He seized Kirion by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
“Guh...!” Kirion winced in pain.
“Ray!” I shouted, panicked.
“What are you trying to pull?” Ray demanded, glaring down at the other man.
Kirion wheezed for breath. “That really hurts, you know... C’mon, let go of me... Miss Mayna, help...!”
“Ray!” I called again, but no response. He didn’t even loosen his grip.
“Why would you invent a lie like that?”
“What are you talking about? I’m not lying...!”
“Are you even really a Dragonkin?” Ray growled.
“What’s going on out here?!”
Patricia’s bedroom door flew open, and Rebecca dashed into the hall, followed by Mona and Sari.
“Kirion!” Sari shouted as she ran over.
But Ray promptly relinquished his grip, and with an icy glare, he turned and left.
“What happened? Are you okay?” Sari asked fretfully.
“I’m all right. I don’t know why, but something I did really upset Sir Ray,” Kirion explained.
Personally, I was tempted to go after Ray, but that would sadly have to wait. Patricia’s hair wasn’t going to style itself, after all.
✦ ✦ ✦
❀❀❀
“PATRICIA, what’s the matter with your hairstylist today?” Prince Dario asked the Princess once he noticed the hard look on my face. Today the three of us were going over potential hairstyles for the wedding, and I had presented over a dozen new designs for their perusal.
His comment quickly brought me back to my senses, and I wiped the grimace off my face. “I sincerely apologize, Your Highness.”
“Something happened with Kirion today,” Patricia explained to him, though I wasn’t sure how she knew that, since I hadn’t told her about it. Then again, perhaps it was obvious, considering any interaction with my apprentice was distant and awkward (on my end, at least; Kirion himself was acting fairly normal).
“Oh yeah? Come to think of it, Ray seemed pretty tense when I saw him in the hall earlier,” Darion teased.
“I apologize for the distraction. Let’s go ahead and choose a hairstyle for the Princess.” I gestured down at the designs on the table. Meanwhile, the bride and groom were having a good chuckle at my expense.
“Personally, I like this one. It suits Patricia’s kind and cheerful demeanor.”
“Then let’s go with that one!” Patricia declared swiftly.
“You sure? Shouldn’t you pick one that you like?”
“No, that’s okay. I want to match your tastes,” she told him, blushing faintly. Dario laughed shyly in response.
What a happy couple.
With the bride’s wedding hairstyle decided, the Prince rose from his chair and got ready to leave. He was a busy man, and his schedule was packed.
“I didn’t know Miss Mayna could draw,” Kirion mused as he looked over my designs with Patricia.
“What, you can’t?” she replied incredulously.
Dario leaned over to me. “Have fun with Ray,” he whispered playfully.
Torn between “Yes, sir” and “No, thank you,” I stared resolutely at him for a moment, then asked, “Your Highness, um...is it an accepted practice among Dragonkin men to prank a woman by telling her she’s your Bondmate?”
“Is this about Ray?”
“No, not this time.” I stared carefully at the floor.
“Ah, now I get it,” Dario murmured, shooting a quick glance in Kirion’s direction. “No, it’s not an accepted practice...but every now and then, there are shallow, thoughtless individuals who use the concept of a Bondmate to prey upon the naïve and gullible.”
“I see...”
“Thus, it’s up to you to see through it. You must choose your partner not for the things he says, but for the love he gives you.” And with that, Prince Dario left the room.
He’s so mature, you’d never think he was only eighteen...
That said, this was not a matter of choosing between Ray and Kirion. Ray had long since changed his mind and stopped pursuing me. Kirion, on the other hand, was an active problem, and one I didn’t know how to handle.
I sighed and looked over to find him grinning at me. “Kirion, can I borrow you for a moment?”
With my apprentice in tow, I stepped into the hall. I wanted to settle this as soon as possible, and fortunately, Sari wasn’t around to “chaperone” us. But as I turned, I promptly made eye contact with Ray. Of course. I’d forgotten he was on duty out here.
“Where are you going?” he demanded. Whether he was speaking to me or to Kirion, I wasn’t certain. Either way, I glanced over my shoulder.
“None of your business,” I shot back flatly. Ray took a step in my direction, so I hastily continued, “And don’t follow us. You’re on duty, remember? And for that matter, this doesn’t concern you.”
At this, Ray stopped short, with a look on his face like a puppy who’d just been commanded to stay.
Okay, maybe I was a bit too harsh just now—but after everything he’d put me through? The concern for my health? The gift (yes, I still chose to believe it had come from him)? Why would he do those things for me if I wasn’t his Bondmate? At this point, I was exasperated. Not just with him, but with Kirion, too. I couldn’t tell what either of them were thinking.
I led Kirion out to the courtyard, then turned to face him. “Kirion, do you honestly think I’m your Bondmate?”
“Yes, of course,” he asserted, smiling amicably. “I never said anything until today, but I’ve suspected it ever since we first met.”
“Then what about Sari? You two have grown rather close lately.”
“She’s just a friend. But if it makes you insecure, I’ll stop talking to her.”
“No, there’s no need for that.”
This was so awkward. We were all coworkers, and we needed to maintain a civil relationship at minimum in order to get our work done. Still, I wanted to make my feelings on the matter perfectly clear.
“Kirion, I can’t return your feelings. I understand you see me as your Bondmate, but I don’t love you like that.”
“That’s just because you’re not a Dragonkin... If only you were, you’d feel it, too,” he alleged with sadness coloring his voice and face. It pained me to hurt him, but at the same time, I couldn’t trust that he actually meant what he said.
You see, Kirion was a walking contradiction. While on one hand he seemed like a friendly, extroverted, honest young man...he was also the sort of guy to willfully provoke others and flirt with two women at once. There was clearly more to him than met the eye.
I didn’t believe his statement about the hair ornament, either. If it truly was a gift from him, then why didn’t he simply give it to me directly? That seemed much more in line with his personality. Plus, the attached card had read “For Mayna.” If Kirion had written it, surely he would’ve written “For Miss Mayna” instead.
“I just want to be friends, Kirion,” I implored him.
Unfortunately, it seemed he wasn’t ready to give up on me just yet. He puffed up his chest, his long dark ponytail swaying with the motion, and declared: “That’s not enough for me. I can’t be ‘just friends’ with my Bondmate! So whether you like it or not, I’m going to prove to you that my feelings are real.”
“Kirion...”
I’d had enough of this “Bondmate” crap the first time around. I was sincerely, completely, at a total loss.