Chapter Twenty-Three

Gina's POV.


“Who touched Thunder?” Dagen’s voice behind me sent chills down my spine; it was a voice meant to instill fear to whomever was unfortunate to be addressed by it. I was the unfortunate person this time.

“Lady Nydia said she wanted to ride Thunder and…” I began to mumble and the smug faces Lady Nydia’s friends made let me know that I looked like an idiot.

“You couldn’t have or you’ll be among her trophies,” came Dagen’s response to my mumbling.

“Oh dear, you should check up on Thunder to see if she’s quite alright,” cried Nydia, her voice heavy with fake concern.

I stumbled out of the drawing room holding hit tears in my eyes. I returned to my room and waited for the worst to happen. Perhaps Dagen would throw me out of his palace or he would make good of his promise and kill me.

I waited and waited but Dagen did not come.

*********************

Dagen's POV.


It made no sense to me that Gina had gone on her own accord to Thunder’s stable. She would not have done so unless someone had sent her to, someone she could not defy.

“What happened?” I asked Nydia. We were alone now, she had sent away her silly friends. It made me wonder at times why she surrounded herself with such women who were far below her intellectually.

“She went to groom Thunder,” she said, her eyes daring me to accuse her of lying.

“That is not what I want to know; why did she go to Thunder?” I asked her.

“What? Do you think I sent her there?” she asked, her tone expressing disappointment that I would think she's capable of such evil.

“You are…”

“I told her to groom Plunder, she might have mistaken it for Thunder,” she said.

“I see.”

“Wait, where are you going?” she asked, holding onto my arm as I made to leave the drawing room.

“I need to check that Thunder has caused Gina no harm,” came my response.

“You saw her earlier, she was alright. But you have checked on Thunder, how is she?” her voice was filled with concern that shattered my defense. If I had suspected that she had meant Gina harm, I no longer did.

“She is fine; she was not drugged,” was my reply.

“That’s a relief,” she said with a smile that warmed my heart.

She tiptoed to kiss me and everything was alright in my world.

*****#+#******

Gina's POV.

“Diane, how is the Alpha? I have not seen him in a while,” I asked her one morning. Since the incident with Thunder, I had not seen Dagen and now that it crossed my mind, I had not seen Nydia either.

“Alpha Dagen and Lady Nydia are on vacation in their home in NottinSphere,” came Diane’s response as she laid my breakfast.

“I see,” I felt disappointed even though I ought not to care. I had held hope that on the night Dagen had hugged me to sleep, I meant more to him than his heir breeder.

“Is there anything I can occupy my time with?” I asked her. I was becoming tired of my routine life where I did basically nothing all day.

“Of course, my lady. There’s needlework, there’s painting, you could even practice horseback riding,” she said with a bright smile but none of the things she had mentioned appealed to me in the slightest. It was not because I would not find them fun but because I rather liked my lazy lifestyle and did not want to revert to using my energy to do anything physically productive. I only needed to engage myself mentally.

“What about reading? The palace must have a library, right?” I asked, my voice fused with excitement.

Growing up had been especially tough. My father did not get me a governess like he did for my sisters. Instead I used to hide while they were taking their lessons so that I could listen to Ms Marie teach. I liked her calm but knowledgeable voice. It pained me that I could never ask her questions to cure my ignorance and I hated it more that my sister’s were to stupid to ask the wise woman intelligent questions. Regardless, I had managed to learn to read and write and I believed I was more learned than my gullible sisters.

“You want to read?” Diane gave me a look that told me she thought I must be insane or very weird.

“Yes, it’s such a beautiful day to be caught up in another world entirely!” I said and she shook her head as though sad for me.

“The library in the palace is not accessible to you; only Alpha Dagen and Lady Nydia can use it but if you wish to read there is a library not too far from here you can do so,” said Diane and I could not be more grateful. The palace was becoming more stuffy anyway. It would be nice to leave here for a bit.

“That’s wonderful! We should leave at once,” I said standing up from my chair to browse my wardrobe for what I would wear.

“My lady, I’m afraid you have to finish your breakfast,” Diane reminded me and my eyes were drawn to my untouched meal.

I knew she would not allow me leave until I had eaten my breakfast so I ate hurriedly. Sometimes I wanted to ask her if Dagen had given her the role of a jailer as she trailed every movement and action of mine.

Hours later we were in front of a dome like structure that appeared rather modest in comparison to the beautiful structures that lay scattered about.

But when the doors opened, the aroma of papyrus and leaves turned into pages hit me. It was the best scent in the world. If there was a place I could die and truly rest in peace, it would be the library.

“Oh, Diane! Isn’t this place simply marvelous?” I smiled at her but her facial expression told me she could not relate with whatever it was I was feeling.