Chapitre 55: The Trip 11
Ro's eyes were caught by lady Alexandra's and held. "Now say you understand." The lady ordered.
"Yes, lady, I understand." Ro said after a moment's hesitation.
"Good. You may leave." Ro bowed her head and rejoined Alexi on the other side of the door. Ro followed him quietly from the room and through the stone passageways of the castle. Her mind kept returning to the ring. At last she spoke.
"What would the ring have done if it worked?" she asked quietly.
"It would have turned you into one of us." He said it nonchalantly, as if it were a simple thing.
"Oh. Well thank you for making her take it back." Alexi glanced at her his expression unreadable.
"I may still make you wear it once you are mine." He told her. "But at this point it is too soon."
"Why would it have given you an advantage over Laine and Ky?" Ro asked. Alexi shrugged.
"I don't believe it would have."
"But your mother said-"
"I know what she said. She thinks that if you were a crow, they might not want you anymore, but I don't agree with her. I know it wouldn't matter to me if you were something else."
"What do you mean?" Alexi fixed her with a dark look.
"I wouldn't care if Laine made you a wolf. I would still claim you. I doubt you being a crow would stop them either." Ro frowned.
"Oh." She said finally. "Then why did you make her take the ring back?" Surprise lit on Alexi's face.
"Do you want to be a crow?" He asked.
"No."
"Well that's part of it. I also wasn't lying when I said I'd be in trouble. You being one of us might not stop them from trying to claim you but they still wouldn't like it and they would take it out on me. I'd rather wait to fight them until I am stronger." Alexi told her looking ahead. He stopped by a wooden door. Pulling it open, he held it for Ro. "After you." He said.
***
Ro entered a small room. The back was completely covered with large windows and a pair of French doors. There was once again a fire place on one wall and in the center of the room was a beautifully set table with six places, two places on each long side and one on each of the ends. The two seats facing the door were already filled. The one closest to the fire was taken up by a kind faced, portly crow with grey in her hair. The second was filled with a cherubic female crow with bouncing blond curls. The older crow looked to be her nanny. As soon as the little girl caught sight of Alexi her face broke into a wide grin.
"Big brother!" She squealed with delight. Breaking free of her nanny's hold, she ran around the table and straight into Alexi's open arms. Ro saw that he was smiling broadly too as he picked the tiny female up and threw her above his head. The little girl laughed and clutched his neck as she came down, her little legs swinging. Alexi's arms went up around her. "Take me flying." She ordered imperiously from against his neck. Alexi laughed, and Ro realized that she had never heard him really do so before. It was a joyous sound and full of vibrancy.
"How about after dinner, Sarah? You wouldn't want father to get mad at me." The little girl sighed heavily.
"Fine, but it had better be a long one."
"Deal." Alexi said firmly. He placed Sarah on her feet once more. "Sarah, I'd like you to meet someone." He turned to Ro. "This is Roselyn." Sarah looked Ro over appraisingly and sniffed the air.
"Hello, Sarah. It's nice to meet you." Ro said smiling warmly. Ignoring her, Sarah turned back to Alexi.
"She is a human. Why did you bring a human to dinner?" She asked, shooting daggers at Ro with her eyes.
"Because she is going to be my mate." Ro blushed ferociously at this.
"Like mamma and papa?" Sarah asked her eyes wide.
"Just like that." Alexi said with pride. Sarah looked at Ro again.
"Do you love my brother?" She demanded. Ro felt the blood rush into her cheeks again. She was saved from answering by the nanny, who grabbed the child around the middle and lifted her from the ground.
"You cannot ask people questions like that." The nanny admonished gently. Then tucking Sarah under her left arm, she extended her hand to Ro. "I am Nadeira." Ro grasped the proffered hand.
"I am Ro." She released her grip and let her hand fall back to her side. Nadeira nodded and carried Sarah back around to her chair.
"Big brother, sit across from me." Sarah ordered from her seat. Alexi smiled indulgently and pulled Ro to the table. He pulled out the chair across from Nadeira for her to sit in. Then he took the seat across from his sister. The began chatting about how Sarah's training was going. Ro listened to them talk and gradually began to recover from the shock of meeting such a precocious child.
After a few minutes, the door opened again and in walked the clan leader and Lady Alexandra arm in arm. They reached the table and the clan leader pulled out the chair on the end closest to Alexi and Sarah for her. Then he walked around to the other side of the table and sat down. Immediately, servants began bringing in plates of food. As they placed them down, he fixed Ro with a frown and a glare.
"I want to apologize for my earlier statements." He began. Ro felt shock. Did this mean Alexi had won their fight? "My mate has informed me that she believes you may be worthy of my son. I let my temper get away from me. I will not however, pretend that I am happy that Alexi has chosen to claim a human. It's not just you, I dislike humans in general." Ro wondered if he knew what an apology was supposed to sound like.
"Um apology accepted?" she didn't know exactly what to say to that.
The clan leader nodded and began serving himself food. The rest of the meal passed without incident. Lady Alexandra asked Ro questions about her family and her life both in and out of school. She also asked Alexi about his time at school and Ro learned more about how he spent his time. It turned out that while he didn't have friends in their class, he had friends in other classes. His two childhood friends were in class C and he hung out with them when he wasn't in the practice rooms. Apparently, that is where he spent the most of his time outside of class. He said that he had taken out books of advanced magic like Ro had and was working through them. Ro was surprised. She had just assumed since he was already so good, he wouldn't spend his time outside of class working.
After dinner, Alexi took his sister out for the promised flight. When he returned, he took Ro to the library where he selected several books of magic from the shelves. They then went to the outdoor practice courts and spent hours trying out different exercises. Alexi and Ro took turns opening deep chasms in the ground, causing earthquakes, making whirlwinds, and summoning storms. Ro thought this was just for fun, but Alexi was watching her for signs that she was tiring. There weren't any. When he decided to end the practice, she still looked as fresh as when they had begun. She never looked tired in class either. He wondered just how great her magic reserves were.
They ended the night in the entertainment room watching scary movies. Alexi had hoped that Ro would be one of those girls that snuggled into a male when they were scared but he found that she liked the horror movies just as much as he did. Ro too was surprised by herself. As time went on, she found herself gradually becoming more relaxed around Alexi. Halfway through the second movie she actually fell asleep.
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