Blind & Broken

Chapter Seventeen

I swing the door open and a whoosh! of air hits me in the face. I barely pause before leaving my room and heading down the stairs to the dining room. After an excruciating time I had trying to get back to my room from the music foyer last week (or maybe it's been two; it's hard to be sure now), I've made an effort to navigate the palace. It was a frustrating and very slow process — the secret tunnels and entryways still make things difficult — but I've mastered the main hallways to the main places I hang out. Mostly.

When I'm not in my room, I'm in the dining room/kitchen, the music room, the family room, the entertainment room, or one of my friends' rooms. Or outside, which is incredible for my mental health. The gardens just seem to wash away any of my problems. While there aren't any flowers to create the wonderful aroma I'm sure is present in the summer, it's still peaceful listening to the leaves blowing or the click of the branches from the nearby forest.

Reaching the dining room, I can tell the doors are wide open from the voices floating to the hallway. From the sound of it, everyone is already in here waiting for breakfast. I find my way to my seat (they always leave a specific one open for me, so I never have to guess) and slide onto the smooth wood.

"Good morning, Indigo!" It takes me a second to determine the owner of the voice, as I was expecting Bryn, but that was definitely not Bryn. "How did you sleep?"

The queen! "Great, thanks!" I answer politely, fidgeting in my seat a little.

She hadn't really talked to me since she sat me down last week. A few polite questions here and there, but mostly I talked to her daughters and Cam. I'm not really intimidated by her, but I still don't know her all that well either.

Door hinges creak on the far left of me and I know that's good being brought out from the kitchen. A moment later and a soft sound directly in front of me alerts me that my plate is here. I lift a fork and begin to eat the eggs.

"Oh!" Kaitlyn says suddenly. She's immediately to my left and her voice piercing the silence of us eating makes me jump. "Sorry," she says quietly. "I just had an idea!" She grabs my left wrist and I don't even startle. I've learned this is an often occurrence and I should get used to it.

"You know that friend I've visited a couple times since you've been here?" I nod. I think her name is Alexandra or Alexa or something along those lines. "Well, I don't know if I mentioned, but she's amazing with animals, lives on a whole reserve and everything! Anyways, I mentioned you're staying with me right now and she said if you ever want to get out of the house, I could bring you over!"

I turned to face her, a smile lighting my face. "Really?"

I'm sure she's nodding, "would you want to come with me today? It's nice out, and not too cold for once!"

Now I'm fully grinning, "that would be great! It will be nice to get out for a bit."

I can hear her suck in a breath because she's so close to me, but Queen Kalama cuts her off. "Kate, are you sure this is a good idea? I know Alexis is nice and all, but her yard is probably a bit uneven and. . . Dangerous."

She means because I can't see.

"Mom, you've never even been to the reserve. Besides, she'll be with me the entire time."

Cam pipes up, reminding me that he's even here. "Would it help if I went?"

"Yes." The queen answers the same time Kate snaps, "no!"