Chapter 68
It was a long walk from the pond and its fish to the guest quarters but Bran took his time, choosing not to take any of the shortcuts he knew.
He nodded to a few people he recognised as he walked over one of the sky bridges that connected the various buildings. They nodded or smiled in return though no one talked to him. It had always been like that. Familiar faces, but no voice or name to go along with them.
He really should have invited Misha along, Bran thought to himself. Even if the little dragon didn’t like Malcolm, he probably would have still like learning about his research or, at the minimum, been able to see more of the manor.
Misha hadn’t been placed in the guest quarters of the manor and was instead stationed in the room beside Bran’s which made Bran wonder just how much his aunt knew about the pair of them. Of course, after his performance at breakfast she knew just how close they were, but she hadn’t when Misha had shown up out of the blue with a ragdoll Bran in tow. Or had she?
When Bran imagined what that scene must have been like, how much effort Misha had gone through to make sure he was okay, going above and beyond what even a good friend would do, it made Bran’s current course of action feel even more right.
He trusted Aunt Yeung and in her ability, but if he went through with her plan to fix the seal on him, then that would mean at least a few years absence on Bran’s part, and he was not willing to do that.
At first it had been because he thought Misha might move on without him, but he no longer worried about that. Now, he was worried that someone, Artemis or Morgan or whoever, might just snatch him away. Yes, he trusted his aunt to protect Misha and he trusted Misha to try to protect himself, but there was no way he was going to go take a nap while there was a very real threat out there.
No, he had to go see Malcolm and find out what he meant by a ’solution’ to the problem. Maybe it would turn out to be nothing, but what if it didn’t? What if he really could fix the seal on Bran without putting him out of commission for years at a time? Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?
Bran came to a stop outside a closed door at the end of the hallway. He knocked.
"Coming," said a voice from within, followed by hasty footsteps. The door opened. "Ah, Bran! Is it lunch already?"
Bran rolled his eyes at Malcolm’s question. "You’ve just eaten breakfast. Give the cooks a rest."