"Father, please. This class is perfectly fine," Kiran laughed lightly, shaking his head and dismissing the entire discussion.
"Is it?" Lucan asked, his eyes flitting over me. I quickly looked down at my desk, afraid that my very presence would create an outburst or argument between father and son.
"Eden, you are also in this class?" Lucan asked directly.
"Yes," I nodded.
Your majesty. Say "Your majesty." Avalon pushed the command at me and I realized my mistake.
"Yes, your majesty," I clarified quickly.
"Did you speak French growing up?" Lucan continued to ask me questions and I hated answering them while all of the eyes of the class were on me.
"No, I did not sir," I didn't know if "sir" was appropriate, but I thought I would give it a go. "Your majesty" and "your highness" felt way too make believe for me to say them without wanting to giggle.
"In your human home, they did not speak French to you?" he asked more pointedly, his face etched with disbelief.
"No, sir," I replied humbly, but my rebellious nature was growing frustrated.
"It hasn't been a struggle to learn I'm sure, now that you have magic at your disposal." He said with finality and no evidence of a question.
"Actually, sir," I spoke up, and I saw Kiran flinch behind him, but it was too late, I had already gone down the rabbit hole, "I prefer to learn the language the old-fashioned way," I smiled, in an attempt to be charming.
"The old-fashioned way? And pray tell, my dear child, what way is that?" Lucan's blue eyes turned to stone; he stared at me, daring me to defy him.
"You know," suddenly I had lost my courage, "without magic."
He stood there staring at me, his eyes never leaving mine and I wanted to squirm but I had too much pride. Avalon coughed behind me and I hurried to finish the part I had forgotten.
"Your Highness," I said quickly, relying on the reverence of the title to pull me out of trouble.
"That is the old-fashioned way?" he asked calmly. I knew I had gone too far and I wasn't exactly sure how to remedy the situation.
"No, it's not. Forgive me. I was just trying to...." I couldn't even explain my behavior. The room was deathly silent; no one was even moving. I had no idea how to recover.
"Ms. Matthews why don't you finish your thought out in the hallway," Amory spoke up before I dug myself into a deeper hole. I gathered my things quickly and with head down bolted into the sanctuary of the empty halls.
"Are you crazy?" Kiran was fast behind me, but his eyes were amused and his tone barely serious.
"Everyone was so serious in there; I was just trying to lighten the mood," I grumbled, knowing that wasn't the real reason. But since I didn't even know the real reason, it was a better excuse than anything else I had.
"Fantastic job of it, Love," Kiran rolled his eyes, but the smirk was there.
"I miss you," I changed the subject, my voice barely audible.
"Do you?" He smiled, taking a step closer to me. "Then let’s do something about it, shall we?"
"Yes, please," I agreed.
"How about I take you to dinner tonight? Are you free?" I nodded, excitedly, hardly believing a real date could be my future plans for the evening. "Good. Then, I will pick you up around seven and make it just the two of us." He took another step closer to me, the smile growing and his eyes twinkling.
"How are you going to manage that?" I asked, disbelieving he could possibly get away from Talbott.
"Don't you worry your pretty little head, I'll figure it out," he looked like he was about to say more, but the door opened and out walked Lucan, Amory and Talbott.
I curtsied politely and kept my eyes on the floor, hoping to recover any ground lost before.
"Don't be too hard on her Amory, Eden and I became very special friends in India," Lucan smiled down at me, the same wicked expression found in Kiran's smirk, present in his eyes.
"Of course," Amory replied gruffly and put a firm hand on my shoulder.
"Well then, Amory, thank you for the tour and I shall see you at dinner this evening," Lucan smiled benevolently at Amory who nodded a sort of short bow in return.
Lucan placed a hand on Kiran's back and ushered him down the hallway. Talbott followed a few steps behind and I wondered for a moment where Lucan's bodyguard was.
"Am I in trouble?" I looked up at Amory, not really afraid of him, but still worried he might have to punish me for appearances sake.
"Eden, my dear, you are always in trouble," he patted the shoulder his hand was resting on and followed in the direction Lucan had gone.
"Does that mean I have to go back to class?" I whispered loudly, hoping the outcome would be in my favor.
"Of course it does," Amory replied without turning around. "And Eden, if you wouldn't mind, try not to offend your entire race of people by the end of the school day."
"No promises," I called after him.
I slipped back into class, trying my best to make it to my seat without being noticed. It was no use. The entire class stared. Even Ms. Devereux stopped lecturing, and stood in silent distaste.
That was really nice Eden. You have more balls than I give you credit for. Avalon laughed at me inside our shared consciousness.
"Ok, being human is not that bad," I put my hands out and defended the unspoken accusations; but it was no use, the class remained silent and once I reached my desk and opened my book, Ms. Devereux continued with her lecture, ignoring me all together.
