Chapter 12: The Mysterious Gift
LAST night was such a nightmare. All I had to do was sit there and be practiced on, and yet I came away completely exhausted.
“Miss Maynaaaa! Every time I touch your hair, Sir Ray starts glaring at me! Help!”
“Kirion, focus. Ray, face that way.”
All night long, there were dozens of little exchanges along those lines. Meanwhile, Sari was glaring at me so hard you’d think she was trying to bore a hole straight through my head. Then, not even thirty minutes later, Ray demanded we end the session because “the room’s gotten too hot.” On top of that, for some reason he made me promise that I wouldn’t meet with Kirion alone at night for any reason, even for work, ever again.
All in all, it was a rather draining night...but the very next morning, my fatigue flew out the window.
Right as I was about to leave my quarters, I opened my door to find a small, neatly wrapped box sitting on the hallway floor just outside. The hallway itself was deserted, so I had no way of knowing who left it, but the card tucked under the ribbon read For Mayna, so I scooped it up and stepped back inside my room.
“What is this?” I wondered aloud as I untied the ribbon. Then I lifted the lid—
“Oh my god!”
—and there I found the iridian whiteshell accessory I’d swooned over yesterday.
“It’s every bit as beautiful as I remember...!”
I ran over to the mirror, took off the accessory I’d been wearing, and put the whiteshell on instead. Fortunately, it paired with today’s hairstyle rather nicely. And while it wasn’t flashy, it was still eye-catching, affording the wearer an air of pristine elegance.
Giddy, I took a moment to admire myself from every angle, then rushed out of the room. I had someone I needed to thank, after all.
While I was on my way to Patricia’s room, I encountered Ray heading the same direction to take his guard shift for the day. Like a gleeful child, I ran after him and touched his arm. “Ray!”
He glanced back, took one look at me—and my hair accessory—and smiled. “Good morning, Mayna. I see you’re in a chipper mood today,” he greeted. Was he intentionally playing dumb, or what?
“You went and bought this for me, didn’t you? Thank you so much!” I exclaimed.
Perhaps someone with a bit more decorum would have declined such an expensive gift, but now that I was wearing it, I couldn’t possibly give it back. Still, it was more than I was comfortable accepting from a friend—assuming I could consider him that—so I decided I’d figure out a way to pay him back somehow. But I wasn’t going to worry about that until later. For now, I just wanted to express my joy and gratitude.
“See? I put it on right away!”
“It looks great on you. Very pretty.”
It was possible he was referring to the accessory and not me specifically, but either way it seemed he was being sincere, and so I was willing to accept the compliment. He gained nothing from giving me this gift, and yet he smiled along with me, almost as if my cheer was contagious.
“That ornament was practically made for you.”
“Be honest—it was you, wasn’t it?”
“Who knows? It’s a mystery,” he grinned, as if it wasn’t completely obvious. This gift couldn’t possibly have come from anyone else.
“I really, really appreciate this. I’m going to treasure it,” I told him.
“Oh! Miss Mayna!” Just then, Kirion turned up, likely on his way to Patricia’s quarters as well—and the next words out of his mouth left me speechless: “I see you’ve already put it on! It looks great!”
“What?”
Baffled, I stared at him. If I didn’t know any better, it almost sounded as though he was the one who bought it for me.
“What’s going on? How do you know about this accessory?”
“What do you mean? Obviously I bought it and left it outside your door, silly! Bet you weren’t expecting that, huh?”
“But then...how did you know to choose this specific ornament?” I asked, perplexed. I was pretty sure only Ray could have known how badly I wanted it.
“Well, you see, I was in town yesterday when I saw you and Sir Ray walking down the street together. I wanted to say hello, but the two of you looked like you were having such a great time, and I couldn’t bear to interrupt...but then part of me wondered if perhaps you were on a date, so I decided to tail you to find out.” He shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. “After you left that jewelry store, I went inside, thinking maybe I could get you something. So I went to the owner and said, ‘The woman that was here just now—was there anything she was particularly interested in?’ and then he directed me to that accessory.”
“You’re serious?” I asked dubiously.
At this, Kirion pouted. “You don’t believe me?”
Beside us, Ray quirked a brow, suspiciously narrowing his eyes on Kirion.
I really thought this was a gift from Ray... I guess not. And for some reason, I was actually disappointed to learn otherwise. In fact, I couldn’t help but hold out hope that Ray would admit the gift was from him. He didn’t, of course.
“You say you saw us together, but couldn’t bear to interrupt? That’s simply not possible. The Kirion I know would come and hassle us without a second thought.”
“Wow, rude!” Kirion laughed uncomfortably.
I removed the accessory and handed it back to him. “I appreciate the gesture, but I’m sorry—I can’t accept something that expensive.”
A few short moments ago I thought that I couldn’t possibly give it back, and now here I was, doing just that. Why was it that I was only comfortable with this gift if it came from Ray? Was it because I knew an aristocrat like him could easily afford it?
“Come on, Miss Mayna, don’t be like that. Just keep it,” Kirion insisted with a sly smile, wrapping his hands around my closed fist. “It doesn’t matter how expensive it was. When it comes to my Bondmate, I’ll gladly pay any price.”
“Your...Bondmate...?” I repeated, as though I hadn’t heard him loud and clear.
“Of course! Don’t you feel it? Ever since we first met, I’ve felt something between us, and now I’m certain. You’re my Bondmate, Miss Mayna.”
Frozen, I forced my stalling brain to think back over the days since Kirion had first arrived. There was certainly something between us, all right. Every time I looked into his dark eyes, I felt a deep restlessness in my chest. Even now, my heart was thumping out of control...and here at point-blank range, it almost felt like I was on the cusp of being swallowed whole—
“Don’t touch her!” Ray dove between us.