"Why would King Rian want to be my trainer?" She almost screeched. That was definitely not any of the things she expected.
"I don't know who to ask that. But if you think I should make a guess based on King Rian's personality, I'd say it's because you rejected him as your grandfather."
She crossed her arms. "How petty." She had thought he would give up on the idea since she had rejected him innumerable times. She should have known how childish he could get. "Does he think I will agree to be his granddaughter if he forcefully barges into my life?" She scoffed.
Sinos pulled out his training sword and unsheathed it. "Is there a specific reason why you don't want to be acknowledged as King Rian's granddaughter?"
"I'm not related to him in any way. How can I be his granddaughter?" She looked at him like he was an idiot for asking the obvious.
He stared straight at her meaningfully, letting her know that he didn't believe any of her crap. That was not her only reason. If it were, she wouldn't want anything to do with Bardumond either.
She knew what was on his mind but didn't intend to explain her true reason. Although she no longer had Catalyah's memories playing out in her mind like her own, she could still clearly recall the latter's feelings for other deities. While she was related to King Rian and had even taken his name as her second name, she felt a chill every time she was close to him. She didn't trust him.
She was yet to find out why Catalyah would have little trust in her grandfather so it was not her place to blurt it out even though Sinos had proven to be a loyal god. "I just don't want to, okay?" She dismissed Sinos who was still looking at her.
"Well, then I hate to be the one breaking it to you. King Rian will be here in an instant."
"But today's training…" She massaged her temples, not able to come up with a good excuse on her toes. Anything to keep her away from that god.
Her wish was rendered useless when King Rian materialized into the training room without prior notice. She had to stop herself when she was just about to give a mean remark about King Rian.
"Good morning, King Rian." Sinos greeted him with a bow while Jasmine pretended not to notice him for a while. When their gazes met, she bowed in greeting but wanted to gnash her teeth in anger. Why did she have to do this?
"Sinos, do you mind getting me the manuscript from my castle? You can take it as practising your flight as well." He instructed, and the god flew off without questions.
Jasmine felt her insides turn in panic. Why did he send Sinos away? She knew that even if King Rian were to hurt her, he wouldn't do it any time soon, but that didn't make her any less repulsed by his presence.
"Don't trust him." Came a voice inside her head. It was her own voice and she knew to trust it.
"Why are you here, King Rian?" She forced a smile, stepping as far from him as she could without letting it seem deliberate.
"Sinos must have told you that I'll be responsible for some of the things you need to know." He replaced Sinos at his seat and that felt awkward. Did he really have to go through all the trouble merely for the sake of forcing her to be his apprentice? She wanted to tell him that it was unnecessary, that she would not change her mind no matter what he did.
"It's alright. I can learn the language of the gods by reading books." She gave the most polite excuse she could think of. Why didn't she tell Sinos before that she had already learnt a lot of it? It wasn't too late, right?
He was looking at her so she tried her luck. "I can already read and write in the language of the gods. I can learn to speak it fluently in a few days if Dairon teaches me." She threw in another excuse to get rid of him.
He laughed heartily as though he had heard the funniest joke of the century. "My dear, the language of the gods is not that easy. How can you learn it in just a few, measly days?" He sat cross-legged with his chin rested on his hand, as if waiting to hear whatever else there was to her ridiculous lies.
Standing before him, she felt like a mouse. She hated the contrast. She learnt the language easily because she did it in the realm of sloths and well, she had always found it easy to learn new languages even as a human. Of course, she couldn't say this out aloud. "I'm certain that with Dairon as my trainer, it will be easy as pie."
He looked irritated. "You need to ditch those human realm phrases. Aside from that, I will teach you what I know you need to learn whether or not you think you know it."
"Whatever you think was easy to learn only seemed so because you had Catalyah's memories. A certain god was so kind that he decided to send you on a mission that made it possible for you to inherit my granddaughter's memories." He looked at her meaningfully.
"I don't know what you are talking about." She denied it with a straight face. He was crazy if he thought she was ever going to admit it. She wouldn't put Sinos in trouble even if it killed her.
He looked at her determined expression and shook his head. "Denying it doesn't change the fact that you learnt things you shouldn't. You should know that soul swapping isn't allowed in the realm of immortals. Anything that tampers with the fate of any individual is forbidden in all the realms I know, including the human realm. So, if someone did it away from the realm of immortals, they still went against the rules. Don't you think?"
She maintained a calm expression but her heart was anything but. He knew!
Since he was already aware of it, why was he beating around the bush? What exactly was his motive? She was starting to understand why Catalyah didn't trust her. If he was trustworthy, he would have been trustworthy.
"Don't you have apprentices to take care of, King Rian?" She pushed her luck trying to kick him out.
"I do." He rubbed his stubble. "They all know the rules, which is why you need to know them before you can join them."
That was not what she was going for.
"I already know the rules. And, although it's tempting to be an apprentice of the King, I would like to live a more simple life. My mate and I already know what we want to do for the rest of our lives?"
"Make little fishes and take them for a swim in the Clarepar Sea?" He scoffed out a laugh, making apparent just how much he despised Dairon.
Spite.
She frowned. If he despised Dairon so much, why did he make him run errands for him? From what she had learnt, he had also tried to make Dairon his apprentice several times no matter how he failed. He was up to something and it had nothing to do with wanting a successor.
The thought of a successor reminded her of Scarlet.
There was nothing comprehensible about King Rian.
"Your language classes will start tomorrow, at my castle." He ordered.
That was too soon for her to investigate. She opened her mouth. "About that, I was going to ask for your permission to pay my parents a visit tomorrow. It will be my sister's birthday soon and well… My sister's birthday is coming up soon." She gritted her teeth and hoped he wouldn't investigate. Dahlia's birthday was eight months away. She still rolled with it. "Birthdays are important to humans and I already promised her gifts. She will be disappointed if I don't make it."
He watched as she made the perfect excuse and laughed. "I thought you would simply break the rules and sneak to the human realm each time you are needed there."
"What are you talking about?" She chuckled dryly.
He straightened up to look at her as if that would give him a clearer view. "I know that you snuck to the human realm twice in just four days. Not only that, but you are also keeping contact with those humans when it is against the rules for immortals and mortals to mingle. Don't ask how I knew. A little birdie told me."
'Then I bet the little birdie's name must be Scarlet.' She thought. "I can't believe the little birdies told on me. I should give them more grain when I break the rules next time.." She made a joke out of it but she was on the verge of passing out from nerves. Where was this interrogation leading?