Jora stomped down the hallway towards the room she was currently occupying.
"How dare he choose that wretched human girl over me!" She snarled as she flung the door open and slammed it behind her with a satisfying bang.
As Jora settled herself at her dressing table she got to work fixing the chips in her nails. If she had hit her target her perfect manicure would have still been perfect, but Sorin just had to intervene and protect the weak little mouse.
She however did not want to see the rage that would have erupted from him if she had hit her mark.
Jora's heart thumped in her chest as she could still feel his power clinging to her skin.
She had never felt the anger and power that eminated from his dragon before. It was speechless overwhelming that her own beast begged to submit to him.
Well that was something she would never do. Jora thought with a sneer. She then turned her attention to the mirror and put on her most dazzling court smile as she brushed through her long thick silver locks.
She didn't really have anything to worry about. The queen kept a tight leash on her son and it was her declaration that he was to marry her. Jora laughed in amusement, her silvery voice filling the room.
"You are mine Sorin, and soon you will realize that there is nothing you can do to change it."
As Jora readied herself for bed she plotted and schemed. The girl was only human, and once she was taken out of the picture Sorin would come to his senses. She however could not do it herself, it would be too obvious. She then remembered that Sorin had quite a few human maids that serviced his rooms of the royal wing.
Humans were quite easy to manipulate, their greed for wealth and power was so great that it could put the strongest of dragons to shame. A promise of freedom and a generous payment would be all it would take to get a human to kill the girl for her.
Jora however couldn't just give the chosen human any tool for the job. It had to be something that could not be traced back to her or her family. Something that would send Sorin a message. Something that could even break his spirit and make him easier to handle.
Yes, Jora thought. She knew exactly what to use. The hard part would be to gain access to Sorin's own weapons and make sure he didn't know if one of them went missing.
She just needed to find out who had access to his weapons room and if any of them could be persuaded to do a small task for her.
With a plan in place Jora settled in the soft bed abd wrapped the luxurious blankets around her. She would begin to gather information tomorrow after she had afternoon tea with the Queen in the garden.
Jora's eye fluttered shut and she drifted off into a deep relaxing sleep as her last thoughts were about her wedding and goal of finally becoming a dragon queen.
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After a few hours of looking through a mountain of books, both Sorin and Evelyn had made their choices.
Evelyn found a book series about a wolf beastman that solved mysteries, and a couple of romance books that made her cheeks grow warm when she skimmed through the pages. She clutched the books to her chest as she wandered back to the library door to wait for Sorin.
After a few minutes she saw him walking towards her with what looked like a stack of old leather bound journals.
"It looks like you found something that interests you." Sorin smiled at her as he shifted the books in his arms and opened the door for her.
Evelyn looked at the journals curiously.
"That doesn't look like normal reading material." She commented.
"I am hoping these journals hold the information I need about what is happening between us." Sorin answered somewhat cryptically. He did not want anyone to find out about the bond between them until he had more information.
They walked the quiet halls together only passing a couple of the late night cleaning staff on their way back to their rooms.
Sorin was lost in thought as he walked. He was worried that Jora might try something to harm or remove Evelyn from the estate. He had her placed in the room beside his in case of this very issue but now he wondered if that would be enough.
Would it be too bold of him to ask Evelyn to spend the night in his room? He would not share the bed with her of course. He was quite content sleeping on the couches to make sure no one unwelcome came through the door in the middle of the night.
With his mind made up he glanced over at Evelyn who also seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.
"Evelyn..." He began as he savored her name on his tongue. "After what happened in the library I would feel better if you stayed in my room tonight."
Evelyn's face turned a deep shade of red as she processed what Sorin had just said.
"But...." she started to protest.
"Please Evelyn. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you."
Evelyn just nodded as she attempted to calm herself. Her heart felt like it was running laps inside her chest.
Sorin smiled as he opened the door to his chambers and ushered Evelyn inside.
She stood there frozen in the middle of Sorin's room. The scent of shadows and moonlight danced all around her.
The room itself was tastefully decorated like all the other rooms she had seen so far. However it was missing much of the personal touch someone would make to their own room. It seemed like Sorin was as much a guest as everyone else that was residing here. Evelyn thought it was strange that Sorin didn't feel the need to make this space his own but did not voice those thoughts out loud.
She hadn't noticed that Sorin had stepped out of the room until she heard the door open then close with a click behind him.
"I just went to grab some clean clothes and a nightgown from your room." He placed the clothing on his bed for her.
"Feel free to use this room as your own. I will sleep on the couch."
Evelyn was going to argue that she would fit better on the couch and he should sleep in his own bed, but the look he gave her said that was an argument she wasn't going to win. Instead she let out a loud exasperated huff and readied herself for bed.
Once Evelyn was tucked in Sorin's massive bed he settled on the the couch. He had taken one of the lamps from the bedside table and placed it on the small table beside the couch. The crystal inside emitted a soft glow that was just bright enough to let him read without disturbing Evelyn who was now sleeping peacefully on the bed.
Sorin chose one of the journals from the pile and opened its worn cover to show yellowed pages covered in neat script.
This was one of the oldest journals he could find and from what he had read so far it was the journal of a human consort to the Queen of that era.