Dragon Blood

Ten: Missing

As if summoned by the thought, a pale, long-fingered hand landed on Jonathan's shoulder. He spun around to meet Draco's dark gaze. "Good evening, sir."

Jonathan bowed to the king. "Your highness, have you been enjoying yourself this evening?"

"Oh, immensely," Draco nodded. "The princess was a delight as usual. I just wish to make sure there were no hard feelings about my interruption earlier."

Jonathan stared at the king, but the man gave nothing away. But Jonathan knew he had seen, or at least suspected, something. The question was a matter of how much he knew and if he had told anyone. If word got out that Jonathan had been kissing the princess on the balcony, her reputation would be ruined. He was not formally courting her, nor was he even eligible to be her husband. He didn't want that for his Skylar.

"No, there was nothing to be interrupted, my lord. Simply two friends taking a reprieve from the demands of a party," Jonathan lied. He would stick to his story too, if anyone else asked. "You wouldn't by chance know where Harold and Violet are, do you?"

"Why, yes. I just took my leave of them. They're in the throne room," he waved his hand in the general direction of their location. "Apparently our dear princess is off hiding somewhere. She hasn't been seen in a while. As head knight, you should probably go speak with them."

The king and queen didn't know where Skylar was either? The last person he'd seen her with had been Draco, but the dark king had no reason to harm her or do anything else to her. She likely barely registered on his radar. Jonathan himself had slipped out of the ballroom and into the courtyard, not keen to watch possible suitors vie for her attentions, so he wasn't sure who she'd really been with last.

Jonathan nodded his head once, hoping that the worry didn't show on his face. "I think I'll do just that. If you'll excuse me, my lord." He bowed and then practically ran out of the ballroom. A rock had formed in his stomach, and his gut had never lied to him before. Something was terribly wrong.

As he approached the closed doors to the throne room, two guards pushed them open to allow his passage. The queen sat on her throne with Greta holding her hand and talking gently to her, while the king paced back and forth. Skylar's three guards stood off to the side looking at their boots in shame. Yes, something was terribly wrong indeed.

Jonathan's boots clicked on the stone floor, announcing his approach, and the king spun around to look at him. The monarch's eyes narrowed and he lifted a finger to point at Jonathan. "You," he practically snarled. "You were the last person seen with her. Where is she!" He advanced towards Jonathan and the look on the king's face made Jonathan think he was about to get hit. And he likely would have if Greta hadn't spoken up.

"Hal, leave him alone!" she snapped in that grandmotherly way of hers. Only sassy Greta would dare speak to the king that way. The tiny, gray-haired woman stepped away from the queen and toward her king. "The boy obviously loves Skylar, he would never hurt her."

Hal spun around to stare at the nurse. "What?" he demanded. Jonathan was simply frozen in place. Had he really been so transparent?

"Jonathan loves our girl. He would never do anything to her. He respects you and her too much, and you know it. So don't you dare take out your anger on that knight," Greta warned the king, walking straight up to him and sticking her finger in his face. "And if he ran away with her, why would he have any reason to come back, hmm?"

Hal turned back to Jonathan, confused, but still angry. That much was apparent. "Is that true?" he demanded. "Do you love my daughter?"

Jonathan cleared his throat and found himself unable to look his king in the eye. "Um, yes, my lord. I do."