Restoring balance to the kingdom was no easy task. As Kygo's Naiso I found myself in the center of it all. Day after day, I joined the emperor along with his generals in strategic meetings and planning sessions. Kygo was always careful to ask for my opinions and I gave advice where I thought it was needed. Still, I found the meetings stifling and my thoughts always strayed to Ido.
Ido had avoided me since the day when we released the dragons. I had seen him only once in the passing days when Kygo had ordered his presence before the council. Even then, he had ignored my gaze. When Kygo announced that Ido would be allowed to keep his position as Rat Dragoneye and stay in the palace, Ido's body had tensed in silent anger, but he accepted with the same stoic face that haunted me.
Was he still angry at me? The memory of his impassive face flashed across my mind, causing my heart to clench tightly. I already knew the answer to the question but I refused to believe it.
I wanted to find Ido and speak to him. The desperation clawed at my heart so that I found it difficult to breathe and sleep without his face floating above all other images in my mind.
Yet, with everything that needed to be done, I could not slip away to find him until we had returned to the palace. I had chosen to stay in the Peony Apartment, desiring to return to its familiar halls and Ido, as the Rat Dragoneye, had returned to the Rat Dragonhall despite the damages it had sustained.
It was a hot day, and the meetings had ended early to allow the weary minds of the council to rest, but I did not want rest. The claws around my heart gave a painful squeeze as I made my way towards the Rat Dragonhall, two lanky guards following closely behind me. How I wish they would leave me, but Kygo would not let me go alone.
Ido sat alone under the shade of a tall tree, his eyes closed in peaceful sleep. The claws were clenched so tightly now, I could barely breathe. Ido had kept his hair shorn close and his face shaved, giving him a more youthful look and accentuating his sharp, handsome features. My eyes moved across his thick eyebrows, his long, dark lashes and patrician nose, and rested on his lips. I can still remember the sweet vanilla orange taste of his lips on mine.
The claws tightened, pulling a small gasp from me and I saw a flicker of movement from where Ido sat. He was awake after all.
Gesturing at my guards to leave us, I stepped forward until he was close enough to touch.
"You are still angry at me."
Upon hearing my voice, his eyelids fluttered, but did not open. I stared at the dark lashes, my heart beating painfully against my chest in the anticipation of his voice.
Silence.
A hot anger flared in my chest before I could stop it. I had waited so long to see him, endured so much, and this is what I get.
"What right do you have to be angry with me? What you have lost, I too have lost. The power of the dragons should have never been ours in the first place!"
His eyes snapped open and I found myself staring into their amber depths.
"No, Lady Eona," I bristled at his formality but rejoiced at the sound of his voice. "You are mistaken."
"Mistaken? How am I mistaken? You and I both have nothing now. We no longer have our dragons. I am as powerless as you. I have lost everything, as you have."
"You did not lose everything. You still have your position as a Naiso. You still have the people's respect and admiration and your precious Kygo's love. By the looks of it, if he does not make you his empress soon, I'm a eunuch. What am I compared to you? I have lost my powers, my position… I have lost you." His last words were barely a whisper carried by the wind, but it made my heart swell in protest. Still he continued, "The only thing I haven't seemed to lose is everyone's hate."
I opened my mouth, but the moment of protest of was gone.
Weakly, I stammered, "Kygo is not mines nor is he my precious. I will not be his empress and you are still a dragoneye." And what is Ido to me? Has he truly lost me? I could hear the question running in my mind over and over, but I ignored it.
Ido stared at me, his eyebrows arched in disbelief.
"Do you really believe that I can still be a dragoneye without my powers? Do you think that because your precious Kygo appointed me to stay in this palace, in this desolate hall, it means that he still considers me a dragoneye?" He laughed coldly, "no, Lady Eona. You are too naïve. This is your Kygo's way of keeping watch on me and his way of mocking my powerless position."
"He is not mines! His is not mocking you. He does not desire to keep you a prisoner. None of that is true!" I cried, although a part of me knew that it was.
With a frustrated sigh, Ido leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes.
"I cannot make you believe what you do not wish to believe, Lady Eona. I have no powers over you. Please leave."
I wanted to turn and run as far as I could from the man before me, but a stubborn anger held me to the ground where I stood.
"I am the emperor's Naiso and I shall do as I wish. You cannot tell me when to leave."
Ido's eyes opened once again and fixed themselves on my own with a cold gaze. His voice was bitter as he said, "Then by all means, esteemed Naiso, please stay. I who have no power and no position to argue will be the one to leave."
Pushing himself off the ground, Ido made a show of a grand bow at my feet before he turned and walked away towards his hall.
I stared at his retreating back, feeling confused and miserable. Why did he always make me feel this way? Blinking back hot, angry tears, I turned on my heels and walked the other way.
