Delphine's Dilemma by Emilia Hartley

Author:Emilia Hartley [Hartley , Emilia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-19T16:00:00+00:00

Arven

There’d been a heartbeat where I seriously thought that I’d brought Del to the wrong healer. That moment passed quickly once she fell into an easy banter with the people around her. They were a nice sort of folk, too. Their aptitude for forgiveness warmed me to them almost immediately.

I’d heard of this man, Rhoan Glennwood, and how he’d taken the title of Nightmare King from Faust. I didn’t think that this little court was any threat to my kingdom, though. They were all far too green behind the ears. Though they’d won the battle against the local threat, Queen Beryl, I doubted they could withstand too much more.

They didn’t know what it meant to be on battlefield after battlefield. Well, save for Taliesin. He was ancient, far older than myself, even. The man watched me with his hawk-like gaze. Every move I made was carefully noted for later.

This was a safe place for Delphine. Even Taliesin positioned himself to protect Del after Rhoan vouched for her. I, on the other hand, was still an interloper. So, I sipped my rainbow-colored drink and kept to myself.

The woman with short blonde hair sidled up to me and rubbed elbows with me. She had absolutely no fear of me whatsoever, but I was starting to think that was out of pure boldness rather than a lack of information.

“Are you the one who’s going to domesticate the bounty hunter? Are you going to try to put her in a little maid apron and keep her in your elven kitchens?” Red flickered in the woman’s eyes, a sight so much like my own that it gave me pause.

The wolpertinger in my shirt pocket poked it’s head out and peered up at the woman. The sight of her made the small creature squeal in fear and bury its head again. I put a hand over my pocket to cover the creature and let it know that it was safe with me.

“What are you?” I tilted my head.

A wicked grin spread across her lips. “You didn’t answer my question. Are you going to domesticate the bounty hunter?”

“Why would I? While I understand that you’re asking me more than the spoken question, I fail to comprehend what you’re trying to get at.”

She laughed. It was a boisterous sound. The woman was absolutely unafraid of me. I had a feeling that even if she knew who I was, she still wouldn’t fear me. The Golden Beast was just another monster in a room full of people just as powerful.

I locked eyes with the chimera man across the room. Rhoan was the other I knew that had a beast form, though his was much more literal. He gave me a half-cocked smile, the kind that was warm and knowing. He could tell that being around others would be good for me.

I savored their company, but I could tell that Del was overwhelmed. Even as a child, she didn’t have any friends. This was very new to her. If we

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.