Chapter 0252 “Interesting.”
“Excuse me, your highnesses. I wonder If i could have a word with Miss Skylar here about some of her suggestions today. I was truly fascinated by your ideas young lady.” A grizzled but kind looking old man says to me. As innocent as he looks though, Xander’s warning is making alarms blare in my head. This is what he was talking about and they are not wasting time trying to separate us.
I look to Xander to see what! should do. I don’t want to openly offend anyone, but !I also do not want to go anywhere with this guy alone. He’s not an Alpha, I can smell that much. So he must be one of the Elders. He looks battle worn and almost tired. His frame is still large and imposing, but I can see that he hasn’t trained in years and the atrophy in his muscles is very evident. His wrinkles hide a myriad of scars, meaning he must have been a great warrior at some time.
Xander gives a slight nod, letting me know it’s okay, but he doesn’t let go of my arm when the Elder starts to turn and move away. We follow behind.
“I thought we could take a walk on the veranda, it’s such a lovely evening.” He makes his way to the door that leads out onto the balcony that sits behind the ballroom. He finally looks back at us when he pulls the door open”
Oh!
Prince Xander, I hadn’t noticed you joined us. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’m sure you have other important matters to discuss with the other Alphas and Elders, I can watch over Miss Skylar, if you have somewhere else you are needed.” I didn’t miss the dismissal in his voice, even though he made it as polite as possible towards his future king.
“Where I need to be is right next to Skylar, and I always like hearing her talk about battle strategy and training. It’s something we have bonded over actually. She’s quite the warrior, so she really doesn’t need anyone watching over her.”
“I’m sure for a she-wolf she is very accomplished.” I saw red at that comment, but Xander squeezed my hip to help keep me calm. I wanted nothing more than to punch this old bastard in the nose. “There is always a place for females to help protect children and tend to the wounded on the battlefield.”
I clenched my jaw so tight, I’m surprised I didn’t crack any teeth.
“Actually, Skylar goes head to head with male and female warriors. As a trainee in the Elite Warrior program she is top in her class over both male and female, they don’t divide.
She also beat most of the trainers during her trials. She even took me down, and I was trying.” Xander looked at me and we both laughed. I’m surprised he admitted that.
“Elite training, how are you in Elite training, you are not even age eligible yet.” He let his nice old man facade slip just a little.
“Warrior Osiston and Alpha Reggie decided that I should join now, so I did.” I shrug my shoulders like the answer should be that simple.
“But all recruits are approved by the Elder committee, how did you get past that”
“I’m sure my father, the Alpha King, does not have to explain all of his decisions to you Bastian. The King does what is necessary for his kingdom. The Elders are an advisory committee when he needs a sounding board for larger problems.” The look that Xander is giving Bastian is one that speaks volumes, more than words could ever convey. He is treading on thin ice trying to insinuate that the Elder committee has more power than the king and that he needs to get approval for his decisions is a dangerous move.
