(Zairyn POV)

After what seemed like half an eternity, we made it to the kingdom of Alinvelle. I don’t remember much from my little episode, but I do know it didn’t take a week to get there.

Every time we had to stop and make camp was the worst, because the guards doubled back to us from scouting, and I had to pretend to be some sort of mindless, murdering monster. I didn’t have to fake any of the animosity I felt towards them though; all the growls and menacing sounds I made were real. Lynn kept trying to covertly jab me with her elbow every time I did that though, so I eventually cut it out. Eventually.

So when we crossed into the city surrounding the castle, it was a huge relief. Kieran had explained to me that I would most likely be put into an emrinstone room with a few fireproof enchantments, just as a security to all the Humans who weren’t in on our plan. Emrinstone was probably the only material that Humans and Otherkin couldn’t break naturally; some very strong magick had to be used to carve and move it.

It was a bit unnerving talking to Humans so casually all of a sudden, especially since they were Royals, but they seemed nice enough, and were just fine with Otherkin. Kieran had told me that the siblings were on good terms with the King and Queen of the Mistlands, friends even. They told me to drop the formalities, which I assumed was to make things less tense and awkward, but it did quite the opposite honestly. Either way, Katelynn trusted them, so I supposed I would too.

So when they said to brace myself for a not-so-warm welcome from the citizens of Alinvelle, I didn’t doubt them. To them, I was the monster who stole their Prince’s bride (despite Lynn being no one’s woman; they could fight me on that).

I expected some really dumb shit, but not things like throwing rotten produce and even rocks. That was really stupid, no matter how you look at it.

‘Sure, provoke the barely restrained Dragon. See how well that goes for you’

But the Royal siblings did their best to prevent my inevitable humiliation, blocking my body as best they could with guards, and even themselves sometimes. My body was still thoroughly coated in rotten juices and my ears still rang with poorly-conceived insults by the time we made it to the castle entrance.

Maneuvering my body into the castle itself was an... adventure, to say the least. Entering the gate was no problem; it was made for merchant carts and such. But going through the front door, the only way to the emrinstone room? In my opinion, making that the only entrance to such a heavily fortified room was really really fucking dumb, but who knows what Humans were thinking. It was probably built to keep things like me out, and not in.

After a good hour or so of removing and replacing restraints so that I could actually fit into the castle, I was ‘escorted’ into the holding room. By ‘escorted’ I mean I got my own small platoon of guards making sure I didn’t so much as breathe in the wrong direction. But the gleaming weapons at their sides and the smarting of my still-exposed wounds were deterrent enough. I could feel my limp become more pronounced the further we walked, and I could only hold in my whimpers as my wings kept brushing guards who poked too close with their shields.

‘How big is this bloody castle? I just want to get to the room and lay down…’

When we finally made it, the guards shut the huge door behind me, and I heard them scurrying away as quickly as they could. Katelynn and the Royals had to go to address the Regents, so for now, I was on my own. I decided to take a quick look around the room, then take a nap.

When I looked, I realized it was less of a room, and more of a semi-attached tower to the castle. It was much taller than I, spiraling up another couple hundred feet. The interior was a deep purple-black of emrinstone, and the orange glow of a few fireproof runes lit up the walls and floor about every fifty feet. They weren’t complicated spells, but they were still mesmerizing to look at; they swirled in precise curves and lines, the language of the Ancient Otherkin lining the circles that held the curves. I seriously doubt that anyone other than the King and Queen of the Otherkin were old enough to even understand the language, but it was still used for magick; reduced to strange symbols that invoked power instead of a form of communication.

Laying down next to one, I started absently tracing the lines of one of the words. Though they were fireproof spells, they ironically gave off a bit of heat, and it was only when I relished in their comfort that I noticed my body was colder than usual. I shivered at the realization, and recalled that Lynn said something about me having an infection that led to a cold. This must have been it. And it sucked ass. Now that I was conscious of it and the cause, the freezing feeling only got stronger and stronger, till my body felt the need to move entirely onto a barely-warm rune and curl my body up as tightly as I could. It felt as though if I were to exhale, my breath would come out a thin cloud.

‘Lyyyyyynn where are youuuu…’ I thought, starting to get worried.

But I didn’t have to worry for too long; after a few minutes the heavy door groaned open again, and in came Ric. Not exactly who I was expecting, but better than no one.

He looked sheepish as he kept his gaze firmly on his feet. “Hey, so you’re Katelynn’s brother, right? Uhm… yeah, sorry about. Uh. Stabbing you? I didn’t know who you were at the time. Obviously. Yeah. So. Sorry.” He paused, then added, “Good talk.”

It was amazing. He said this whole thing in under 5 seconds, and all without even looking at me. Though I guess that’s a good thing. I would have made a sorry sight: shivering Dragon barely holding back whines, muscles stiff with pain, and what I’m pretty sure was snot dripping out of my nose.

Scratch that; I couldn’t hold back my whines anymore. After a particularly violent shake, a pained noise escaped from my throat. Ric’s head shot up at that, and it was almost funny how quickly his eyes blew wide open.

“Oh shit, you’re still sick! Lemme go grab Kieran, gimme a minute,” he yelled, and ran out of the room again.

‘Don’t yell, you dumbass, my head hurts.’ But I couldn’t even tell him that; my jaw was too tight with pain, and he was already gone.

My runny nose dripped onto the floor, and it was starting to really get on my nerves, so I gingerly lifted one of my paws to my snout, and wiped it.

‘Oh crap.’

Snot is not supposed to be red.