"There is no way you're just alright after that!" I shouted at him. He lay in his bed, watching TV and flipping through the channels. He acted as if yesterday never happened at all. 

"I healed. I'm fine."

"You're not fine. Your fucking dad slammed you against the ground and broke your back and you don't even show the slightest bit of anger! Seriously, where is the anger!" 

He sat up and was standing inches away from me before my next breath. His eyes shone gold raging through them.

"What do you what me to do, Charlotte? Would you have me go and yell at him, or maybe even challenge him again? Because that turned out so well the first time... He's the king. Get that in your head. There is nothing either of us can do. He's just trying to train me to be a great king so when I take over, I'm not killed. I don't enjoy failing but it's expected when I have to fight him!"

I took a step back, away from him, creating distance between us. He continued to shout and close the distance I was trying to create. 

"I'm supposed to take the crown over any day now. The minute he makes that decision, I must step up. I get that you haven't made your decision if you will be there with me or not but I have. I'm not going to just walk away from this. I was born to serve and be the king. If you can't handle that, maybe we should just end it here."

"I'm not saying that, Thomas and you know it."

"No, what you're saying is disobeying a crown and possibly hurting him. I won't do it and I suggest you never speak of that aloud again. Now I'm done with this." he turned away from me as I stood there. Part of me had wished I'd never voiced my opinion. I'd known better. That was the king after all. He was right; what would i have him do. Surely he couldn't kill him which left no options. 

"I'm sorry." I whispered. "I just... I've never seen you hurt like that. Imagine how I felt, please... I was helpless and ordered to leave."

"Now you know how it felt the other night when you went to the club." He sneered.

"That's not fair." I snapped back. 

Both of us stayed in silence. Slowly, I sat down in his chair along the window, staring down at my hands. Nothing I could or would say would seem to make a difference to him. I apologize and he twists it. 

"What do you want me to say?" I whispered, avoiding eye contact with him. The silence continued, both of us not knowing really what to say. "I don't want to see you hurt... I understand you were training me both because you think I need to learn defensive skills but also because of your father ordering it. I should have taken it more seriously and I'm sorry."

"Did you really learn all of that just from watching Michael and I train over the years?" 

I looked up to meet his eyes. This was a legit question. No throwing words at me this time; it was genuine. 

"Yeah, when we were little, I'd run off in the forest and imagine training with one of you. I'd use tree branches and sticks to fight. My guardians would always yell at me for being out there alone, until I started lying to them saying you were with me or I was on the royal grounds."

He started to laugh. 

"I can only imagine a little Charlie, all on her own, swinging a stick at the air. People passing by must have thought you couldn't kill a bug or something." he laughed more at his own joke as I rolled my eyes at him. 

"Hey now, this little Charlie here managed to get a couple good hits on you and knock you off balance!" 

"Yes, yes, I'll give you that. I never expected that you would know anything about fighting. That was my mistake. It won't happen again." he patted the bed next to him. Slowly I got up and laid down next to him. My head rested on his chest while his arm rested against my back keeping me close. This was us. This was the normal relationship I was used to. These past couple of days were so strange. Sure, we fought but not to this extent of screaming at each other. 

"So I had a meeting with the council today." he spoke up after an hour of us laying there watching TV. "We are having the welcome Kairos ball here this year."

Immediately I sat up, looking directly at him.

"Yes, that means if you would like to come, you're allowed to this year. You're finally of age." 

At that moment, I wanted to start jumping up and down. This ball had been held every two years for generations. Only those who were 21 and up were allowed to attend. Two years ago, when I was able to attend, I wasn't one of those chosen to travel to the other sector. Mostly people who had decided to move or relocate got first chance to attend as to see their new home and meet their king. The rest of the people who were allowed to attend out of their own sector were picked by the king himself. 

Obviously, this ball wasn't just for fun and dancing, it was much more than that. The kings of each sector and their top councils would attend and talk about each sector's problems. Whether that was hunters, wolves, or humans, they'd come up with a solution. The ball was the welcoming  of their arrival. 

Seeing that this year it would be here, this meant I could finally attend! I was so thrilled and excited. 

"When is the date?" 

"In a week. You'll have to take Sutton and Michael to go find you a dress. I"m sure he'll be thrilled to go to that with the two of you." 

I dived down against him, hugging him tightly. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I stood up and looked at my watch. "Wait, I have a week to find a dress? Are you kidding me? Do you even know how long it takes a girl to find a dress?" 

He smiled, watching me type on my phone. My fingers couldn't text Sutton fast enough. She would be the only person to know what stores to go to. I'd never been in the human area before. Going there was dangerous due to the fact you could run into hunters. There was even the possibility of smelling the real human blood and hurting or killing someone. A scene like that wouldn't be good for anyone. Since I'd always been afraid of doing something like that, I'd avoided it. Not even I knew what reaction I'd have if a smelled a drop of human blood.

"Sutton says we can go tomorrow. Can you let Michael know so he can drive us?"

Thomas closed his eyes, rested his head back, and muttered a 'yes' back to me.

"Alright, I'm going to go home and prepare. This is so exciting!" I shouted, running out of the room.