Chapter 95: _ Where Are You Taking Me?

Bren cleared her throat, stepping half an inch forward.

Beside her, Miriel let out a tiny, pathetic swoon, clutching both hands against her heart as if she were watching a theatrical romance play unfold on stage. "Oh, gods above... he came because she needed him..."

I shot Miriel a venomous side-eye before turning back to Ajax, keeping my voice hushed so the gossiping, grief-stricken mob wouldn’t catch every syllable. "And what, precisely, made Your Highness think I needed you?"

Ajax smiled. "I will be more than happy to tell you... if you come with me."

A cold spike of fear shot straight through my stomach, instantly freezing the heat on my face.

He wanted me to leave with him? Out into the open courtyard? To where? To some secluded corner of the sovereign grounds where he could activate the bracelet, demand answers about the heartstone, or force me into another one of his royal games?

I glanced sideways. Bren hadn’t uttered a single word, but her entire posture oozed hostility. Her jaw was set, her shoulders squared, and her eyes were pinned on Ajax’s throat. She thoroughly disapproved, and if I gave the signal, I knew she would draw those steel daggers without a second thought for royal treason.

Ajax’s eyes flicked over my shoulder, taking in my two companions.

"Initiate Brenda. Initiate Miriel," Ajax addressing them directly.

Miriel gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. Bren’s eyes narrowed into razor slits. Neither of them had ever been introduced to the Crown Prince. He shouldn’t have known their names—let alone something like Bren’s full name.

"Do you mind if I steal your friend for a short while?" Ajax asked with polite aristocratic courtesy.

Miriel immediately dropped into a clumsy bow, her satchel almost slipping off her shoulder. "Oh! No, Your Highness! Not at all! Please, steal her! Take her! Have fun, Elira!"

"Miriel, shut up," I hissed through my teeth.

Bren, however, didn’t bow. She kept her feet firmly planted on the cobblestones, holding the prince’s gaze. "With respect, Your Highness... how do you know our names? We’ve never had the honor of meeting the Lion Crown Prince."

Ajax let out a chuckle. "You are remarkably sharp, Brenda. I like that about you. A good warrior always keeps her eyes open."

He casually shifted his stance, though he didn’t let go of my wrist.

"You see," Ajax explained, looking down at me with a playful glint, "Elira’s reputation isn’t confined merely to the Dragon wing. After our little dance at the royal ball, her name spread all the way to the Lion Academy. Gathering a small amount of intelligence on the girl who managed to turn the entire royal court upside down wasn’t particularly difficult."

My stomach tightened further. "You’re gathering intelligence on me?"

"I gather intelligence on everything that piques my interest," Ajax corrected, leaning in slightly closer. "And as for why I am doing it... again, I will tell you if you come with me."

"Of course she’ll go!" Miriel squeaked excitedly, stepping up behind me and giving my shoulder a forceful push forward. "Go on, Elira! Don’t keep His Highness waiting! Answers are great! Answers are fantastic!"

I stumbled forward half a pace from Miriel’s nudge. I looked back at Bren.

Bren slowly shook her head and in her eyes, I could see the stern warning flashing. Don’t do it, glitch. It’s a trap.

She was right. It was almost certainly a trap. Ajax seemed like a master chess player, and I was a markless pawn standing on a board full of dragons, wolves, tigers, and fae.

But as I looked down at my left arm, feeling the searing pulse of the bracelet humming against his heartstone, I knew I didn’t have a choice. The bracelet was a leash, and Ajax held the chain.

If I went with him, I might finally find out what this parasitic band was actually doing to me—and why every royal in this godforsaken academy seemed intent on dragging me into their deadly games.

I took a deep breath, met Prince Ajax’s eyes, and deliberately placed my other hand over his.

"Lead the way, Your Highness."

Ajax’s smirk widened into a triumphant grin. He wrapped his fingers securely around mine, turning and leading me straight past the whispering, stunned mob of initiates toward the grounds that led away from the Dragon Academy.

My heart pounded with every step we took away from my friends. I had just survived Master Eldritch’s extortion and Headmistress Maisie’s deadly threats.

Now, I was walking willingly into the lion’s den. Literally. .

I cast a brief, anxious glance over my shoulder. The bustling crowd near the residential fountain was already shrinking into small, colorful dots against the horizon.

As we crossed into the Lion Academy, I glanced at Prince Ajax who looked like he was taking a brisk afternoon stroll through a private family estate, rather than dragging a markless trench rat across restricted territorial lines.

"Where are we actually going, Your Highness? Because if you’re taking me somewhere to quietly execute me for ruining your ball dance, I’d prefer to know now so I can mentally prepare and remind you I warned you I couldn’t dance and you insisted." I asked, keeping my voice low as two Lion scholars passed us, dropping into synchronized bows before casting baffled glares at my faded brown tunic.

Ajax let out a chuckle. "Execute you? Elira, if I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have wasted a hand-kiss in front of fifty gossiping noble heiresses whose hearts are currently shattering into tiny pieces."

"A gesture I’m sure I will pay for in blood the second I step back into the cafeteria," I muttered dryly. "So, where are we going?"

"To my secret spot," Ajax said, tilting his head toward the white-pillared arcade ahead. "It’s where I go when the court chatter becomes entirely too tedious and I need to clear my head. I like it because no one else in this institution has managed to discover it."

I frowned, my eyes narrowing in suspicion. "And where, exactly, is this legendary unmapped sanctuary?"

"Outside the academy gates," Ajax replied, as if he had just suggested grabbing a cup of golden tea from the lounge.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

My brain stalled, processed the words, and immediately sounded every alarm bell I possessed. I turned on my heel, taking two brisk steps back toward the Dragon Academy border.

He was taking me out of the academies? As in, into the realm?!