I snapped my head up, gaping at Allen in an as dignified as possible manner. Oh… were heads going to roll. I was a little angry at Aoba, for revealing that I was "found", and my only comforts were that she was my only little sister – therefore I couldn't kill her, and that she hadn't revealed exactly who Kanda Yuu was.
"Ryuou… Excuse us for a moment, Walker," I said. Catching on, Aoba stood up to follow after me into the hallway.
Her calm, mature face broke into a face filled with nervousness, unsure. "What do you think of his plan, Brother?"
"I don't like the thought of being married off to anyone," I said frankly, "but one of the best ways to end a war is to marry those of the opposing parties to each other."
"So are you willing?"
"It's better than a little girl getting married off to some pedophile," I said. Speaking of cousins, I hadn't really met too much of Allen's family, unless you could Linali and her manic, scientific brother. Linali was alright (I don't want to marry her, mostly because I didn't know her too well, and her older brother threatened anybody that did anything remotely close to courting her and the likes), but Komui was a terror (there was no way that I wanted to marry him, and there was also the fact that he was more than a decade older than me). I shuddered.
She looked at me in concern. "Are you cold?" I waved my clawed hand dismissively.
"I'm alright." Her eyes narrowed. A blur of a hand shot forward, clutching my hand tightly as she inspected. Curses. She always was an attentive girl.
"Your hands are losing your calluses," she mumbled as her eyes raked over my hand. "So you're not a guard or anything like that…There are tiny little cuts, liked you've been doing menial work…" She looked up at me. "You're hiding something from me," she accused, "but if you don't want to tell me, I won't mention it again." Fortunately, she was understanding – she won't mention it again because I always end up blabbing it all out to her. Yes, I'm a softie sometimes; it's not something I'm particularly proud of.
"Do you think we should agree?" she said, switching to a different subject.
"If you think it'll do some good. I'm not the king right now," I stated.
"Who said I want to be king anyway?" she shot back.
"Mou," I said foully, "Just shut up…"
"Fine," she snapped. Silence fell upon us, and she sighed, offering a tiny, if not joyful, smile. "How long will you be staying?"
"We won't be leaving tomorrow morning if that's what you mean." It was close to the time where today would die, bleeding into tomorrow, and I didn't plan on hiking back several miles to the Phoenix's Tower with my aching feet. Pleased, she smiled again.
"We shouldn't keep Walker waiting," she said, preparing to go back inside.
"You, not we," I corrected. She shrugged, and I stayed behind. I could hear her making plans with Allen as I stared out of the stained glass window. Moonlight streamed in, tainted as it was filtered through the reds, blues, oranges, greens, and yellows. It was peaceful. I sank onto the warm wooden floor, the weight of my eyelids pulling down over my eyes as I closed them.
Being back here in draconian clothes, back in my home (even if I was rooms and hallways away from my chamber), I could finally sleep with ease.
-----
My eyes fluttered for a few moments before I reluctantly opened them. They shot open, and I sat up in astonishment, wondering how I was in my room. Aoba might've called someone to take me up here, but that was unlikely, seeing as how I requested that she didn't disclose my identity to anyone here. Not that I was complaining, mind you. I hadn't been in a bed as soft as this for awhile.
I pulled the covers over my shoulders as I snuggled back into the comfort of my bed, knowing that this was my room. The door opened. I opened one my eyes to a slit, peering out to see who was entering my room. "Walker? What are you doing in here?" He grinned sheepishly, laughing nervously.
"Sorry," he apologized with his warm smile. I thought it was annoying how much he smiled when there really wasn't much to smile for, but I didn't comment on it. "I couldn't sleep too well so I decided to look around, but I ended up getting nearly killed by some of the dragons around." He looked puzzled. "I keep ending up back here every time I'm lost." He chuckled. "At least now you know where you'd need to find me if I'm not around." I rolled my eyes.
"And why would I ever look for you?" I scoffed. His smile faded into a smaller version of its former glory.
"I suppose that's also true." I heard a soft ringing of hollowness in his words, but chose to ignore it. He sat on the edge of my bed, his back facing me, and he faced the window, staring out where the sun hung in the sky, shining brightly. "Perhaps I shouldn't have come." If you didn't come, I certainly wouldn't have. Of course, I kept this to myself. "I mean, I don't even know what to do next," he said miserably. Why was he telling me this? I didn't want to listen. But he rambled on anyway, and my thoughts clearly didn't reach him. "I… I really have no idea how to bring these two races together," he confessed softly. Neither did I know.
"You're attempting to make step one," I said. "Trying to bring the two royal households together."
"Yeah." He lied down next to me. I shuffled over to avoid contact with him. "Do you'll think it'll work?"
"Perhaps." I had no intention of tying the knot with anyone I barely knew, though. Dragons didn't believe in arranged marriage. I wasn't sure if it was that way with phoenixes. Then again, I thought,I am a draconian and phoenix hybrid.
I stiffened a little as Allen nudged the tip of his nose against my neck. How did he manage to get so close to me without me noticing? "Hey, Kanna," he murmured drowsily. "You smell kind of funny…" He yawned. "…but a nice kind of funny." He grinned lazily, his eyes half-lidded. "You smell a bit like a phoenix." I was silent as he fell asleep, his light, soft snoring countering against the silence.
