It looked very much like the bedroom he himself lived in.They’d been guestrooms initially, so there wasn’t much of a personality to them, but there didn’t need to be.It wasn’t like he and Graham were here to stay, or at least, they hadn’t been supposed to be here to stay.Maybe that was going to change, although from the looks of it, Graham still hadn’t unpacked his stuff.He’d brought the boxes in, but they were stacked against the wall by the door as if ready to be snuck out again.
Emory put the tray down on the dresser and turned to look at Graham.“Why?”
“Why not?Why should I stay?”
“Because I don’t think you have anywhere else to go,” Emory said honestly.
Graham winced.“That’s true.I was desperate enough to accept the mages help, but I shouldn’t have.”
“I don’t see why not.They wouldn’t have offered to help if they didn’t believe you deserve it.”
“We both know that’s not true.At least a few of them would offer help even Carlyle.”
Emory wouldn’t go that far, but Graham was kind of right.“They don’t want you to leave, though.”
“Tyne does.”
“He’s just one guy, and he’s kind of an asshole.Didn’t you notice the way he treated Meyer before things got better between them?Do you really care about what a man like that thinks?”
“What anyone thinks doesn’t matter.This isn’t my place.I’m not a mage or a dragon.”
“You’re not the only human who lives here, and don’t say that the others are being paid to stick around.Not all of them are, and they’d stay even if they weren’t.”
“But they have a reason to be here.Matthias is Parker’s best friend.I’m everyone’s enemy.”
Emory snorted.“No offense, but you’re not really an enemy.And yes, I know that Tyne would say otherwise and that you worked with Carlyle, but that doesn’t make you an enemy.It makes you foolish and too trusting, but I really don’t think you’re a bad person deep down, and you shouldn’t act like everyone believes that you are.You’ve been offered this chance.Take it and ignore what anyone thinks of it.Especially ignore what Tyne thinks of it.He’s a dick.”
Graham shook his head.“But people are uncomfortable with my presence here.I was trying to make things easier for everyone, including you.”He hesitated.“I don’t want to remind you of Carlyle.I don’t want you to think of him every time you see me.I know I’ll always be associated with him in your mind, and I don’t like it, but I understand.”
“I didn’t ask you to leave.Hell, I didn’t even ask you to leave me alone.”He’d told Tyne that he wasn’t planning on becoming Graham’s best friend, and he wasn’t, but at the same time, that didn’t mean he wanted the man to leave.“Look, I don’t know much about your life before Carlyle and all of this mess happened, so maybe I’m wrong, but to me, it feels like you’re always doing things for everyone else.You stayed with Carlyle for your brother.You’re leaving here because you think it’s what me and the other mages and dragons want.What doyouwant?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
It was sad, really.It felt like Graham truly believed that he didn’t matter, and Emory wanted him to realize that wasn’t the case.“It does.You matter, Graham.I don’t associate you with Carlyle.I don’t think of him every time I look at you.I realize that things have been awkward between us, but I know that you have nothing to do with what Carlyle did.I’m not going to hold his actions against you.I’m not going to be afraid that you’re going to be like him.”Emory already knew that Graham wasn’t.For one, he was human.He wouldn’t be able to steal Emory’s dragon.He didn’t have the magic to do it.
But also, Carlyle had never been as caring with Emory as Graham had been when Emory had been wounded.He’d kept checking in on him, even days after the fight.It was like he wanted to reassure himself that Emory was okay, like he cared about him.
Maybe this made him a foolish man, but Emory didn’t want to lose that.
* * * *
GRAHAM HAD NO IDEAwhat was going on.He didn’t know why Emory was in his room with food.He didn’t understand what was going through Emory’s mind, but he wished he did.
He wouldn’t say the man had been avoiding him, but he also hadn’t gone out of his way to be friendly to him, and Graham had understood.Why would he, considering everything that had happened and everything Graham had done?
But he’d just told Graham that he didn’t associate him with Carlyle.He didn’t hate him.He didn’t blame him for most of what had happened.
What had changed?Was it just because Graham had helped Emory a second time yesterday?And why was Emory so focused on the fact that Graham had been leaving?Even though he seemed sincere when he said that he didn’t think of Carlyle when he looked at Graham, Graham had a hard time believing that he’d want him to stay.Why should he?They weren’t friends, and no matter what Emory said, Carlyle would always hang between them.That was why Graham had expected Emory to hate him.
He didn’t.In fact, it seemed like the opposite.He cared way too much for someone who shouldn’t.
“I’m not like Carlyle, and I don’t want to be,” he said.“But I also don’t think that I belong here.I wanted to show all of you that I’m nothing like Carlyle and that I could do something good, but I don’t know if that’s possible, and even if it is, what use would it be?”He hesitated.He didn’t want Emory to know he’d been eavesdropping, but maybe he’d understand better.“I heard you and Tyne talking in the gym yesterday.I wasn’t spying on you.I was just walking past.”
Emory grimaced.“Is that the reason you decided to leave?The conversation you heard?”
“I already knew I didn’t belong here.Hearing the two of you talk about me just confirmed that.I’m not angry.”He was hurt, but he understood.Frankly, the mages and their dragons had already given him too much.Most people wouldn’t have let him inside the castle, let alone allowed him to stay here for as long as he had.
Emory raked a hand through his hair.“Okay, look.Tyne is his own person, and he’s a little weird.I wouldn’t be offended by anything he says.As for me, well, I was talking to Tyne.It was awkward.I don’t think he likes me any more than he likes you, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he wants both of us out of the castle, but I’m not going to give him the satisfaction.He’s not in the majority here.In fact, he’s in the minority.The other mages seem happy enough to have you here, as do the dragons, including Tyne’s dragon.He told me a bit about what happened to him, so I understand better why he’s as bitter as he is, but I don’t get why he takes it out on people.What he thinks doesn’t matter.You and I have every right to be here, and unless you actuallywantto leave, I think you should stay.”