The Dream Keeper's Dragon

2.18 This Isn't a Love Story, Sweetheart

Margret had come to pick Aurelie up at the house around midafternoon in a carriage sent but the Morels. Despite their best efforts, the two of them couldn't get Leila to stay behind at the house.

They waited for Karah to finish up with her client. That's where Aurelie assumed she was after she had called her three times and received no answer. The boy wasn't around to help either.

About twenty minutes into the wait, Aurelie decided that she would send Leila to the ball instead. She needed a suitor and Nick could keep her safe when the time came for another battle. If he could fall for her in a matter of days, Leila would have him falling over her within the hour. She was a golden goddess. And then, I can be alone.

The thought brought about a feeling of peace that she hadn't felt in a very long time. Aurelie could cry without having to watch for Kirin coming around the corner or think without him asking what was on her mind. She needed a moment to breathe.

A hefty woman came into the shop sometime after them and made as if she were browsing the goods but her wandering eyes told Aurelie that she was looking for something that was kept behind the counter or, most likely, at the back of the shop. Her green feathered hat kept rocking the hanging animals above her as she passed, it didn't seem like she noticed, but it gave Aurelie the chills.

Karah's absence gave Aurelie a few minutes to think of a way to convince her to take Leila instead. She made no promise to attend, just to grant Karah an invitation. Perhaps, convincing wasn't the intention but rather finding the words to which Karah would find no argument.

Margret leaned down to the kitten and dragged her cheek against its fur. "How do you think she gets the fur so soft?"

Leila held back a grin and folded her arms. "I don't know. Touch it a bit more, I'm sure you'll recognize the fabric."

"Hmmm." Margret rubbed the fur between her fingertips. "Just feels like a cat, really."

Aurelie glared at Leila and turned to the girl attempting to save her further embarrassment, and possibly disease. "That's because it used to be one—or is," Aurelie said and crooked a brow. She wasn't exactly sure how they were made, just what they were made of. Ghastly things!

"What?" Her voice rose to a pitch just below a shriek, attracting the attention of the feathered lady. "No!" Margret bent over and rubbed her face with the skirt of her dress. "Why?" She scowled at Leila.

Kaiden once told her that a room in the castle belonged specifically to his great grandmother's stuffed pet poodles. They never threw them out after she died as that would have destroyed some of the castle's history. Aurelie would incinerate all of them and let the poor dogs get some much-deserved rest.

Leila intertwined her fingers and stretched her hands up above her head. The movement was elegant as a cat's and made Aurelie a little envious of how sleek Leila was. "I'm bored," she said.

Margret folded her arms and looked in the opposite direction. "Well, no one invited you," she said under her breath.

Leila's eyes sparkled, and her frame eased into an elegance that suggested a final pounce. "Tell me, servant girl," Leila leaned against the wall. Margret rolled her eyes at the comment, biting back harsher words. "How is the carriage to pick the princess up at the Donahue residence if she's not there?"

Margret turned to Aurelie, her eyes wide. "Oh God!"

Leila strolled to the glass door, swabbing her long fingers past the animals on display. "My, and it's getting dark too."

"Leila!" Aurelie warned. If she had seen how frightened the girl was upon their first encounter, she'd have kept her malevolence to herself. "Come now, Margret. Make your way to the house, and lead the carriage here."