Two Thousand Years | The Empire Saga #1

Chapter Ten

Could that have been the reason why? This prophecy they shared?

Perhaps that was what made her the most uncomfortable. How easy it seemed, being with him.

She was in a thoughtful daze and didn't hear him stand from his chair or crouch down next to her. The feeling of his hand on her arm broke her from her train of thought, and with a look of concern written across his face, he asked, "Is everything all right?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "but I think it's going to be." She tried to give him a reassuring smile, even as a tug continued to pull at the back of her head. Toward thoughts of the banished Lord Steward who also seemed to know her so well. Who wanted her before she arrived in the Empire.
What part would Reylor play in any future they had here, should she decide to stay? Would the threat from him haunting her dreams, or worse, continue to plague her? Would Treyan be expected to thwart him every time?

No, she corrected herself. If anything, she would find a way to reject him herself. There must be something she could do to protect herself from having her mind violated. Especially in a world where dreams seemed to be as easy to travel to as a room with an unlocked door.

"Good," he said as he stood. "It could get very tiring having to chase you around the palace on a daily basis whenever you hear something you are not expecting."

She rolled her eyes. "You can't blame me for that. You practically proposed to me the same day I met you."

"It was not the same day," he corrected.

She glared at him. "How long has it been?"

"A week."

She coughed on the sip of wine she just attempted to swallow. "I've already been here for a week?"

Treyan nodded. "It took you longer to recover from the initial Key travel than expected."

A week...

"Shit," she whispered.

"As for the dress, I was merely giving you the courtesy of a heads up. You were the one who asked. You were so focused on that dress."

"It was a nice dress," she murmured, and her thoughts drifted to the other dream she had. Wearing that dress, being pregnant. She swallowed hard, avoiding the gaze of his bright blue eyes.

"It was. And it will be yours, when the time comes. But not yet." He paused as she refilled both glasses from the decanter. "We have much work to do, and I haven't even begun to properly court you yet."

"And what if I don't want to be?"

He perked his brow and smirked. "You could have fooled me."

She knew the blush was returning to her cheeks, but whether it was from the wine or otherwise was getting hard to differentiate. Alex looked at the table and caressed the rose in the middle. "I guess this is a pretty good start," she admitted.

She always did like roses. It didn't matter the color—it was one added expense she always allowed herself, even if money was tight. She didn't need anyone else to buy her flowers, not when she budgeted for a brand-new bouquet for herself every week. So delicate and sweet to smell, their thorns were just as dangerous whether as a singular bloom or with a dozen of its brethren.

He gave her a knowing smile, and she had to wonder if, during the time he watched her, how often he followed her to the flower market as she purchased her weekly bouquet.

She tried her best not to shudder.

"And there shall be many more from where this came from," he assured her as her thoughts wandered.