The Real You

18. Face-Off

Skylar

"I would rather sit in an oven and eat my breakfast" I muttered under my breath.

Sandy cleared her throat and smiled at Sasha who wouldn't stop glaring at her. The next morning after the Royal catastrophe cannot go smoothly now, can it? No one wanted to have breakfast along with Sandy and her mysterious boyfriend. The Queen threw a tantrum that was 'loud' enough for the whole palace to hear. And the King asked her to stay hungry if she didn't want to eat. A lot of persuasion from the others got her to the table. She refused to look up from her glass of blood.

Everyone was silent while the only sound audible was me munching on my toast. Sandy wanted a glass of orange juice and no one bothered to ask her if she won't be hungry later. To be honest, no one had a strong appetite especially when the Queen was glaring at her husband as if she'd launch at him any moment. On the other hand, the King seemed very calm and tranquil. He greeted everyone including Alex and behaved like he would do every day.

Delan sat on one side of me while the other was occupied by Noah. He didn't get a chance to speak to me yesterday so I was aware that I'll be ambushed as soon as everyone else departs. I had my lines ready and I was mentally prepared to answer the accusations. 

"Can you pass me the jar?" Alex asked me. The Jar of Blood stood right in front of me.

"Can he pass me his throat?" Noah grumbled and I thought only I could hear that. Or maybe not. Alex glared at him and asked for the jar again. I passed it to him and continued to concentrate on my toast. 

"I liked what you did yesterday," The King said suddenly and smiled at Alex.

Burn to the Brothers. Delan's hand formed a fist and Noah put the glass back on the table with unnecessary force.

"Your Highness?" Alex seemed perplexed.

"The one with thunder! I've been trying to get that right for years now. I can draw the buzz from artificial sources but never from the sky."

Alex chuckled, "I realized I could do that from birth"

"You should teach me!" The King asked like a curious young kid who was requesting his elder brother to teach him how to play with Beyblade. 

The Queen mimicked gagging and that too very loudly.

"The blood seems off today" She sighed.

"Mine too" Noah added.

The King tried to distract Alex, "Whenever I find the time, I will let you know. Please do teach me"

"Of course, Your Highness" Alex smiled, "It will be an honor"

"And I am done" The Queen stood up swiftly and left the place, her vibrant yellow gown sweeping the floor. 

The King was the next one to leave. Even though we were not done with our morning meal, we stood up with respect but no one bowed. Apparently, Dexter Karson didn't like it when his family bowed to him. The only one who did not get up was Julian Karson. His wife was so used to it that she didn't bother to correct or chastise him.

I can't hear his thoughts - I jerked when the sudden voice invaded my head's privacy.

Don't do that so suddenly.

I can't make a prior announcement now, can I? That is the point of mind-speaking. Secrecy.

I observed that Carter was acting as if he was busy drinking from his glass and chatting with Rochelle but his mind was doing something else. I wish I could master that level of concentration in my life. I would have been a Harvard graduate by now.