother had never seen.

He grinned at what his grandmother would say when he told her. She asked him every time she wrote if he had told Skylar how he felt or told her parents. She was convinced that he would make a great husband and a great king, that he would treat Skylar and the kingdom how they deserved. She was right, but Harold wanted a marriage for an alliance, and as head knight, Jonathan's entire life was already devoted to Trael.

He rolled his shoulders slowly. Stiff, but not as bad as he thought they would be. He hadn't trained as much as he should have while at his grandparents' estate. He practiced his swordsmanship everyday, but not as vigorously as he did while he was here. His knights had also gone soft without his hard hand to keep them working. So, he'd spent today with his men, pushing them to their limits. He had worked harder than usual too, trying to keep the fact that the king was trying to find Skylar a husband that wasn't Jonathan from souring his thoughts. Perhaps he should have talked to Harold about how he felt. There was still time, he supposed. Maybe if Harold knew about what he and Skylar had, and that kiss had definitely meant they had something, he would change his mind about an arranged marriage.

His finished his wine, his mind set. "If you'll excuse me, my lady," he bowed at Alana, who appeared taken aback at his departure, and set off to find the king and queen. He scanned the ballroom and found his rulers missing as well. Maybe Skylar was with them, and that's where she'd been all night. He'd had to take a walk outside after their kiss, maybe she'd needed to talk to someone after her dance with Draco.