The court

Serafina Pov.

I sat back, my mind restless.

I watched the tiny opening disguised as a window above my cot go from thick black to the atmosphere changing slowly, soon it was dawn.

My worst fear is coming to reality.

I was going to walk into that study and I was going to see him and I didn't know I was nervous.

What if this was another trap?.

I turned to the other corner, my heart beating like it was soon to explode.

The guard came at dawn. I saw him clearly, a young strong Beta about the same age as Eli. He didn’t look me in the eyes, he avoided eye contact like I bore a curse waiting to strike, he’d been briefed. “Don't speak to the omega, or you will be severely punished.

I followed him through the corridors. I knew my way around, and I would sneak in and out of the place without being caught, the memories fresh. Left past the iron sconces. Right at the split corner. Down the corridor that always smelt of cedar and cold stone with an ever-burning furnace.

The palace hadn’t really changed.

Except for the new faces all over the place.

The guard stopped at a door at the end of the east wing and knocked once.

“Come in.” Daxton’s voice cut through the woods, I panicked, biting my lips hard.

The guard stepped aside without looking at me.

I murmured some words of prayer and pushed the door open.

I hesitated for a minute then I walked in.

The study is still the same.

Dark shelves stacked floor to ceiling. A wide desk near another door with papers arranged in order of their sizes. At the top corner was a fire burning in the grate, the memories still the same, as if the place had been locked up since the last time I was here.

Not even a pin was out of place.

Daxton was standing close to the window with his back turned, both hands clasped behind him. No crown. No ceremonial robes, no sword.

Just dark trousers and a loose shirt that looked well-ironed, his huge stature made the shirt tight, his muscles popping out. I stood still. The stature before me is different from the boy I used to know.

He didn’t turn when I walked in, leaving the door slightly open out of fear.

“Close the door,” he said coldly.

I hurried and shut it.

“Sit”. He ordered.

“I’ll stand”. My eyes cast to the floor.

He turned at once.

I raised my head slowly to meet his sharp eyes, the scar across his left jaw visible. I suddenly ran out of breath.

“You’ll stand,” he repeated.

“I rode three days in chains, I will stand instead. My back doesn’t need a chair from you.”

He chuckled slightly.

I took a step backward.

“Sit down, Serafina.”

“I will stand.”

His expression hardened

Then he pulled the chair out from behind his desk with force, dragging it to the centre of the room, and set it down facing him. Then he walked back to the window and leaned against the ledge with his arms folded.

“Now it’s in the middle of the room,” he said. “Sit wherever you want.”

I crossed the room and sat in the chair.

He watched me settle like he was counting down to ten before he attacked me.

“You look well,” he said.

“Don’t”.

“Don’t know what?”

“Don’t do the thing where you pretend this is a conversation between two people who are pals.” I held his gaze. “You summoned me at dawn before the court could see. Whatever this is, say it plainly.”

His jaw shifted.

“You talked back to me in open court yesterday.”

“You have grown so much”.

“I asked a question.”

“In front of every ranked wolf in Ironveil. Have you no manners?”.

“I asked you to state the terms clearly. I wasn't in any way rude to the crowd, it’s simple comprehension.”

“You call that simple comprehension?”

“Then maybe your court needs better vocabulary.”

The silence settled.

Daxton put his hand in his left pocket. He moved away from the window slowly, the way a wolf moves when it has decided to hunt prey, his steps slow and deliberate. He stopped a few steps in front of me.

I did not lean back.

I didn't move.

“You haven’t changed,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I’m grown now.”

“Your mouth is the only thing that has grown wings.”

“My mouth is not a coward.”

He looked at me for a long moment. Something in the eyes made my wolf stir up slowly.

I swallowed.

“I called you here because I feel there are things you should know”.

“And you of all people decide to enlighten..”.

“Shut your mouth and listen”. He snapped.

I held my breath for a minute.

“The terms of the debt transfer aren’t standard.”

“In what sense?”

“There are people in this court who are going to watch you very carefully.” He paused. “Closer than you’d think.”

“Is this supposed to be a threat or a warning?”

“Having the nerves to talk back when I talk would do you more harm than good”. His eyes shifted.

I stood up.

The move surprised him, I could tell by the way he straightened slightly. I was shorter than him but I stepped close enough to cover the distance between us.

“That’s the second time in twelve hours someone has told me to be careful,” I said. “And both times it came from people who already know something I don’t. So I’m going to ask you once, with all due respect to the crown you carry as a title”. I held his gaze without blinking. “What is happening and why am I caught in the middle of all of these?”

Daxton looked at me.

Our gaze on each other.

He looked away as if he was being obligated not to speak any further than he had already done.

“Be careful,” he said.

“Pf who?”

He opened his mouth to speak.

The door opened.