Chapter Thirty-Two
"I'm going alone Avalon, don't even try to come along," I paced back and forth in the entry way, arms folded and defiant. Kiran would be picking me up soon and the last thing I wanted was an entourage.
"Eden, you can't be serious," Jericho stood up from the overstuffed couch and crossed his arms, equally stubborn.
"Jericho, stay out of this," I turned on him and stomped my foot.
"You know what?" he started, louder than he had been before. "Fine, do what you want; there is apparently no stopping you." he put his hands up in mock surrender and left the room.
"Great, Eden. That's real great," Avalon growled from his place by the fire place. "Listen, I'm tired of dealing with this. I don't think it's a good idea, but do what you want. I have bigger things to worry about."
"Thank you," I sighed, exasperated and feeling a little hurt.
Avalon walked into the kitchen and joined Jericho. They were quiet in there and I had the urge to eavesdrop on them from the safety of Avalon's mind, but I resisted. It wasn't fair to them. And I had the feeling I didn't really want to know what they were whispering about.
"On the bright side," Lilly smiled at me from the couch, in between Aunt Syl and Roxie. "You look amazing!"
"Yes you do, Eden," Aunt Syl agreed. "But are you sure you don't want a warmer coat?"
I shook my head. I knew the icy January evening would not be kind to the black and baggy, sheer top I was wearing and short jean skirt. But in my defense I was wearing thick black tights and furry boots to protect my feet against the three feet of snow outside. I looked down at my bare shoulder and shuddered. Maybe Aunt Syl was right.
I opened the coat closet and glanced over my winter coats, none of them feeling very date-like. Instead of practicality, I opted for a bright pink pashmina scarf that had been a Christmas present last year.
"Is this better?" I turned around and smiled. Aunt Syl rolled her eyes and sat back in the couch laughing at me. "I'm magic, remember?" I said with finality.
"Oh yes, you're magic," Roxie mumbled, only half amused.
There was a knock at the door and I jumped, my heart beating wildly; I prayed silently that only Kiran was standing on the other side. I counted to ten, not wanting to open the door too quickly, took a couple of deep breaths for good measure and let Kiran inside.
"Hello, Lovely," Kiran said softly, his turquoise eyes smoldering and his trademark smirk turning up one corner of his mouth.
"Hello," I giggled, stepping forward and kissing him on the cheek.
He looked more handsome than ever in a crisp white dress shirt, open at the neck, a sharp black suit coat and designer jeans. His hair was slicked back in a movie star way that signified a dress-up event; he had a black scarf wrapped several times around his neck to pull the whole look together.
"Hello ladies," he took his eyes off me, almost regretfully, and waved at Aunt Syl, Roxie and Lilly watching us from the couch.
"Hello," they replied back in unison.
"Lilly, I hope this week hasn't been too terribly awful for you. I hate that Father is so stuck in his ways," he smiled carefully at her and heat flushed her porcelain cheeks before she could even open her mouth.
"No, it's fine," she quickly replied. "I don't mind missing school at all."
"Of course," Kiran laughed. "Well, then, are you ready Love?" he held out his bent arm for me and we walked carefully over the ice-covered sidewalk to his car; a black sports car with no back seat that screamed fast before he even started it.
The deep, soft snow blanketed the city, creating a quiet not present during the rest of the year. Kiran kept the radio off while we drove downtown, the crunch of packed snow or splashing slush was our only sound track in the silence of night.
"So how did you get away all by yourself?" I asked, truly curious.
"Oh, I have my ways," he smirked, glancing over at me in an overtly appreciative way. I tugged at the hem of my skirt, suddenly self-conscious. "How did you get away?"
"I, too, have ways," I played his game, pretending to be mysterious.
"Oh, do you now?" he pulled into a parking spot off the street of one of Omaha's expensive downtown bistros.
"Yes, of course. All kinds of ways. Ways you've never even seen," I continued, allowing him to walk around and open the door for me.
"You'll have to demonstrate those later for me," he mumbled, and I couldn't stop the blush from painting my cheeks.
We walked into the restaurant with candle-lit center pieces on small tables only meant for two. Kiran spoke to the hostess, who immediately walked us to a table in the far corner of the bustling bistro. She offered us menus, explained the specials for the evening and then gestured to the bartender who immediately brought over a bottle of wine.
Kiran's pocket began vibrating while the hostess poured two glasses of crimson red wine and I watched him reach irritatedly into his pocket, silencing his phone.
"This is nice," I said quietly, reaching for my glass of wine and taking a small drink.
"Yes it is. We haven't been alone in a while," Kiran stated, reaching for his pocket again, stopping the vibrating.
"Do you need to get that?" I asked, realizing a night alone might actually be impossible.
"No. I do not," he stated clearly, reaching for my hand and holding it on top of the white table cloth.
"So your birthday is coming up, yeah?" I watched him grow just a little bit uncomfortable.
"Yes," he mumbled.
