Chapter 16

Sixteen

True to their word, Adrien and Azulia created a small room for her that branched off their home. The house was a bit bigger than the other girls’ since they chose to live together. They managed to convince the Fearsome Four to give them the small patch of land to make the houses and built them behind a fence. This was so they could put a spell on the fence so an alarm would be tripped if someone came onto the property. It turned out that Adrien was supplying the lands with potions and small spelled artifacts to people here, so the Four couldn’t really argue or not to give it to her. Azulia came and just brought more business by helping Adrien’s business with her magic.

Their land was off to the side once they reached the soil to the Outcast Lands. The land was considered “barren,” so the Four didn’t think Adrien would be able to do much with it. Azulia fixed the land with her Terrain magic and helped grow ingredients for the potions. After their business grew, it was difficult for anyone to really argue with them about anything they did. If anyone caused an uproar, they just wouldn’t supply them. Kaida was impressed with the fact that they were, obviously, powerful with their magic and also powerful businesswomen.

At least they aren’t letting getting rejected bring them down, she thought to herself as they gave her the tour.

“I’ll build you a bedroom and bathroom on the second floor with us. You’ll just have to share the kitchen and living spaces,” Azulia told her as her magic crackled around her hands.

“Thank you. That sounds perfect.”

As Azulia did her thing, Kaida couldn’t help but wonder how they were able to get off the island so easily. Everything she ever learned about being rejected revolved around being left on the island and no one being able to get off without their mate coming back to reclaim them. Yet, standing before Kaida were four women who had been rejected, and they easily walked off the island like it was nothing.

“I have a question. How did you get off the island? I always heard that you had to stay on the island until the mate who rejected you came back for you, if they ever did.”

Adrien let out a loud HA, “That’s just what the Elders always tell people to tell their children. The island is where you are dropped, but the princes usually come by daily to make sure no one is left there. If you are a Witch, a Dragon that can use their wings, or the right type of Faerie, you can just use your magic to get across. Since Lycans and Vampires don’t have that ability, someone just comes by and helps them off.”

“Why are we told such things? It makes no sense to me right now to create these kinds of lies about this place.”

“Probably to make everyone think about their actions if they’d consider rejecting their mate. Like a ‘if you do this, your mate can possibly die’ kind of thing,” Adrien explained.

“Then you have the whole Outcast thing. So many think that the Outcasts aren’t living a good life, but most people here supply the kingdoms, so they are making bank,” Azulia added.

After her room was created, Kaida crashed onto the bed. Exhaustion kicked in and before she knew it, she fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next day, the girls took Kaida into town. Adrien showed off her store before opening it to the public for the day. Azulia’s shop was next door, and it was not what Kaida expected. The Faerie not only helped Adrien with her potions, but she also owned her own boutique. It turned out that Azulia was related to the Seamstress in Dragaal. Azulia ushered Kaida into her store and promised to give her new clothes now that she was one of them.

“I am one of you guys?”

“Yeah. That’s why we helped you out last night. We were all right there not too long ago. It wasn’t fun when we had to do it on our own. Things got a lot better when we all banded together. Instead of having you struggle, we are gonna make sure you land on your feet.”

Kaida blinked a few times as she processed what was said to her. Not once in her life was she just accepted into a group of friends like this. She always had to start from the ground up, one by one until she created a small group of friends. But not a single one of the “friends” she’d made would ever help her like this. All of them would see it as a weakness that she needed help in any way because of her status within the Hilmir family.

“Thank you.”

Azulia smiled, “Always.”

The Faerie spent some time taking Kaida’s measurements and used them to create some outfits. A couple of them were dresses with dragon scales incorporated into the design. Azulia mentioned it was sometimes a good thing to show what species someone was while here. Kaida asked why that was, and Azulia made a face.

“I know every kingdom has those types of people that look at you a certain way depending on who and what you are. It’s like that here, too. It’s better to have someone know that you shouldn’t be touched or messed with. That’s why, if you noticed, we all have our power on display at all times. It’s exhausting to do it, but it’s for our protection,” Azulia explained.

“What happens if you don’t?”

“Well, it’s not my story to tell, but I know Remy ran into an issue after she got here. Didn’t help that she didn’t remember who or what she was until her wolf came out to protect her. You can ask her for the details if you want.”

The store’s bell rang, signaling that someone had come in. They were in the back of the store where fittings were held, so they couldn’t see who it was that walked in, but Kaida already had an idea of who it was. A familiar tug in her chest made her quickly turn around. Kaida hoped that it wasn’t her heart playing a prank on her, that the person who came in was the one person she wanted to see. When her eyes landed on the person who walked into the store, she wished she could growl.

It was Beckett.

His long hair fell to his shoulders, and his deep green eyes were glued onto her in a heated gaze. Kaida watched him scan her body with his eyes, and it made her feel as though she was naked when she had a mid-hemmed dress on. Beckett omitted a low possessive growl that made Kaida swallow hard as she shifted from foot to foot.

