Dragons of Destiny by Jeffrey Waddilove

Author:Jeffrey Waddilove [Waddilove, Jeffrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-09T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Evaline supped alone, which was her nightly routine. She idly pushed her dinner around on her plate with her utensil, not really seeing the exquisite food or her lush surroundings. Sighing inwardly, she tried her best to ignore the crushing loneliness she felt, but couldn’t quite summon the energy to do so. In a morose way, Evaline felt like that aching pain inside her chest was the only thing reminding her that she was actually alive.

Off to her right, an elderly servant with a scant amount of white hair remaining on his head and wearing a ridiculous amount of livery cleared his throat. It reminded her that she wasn’t entirely alone, so to speak. As per usual, a dozen servants surrounded the grand table she sat at. They all patiently stood awaiting any commands or needs she might have. Such was her life as the princess of Axion. She was always encompassed by retainers and servants, yet she was all alone despite their presence.

When she had been a little girl, she remembered trying desperately to befriend her stewards. They were all polite enough, she supposed, but every time she attempted to engage any of them in conversation, they would give her a scandalized look, murmur noncommittally, and proceed to stare at the floor. It hadn’t taken her long even at that stubborn age to give that up as a bad try, so for a decade now she was plagued by her silent companions.

The gusting wind from off the Kurai Ocean was the only sound in the dining quarters that belonged to Evaline alone. They sat at the very top of the Tower of Axion, which stood hundreds of feet tall. From her vantage point at the head of the table, she could clearly see fog rolling along outside of the floor-to-ceiling windows. She knew it wouldn’t be long before the tower would be completely shrouded in mist this night.

The hour was very late, but Evaline preferred the Tower of Axion during this time. The daily charade that made up her life was finally over until daybreak. Her father, King Jonarus, only paid the slightest bit of attention to her during his hours at court. That’s when the man was in his element. He loved performing the pantomime role of monarchs together.

Jonarus had never quite grasped that his part in this parody was that of a figurehead king who had been set up by the Circle of Seven. It was a maneuver to simply appease the nobles and to bring Axion into the Seven Cities. Her father was an arrogant man, and his pride would not allow him to view himself as the puppet he really was, so in public they made the pretense of being the perfect royals. He portrayed the role of loving father and powerful leader. Evaline, on the other hand, got to pretend to be an obedient daughter who was properly pristine. They were all lies, of course. Outside of the public eye, her father was indifferent towards her at best.

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