realized that this was the first time he had ever called me by name.
“Ah. Good evening,” I mumbled before I wondered, was it really evening? Without the sky, who could tell?
I looked back toward the crowd and noticed that I had already caught a few eyes. My ears twitched as the whispering began. I tried to make myself smaller, but it did not help my that I was standing next to the tallest person in the room. I wrapped my arms around my chest. My stomach sunk even farther as I saw the kin had noticed my discomfort, his luminous eyes searching my face without shame.
I looked away just as I felt his hand on my shoulder.
“Here,” he grunted.
Without waiting for a reply he led me out of the room. The guards around the entrance glared at the kin, but none dared to stop him and ask where we were going. The kin led me away, setting me down on a stone bench in one of the antechambers. We were still close enough that I could hear the merfolk’s voices, but far enough that the air was fresher and the atmosphere less suffocating.
“Sorry. I’m just not good at this sort of thing,” I mumbled.
My chest still tight with nausea, I bent over toward my legs and tried to breathe. It was hardly the first time I had been the center of a crowd’s attention – it had been happening quite often lately – but it was the first time in a long time that it was so many. The last time over a hundred people stared at me…
I shuddered as Levent touched my head. It was the same as he had when we left Readimina. I expected his hand to retreat as quickly as it had before, but it lingered, shuffling my hair gently. The rhythmic motion was soothing.
Soon the tight feeling had mostly gone, but I stayed still. It made it easier, with my face hidden, to ignore the people that stopped to stare. Levent quickly warded them away with a look. I was thankful for this unusual kindness.
The dragon-kin’s hand abruptly retreated and my heart sank. I looked up to find out why.
“M’lady and good dragon, why have you not joined the party?” Rio pontificated.
When he caught my eye, his jolly smile disappeared. He slid beside me on the bench.
“Are you alright?”