A chill ran down Adnan's spine.
Adnan eyed the man who appeared out of thin air. His heart skittered against his chest. His breath hitched as his palms and forehead became sweaty.
The threatening aura of the man in the air around him was making it hard for him to breathe. With a glance, the man silenced the king and Amoela. Adnan wished that the floor would open and swallow him up. To get away from the sight of the man.
"You brought him here. I didn't think you minded his company," the king teased.
"The queen's mother asked for a slave. I got one as requested, it wasn't so that you could bring him to my chambers," he barked his voice lacking the playfulness of the king.
"He is int..."
"He isn't you," the man cut the king's statement. "He will never be you or come close to comparison," he added.
The King's lips parted slightly. He gazed at the man, entranced and rendered speechless.
Amoela smiled.
Adnan however couldn't afford to smile. He had a weird feeling in his gut that the stranger had the power to send him back. The power to persuade the king that he wasn't worth it and should be returned from where the mysterious man bought him from. And that terrified him.
"How could he be me? I am one of a kind," the king let out booming with confidence. "However, I find that he is worthy of a chance," he said pulling himself up by taking support from the man. His muscular huge build made it easy for the king to take support from him.
Adnan watched as the man didn't flinch or waver while helping the king. His frame allowed him the privilege of standing tall without moving an inch. It was impressive.
"Why dont I give you a bath, Soren?" he inquired of the man.
Amoela leaned into Adnan and whispered next to his ear. "He is the king's blood-bound dragonling."
The words flowed out of Amoela's mouth. None of which made any sense to Adnan. Adnan had no lesson on magical creatures or beings. The most he could make out from what Amoela spoke; were the words blood, moon, and dragon. All else went through one ear and exited through the other.
"Leave us," the king addressed Amoela. The girl nodded in understanding and made haste to exit the room.
"Why is he still here?" Soren inquired.
"If he leaves, I leave," the king threatened. "Would you like to see me go?"
Adnan witnessed Soren's eyes soften. His frame relaxed, allowing the king to have his way. The King freed himself from Soren's arms. He ambled over to the pool.
He picked up a basket of rose petals set on the side by the servants. Grabbing a handful of petals with his hand he tossed them at the pool. His lips stretched from ear to ear.
"You are aware that I dislike flower petals in my bath," Soren let out massaging his forehead in helplessness.
"You seem to dislike Adnan too. I want to see to it that you give him a chance so your opinion is irrelevant," the king claimed to ignore Soren and moved forward to toss more petals into the bath.
Soren trailed his gaze to Adnan. It wasn't enough that he had to fetch the boy halfway across the kingdom for the king and his queen. Now he was being forced to get close to the boy. It irritated him.
Soren eyed Adnan from head to toe. The male was the same as when he had fetched him. There was nothing special about him and Soren didn't get why he was required to embrace Adnan's presence.
"H..hello," Adnan nervously greeted.
The king smiled.
The last person that dared to greed his blood-bound dragonling ended up being reduced to ashes in a matter of seconds. Soren wasn't the 'hello' type of dragon. He was the type that preferred for everyone to stay far away from him and his business. Except for the king who ignores what Soren wants and does as he pleases.
"I understand the purpose for which he is here but must he be in my chambers?" Soren asked displeased by Adnan's greeting. "The boy can't even speak proper...."
"Hush now, the boy stays," the king pressed his index finger to Soren's earlobe. Like a magical mute button, Soren went silent once again giving in to the king's desire.
Soren sighed.
"Adnan, come," the king fetched Adnan happily. "Try not to provoke Soren. He has a tendency of killing off people and things for no good reason," the king warned.
"I heard that," Soren said with a frown. "Javi..."
"I didn't mean it as such," the king frowned.
He had a gut feeling that something was wrong. His dragonling was far too sensitive for comfort. Reading too much into every little thing he said and taking it to heart. On daily occasions, he ignored whatever the king let out of his lips and brushed them off as easily as they were spoken. Yet, today, no matter if the king was teasing or joking he took it to heart. Which was worrying.
"The water will get cold," the king spoke. Pushing his worries to the back of his head. King Javier wished to believe that if he ignored it long enough it might fade away as though it never existed.
However, unknown to him were the insecure thoughts that run through Soren's mind about Adnan's arrival. As much as Adnan was what the king and queen needed at present it opened up doors anf windows to countless dangers that might follow letting a slave take on such an important task. Dangers that might affect the king, would be intolerable to Soren.
'Don't pretend you don't see my uneasiness or feel my worries,' he communicated to the king through a link in his mind. 'I fear a storm might be upon us sooner rather than later due to your new friend,' he added.
'Lover not friend,' the king corrected. Soren rolled his eyes.
'I wonder how the queen will feel about that?' Soren asked.
'I don't care what she thinks. Your opinion is all that matters to me,' king Javier admitted without hesitation.
Adnan watched the king and Soren's eyes take on the same color glow. The mask on the king's face fell in response to the glowing light in his eyes.
"Wow!" Adnan exclaimed.
His voice broke Soren and King Javier from their trance. "About that bath..." Soren trailed off.