“How may I help you, Prince Beckett?”

Azulia’s voice made Kaida jump and bring her back into focus. Beckett took a step forward but was blocked by an invisible force. When he omitted another low growl, Azulia stepped a little more in front of Kaida as if to block Beckett from view.

“Careful, Prince Beckett. Even if you are royalty, it is a law here that no one can disrupt business on the owner’s property. This is my property. If you came here to threaten me or Kaida in any way, I am legally allowed to intervene in any way I see fit,” Azulia warned.

Kaida marveled at Azulia being calm while threatening Beckett. It didn’t matter that the law gave her the edge here. She just threatened a damn prince.

“Watch it, Faerie. Just because the law states that you have this privilege doesn’t mean I won’t freeze you where you stand.”

“How may I help you, Prince Beckett?” Azulia asked again.

The ice in her tone made Kaida smirk. It was nice seeing Azulia hold her own and not back down.

“I came here for her.”

Kaida’s eyes went wide at his words, “Me? Why?”

Beckett ignored her surprised tone, “I would like to get to know you. You are new to our kingdom, and I wish to welcome you properly.”

Kaida wasn’t sure what to say. She knew only two things about him: he was considered royalty, and he was a dragon. None of the girls went into detail about the princes to give her any kind of edge while being around them. There was no way to know how this would go.

Azulia raised her eyebrows but chose to make a request instead of asking the question clearly plastered on her face. “Can you give her a few minutes? I wasn’t done designing her wardrobe.”

Beckett gave Azulia a nod and walked out of the store. Kaida heard the bell ring when he left, and Azulia went back to working her magic by making clothes. Kaida rubbed her chest as she felt it constrict from Beckett’s absence. She already didn’t like this feeling.

“Do the princes do this with everyone that ends up on the island?”

“Not usually,” Azulia confirmed. Then she thought about that response before correcting herself. “Actually, never. You’re the first I’ve ever seen them make an effort to retrieve and ‘get to know.’”

“Why me? It can’t be just because I’m new if they’ve never done it before. And why do they have to be weird about it? I didn’t even agree to going out with him, but do I really have a choice?”

Azulia looked up through her eyelashes as she hovered around her body to make the clothes. “Do you want to go with him? Between your reaction and the way he looked when he came for you, I am assuming there’s some kind of feeling between you two, but if you don’t want to go, no one said you had to.”

“I don’t know. I just had my heart shattered. I don’t need to go around with new guys just to have it shattered again. I don’t think I can survive it a second time.”

“Who says it will happen again?”

Kaida blinked several times at Azulia. The words that were spoken hung in the air. Kaida didn’t consider that it may not happen again. She had heard of having a second chance mate before, but it was extremely rare. Kaida wasn’t even sure if she had met anyone that was their second chance mate in her life or even heard of one from her parents.

“How do I know this isn’t just the bond with Enzo going rampant? I’m feeling the same things that I felt with him. I’m still feeling the searing pain of the bond being rejected, too. How do I know that this isn’t that?”

“You don’t. That is why it’s worth it.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“It won’t right now, but in time it will.”

After making five more outfits, Azulia told Kaida she was done for the day. There were more ideas she had, but she didn’t want to keep Beckett waiting. Azulia explained that Beckett was the jokester of the princes. He prided himself on being the most lighthearted and the one who liked to laugh. Azulia mentioned that Beckett was ruled by the Tidal element. This meant he could be easier going and go with the flow more than the others. When Kaida asked her why Azulia was telling her this, her answer was not what Kaida expected.

“If any of the princes had asked for me to spend time with them, I’d want it to be Beckett. He is just the better of the four of them and the perfect one to dip your toe in with because of it. If Beckett thinks you are okay, then the others will, too, which will make your life easier while you are here overall.”

“Are you trying to convince me to go?”

“I think you’ll enjoy yourself.”

“Do you think this is a date?”

Azulia scrunched her face, “I’m not sure. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of them on a date with someone, so I really don’t know the answer to that question.”

“Is that the easy way of telling me that they just sleep with women instead of dating?”

“Yeah, I didn’t disguise that very well, did I?”

“No, not at all.”

“They’re princes, Kaida. The princes I grew up around did the same thing. They sleep around and don’t commit to anyone because they will only commit to their Fated Mate. I think it’s an unwritten rule or something. Just go spend time with him. Who cares if this is only your severed bond with Enzo going crazy. At least you can say that you lived regardless of your dating status. You won’t know what life has in store for you if you just wait around until something happens to you.”

Kaida wanted to argue, but no words came to mind. Azulia was right. Now was the time to live.

And the first step is walking around with a Dragon Prince. Hopefully, this time around, he doesn’t break my heart.