The Tripartite Mate Bond Chapter 98: CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT

I walked a little bit faster, excited to tell them of the incident and how I successfully took care of those blood poachers. I felt like a child that had learned a new word and needed their parents to know it too

But it was as though they weren't happy to see me but I didn't let that deter me.

“You're here. Thankfully I don't have a wait till tomorrow to see you guys,” I began with electrified nerves but the queen looked me up and down, her face showing she was not pleased at all

“Look at your dress! Where have you been? You couldn't stay one day without getting into trouble?” she asked, her tone getting harsher with each word.

I don't know why I was expecting my supposed father to calm her down so they'd listen to me first because he went off on me, way worse than she had, shocking me to my bones

“This is exactly why we insisted on you staying away from here because you'd never be able to fulfill your responsibilities without power getting into your head. The kingdom needs a level-headed princess, not some emotional rollercoaster so get your acts together!” My supposed father shouted at me, my feet feeling like lead in shock.

My mouth was agape and I couldn't find a word in response as they turned and walked back inside, much to my dismay.

“Come on, Princess. Let's get you out of these burnt clothes and into something comfortable. They'll calm down soon,” Ravena said, sending Tacha away with a wave.

I couldn't understand their distaste for me. I was in a new environment with people who only liked the idea of me without giving me a chance to know them and the people responsible for all my suffering indirectly didn't even feel any ounce of remorse, instead they're trying to make sure I know they do not want to endure my presence.

I followed Ravena back to the room I was given, my heart pounding from the fear of not being able to get the parents I'd wished for.

When I learnt that they were still alive, a small hope grew in my chest, maybe there was a mistake somewhere and they didn't know what I was going through. In fact, I refused to believe Flynn's account of the incident and was hoping they'd explain better but their reaction a few moments ago showed that they only saw me as their princess, not their daughter and I was only here to fulfill a role in their plans, whatever it was.

“I'm sorry for being such a mess, I don't know what the hell I was expecting from people who abandoned me from when I was a child,” I said to her as I wiped my overflowing tears away from my face even though it kept pouring.

“You don't need to apologize for that. Honestly, the entire kingdom is hopeful you'll change things around here because of how harsh they've been over the years. We do understand that it's for our survival and the weight of the crown is heavy on their heads but some things are unnecessary. They should be happy to have you back after missing out on your entire childhood,” she said and I saw the sincerity in her eyes. I've never really had a true friend but something told me I'd just found one in Ravena.

She helped me out of my torn outfit and I got into the bathtub while she went to find me something to eat.

The space gave me time to think. My mind wandered back to my mates and the aching in my chest intensified, making me wish I could just disappear from here and back into their arms again. Also, I was scared of where Lyra’s loyalties lay because I would have wanted her to take me home but what if she was obedient to her mother, the Queen's dragon? I had seen how she allowed them to take me into that event, totally unprepared and just like Ravena’s words, unnecessary. She could have given me a heads up as my own dragon.

All of this just made me realize how alone I was and I had no means of leaving this place.

I heard the door creak open and I quickly got up from the excessively large bathtub and wore my bathrobe, stepping soundlessly to the room.

It was Ravena.

“You scared me. Wow, that's a lot of food. Are we throwing a house party or something?” I joked as I began doing my night routine while she arranged the food on the reading table.

I looked back at an unusually quiet Ravena and she's twisting her arms nervously.

“What is it? Are you in trouble?” I asked, going closer to her but she shook her head before telling me what had her in a twist.

“Um, I'm sorry to inform you of this but you are kind of grounded,” she mumbled.

“I don't think I heard you correctly. What do you mean grounded? Am I a kid?” I bellowed, my temper flaring high in anger.

“I'm so sorry, they insist you're to stay in your room until they are ready to see you and that might be quite a while considering they are going on a tour of our fellow dragon settlements first thing tomorrow morning so they won't be back for another week, so I didn't know what to do to make you feel better about the whole situation so I brought an unnecessary amount of food. I'm sorry,” she rushed out all the information at once, her eyes looking like she was going to cry.

I looked at her like she'd grown two heads.

“That doesn't make any sense, what did I do?” I said a little lower, trying to tone down my harshness. It wasn't the girl's fault and she wasn't one of the girls that were supposed to be my maids.

“They did get the details of what happened back at the bar but it was from Tacha. She kind of left out the part where they were trying to kidnap you and made it look like you'd burnt the bar by accident. I tried explaining further but they just didn't care for that, putting you on immediate lockdown,” she explained and I just couldn't help the anger that spilled from my chest and out of my mouth in harsh words.