“Planning to take this seriously, then? That’s going to be exhausting.”
“I’ve got an... active mind. I think I can handle it.” He’s confident in his ability. But something about active mind catches me as just a little off.
“How tightly were you instructed to hold the leash?” Most of my guards ignore or deflect my questions to a higher authority. I wonder if he’ll tell me to ask my parents. I know what they’ll tell me already: whatever it takes to keep me safe. As if the world we live in is full of dangers ready to snap up a First Daughter and eat her for dinner.
“I was told to keep you safe. I was reminded that I am to keep my hands to myself and maintain a professional distance. And I was told that you will be resentful of my presence.” He raises his eyebrows questioningly at me.
So I answer the questions. "Unnecessary. Obviously. And true.”
“Really?” I start to see that… active mind spinning.
“To which part?”
“Whichever part you’d like to answer.”
I sigh. “Do you feel unsafe in the Inner Ring, Shield Evren? Are you glancing over your shoulder when you walk at night? Is there evidence that harm is imminent?”
He tilts his head. “I think… the things that are dangerous to me… are not the same things that are dangerous for you, First Daughter Kalia.”
My jaw feels tight. My shoulders, too. I close my eyes and wish for the thousandth time that my Discernment worked on myself like it does on others. I feel angry, but I know I shouldn’t. My parents want me safe. This Shield wants me safe. I, technically, want me safe.
“Are you my Shield? Or my parents’ spy?” I finally ask, and I can’t hold back the bitterness in my voice.
“You seem like a smart girl. You tell me.”
“A little of both?” I guess.
“That’s probably fair. But it doesn’t need to be true. Don’t give me anything to report.”
I roll my eyes. “Did they finally hire someone my age because they thought you could charm me into behaving?”
“That was not a part of the briefing.”
A little malicious compliance. A little “That’s not a part of my job description.”
A little something I wrote to establish lore… with quite a big story to tell.
But this book can never be unless Revenance of Stars comes out.
Unfortunately… Evren and Kalia have entirely different ideas for how I should spend my time.
Excerpt from Falling of Stars
Shieldbound Universe, Prequel
By: Meris Rosewick
Work in Progress
