Opening her eyes, she squinted at the piercing light and realized she’d left the drapes open when she returned to her room the night before. Shifting her body, she felt gravity starting to pull her to the left, and she immediately snapped awake; someone was in her bed.
“Go back to sleep,” a male voice moaned from her side and she was immediately up and out of bed.
Cold air hit her body and horror dawned on her—she was naked. Her hand had reached out and snatched a pillow to cover her front just as the elf sharing her bed turned to look her way through half-open eyes. Her face flushed, adding to the blood already rushing through her head and nausea set in with the sudden movement. Her stomach began to heave and she had to gulp to force it back down. It burned like hell, but she didn’t care.
Where the hell were her clothes?
“It’s too way too early yet, come back to bed,” the male told her and she recognized him instantly as the guy she’d gone drinking with the night before.
How had they ended up in bed together? Never had she drank so much she couldn’t remember what had happened. Not to mention the fact that until this moment, she’d never been naked with a man before in her life.
Eyes flashing to the floor, she saw no sign of her clothing and only after looking at a nearby bureau did she breathe a sigh of relief to find them piled up on top of them. Inching slowly that way, she kept her eyes on the elf rising to a sitting position in order to watch her, a curious smile upon his face.
He grunted. “What’s the point of the pillow? Not like I didn’t get an eye-full already,” he commented and that was the end of her resistance against flight.
She darted to the bureau, her ass exposed, but her mind beyond caring at the moment, as she went into the bathroom and quickly shut the door on the laughter following after.
Standing in front of the mirror, she looked at her flushed face and her heart beat heavily in her chest. In under a minute, her clothes were back on and though they felt disheveled, they at least covered her up. Now she could go kick this man out of her room without being exposed before him.
Stepping free of the bathroom, she was surprised to see that the man was already dressed and was pulling one of his shoes on. He laughed at the look on her face. “You don’t remember last night at all, do you?”
She shook her head, trying to find the words to ask what had happened, but she couldn’t do anything but grunt. “Uh—,” she ventured, but she went blank on his name. Had she even known it before taking him to bed?
The elf looked at her with a smirk. “You really don’t remember? Not even my name?” By now he was standing and making his way around the bed, coming to a stop right before her, a hand reaching out to caress her arm.
She instinctively jerked away.
Chuckling he retracted his hand and put it on his hip instead. “My name is Morgan, Morgan Longsteel. And as much as I enjoy how uneasy you look right now, I can’t make you go through this any longer. Yes, we were both naked, but that’s because you threw up all over our clothes and we’d set it out for the servants to wash.”
By the Gods, is that the smell coming off her shirt? No wonder it fell tacky. She wanted to reach down and yank it off and had to grit her teeth to keep from following through.
“We slept. Nothing happened—I promise. I wouldn’t take advantage of you in a state like that. If anything like that does happen between us, I want you to remember every moment of it,” he advised her, stepping forward and softly kissing her nose.
It scrunched up in response and he shook his head with laughter.
The relief that flooded through her was glorious and even though he’d seen her naked, now she could look him in the eyes and not feel disgusted with herself. She had never planned on anything like this ever happening, hadn’t even looked at another man in that way unless out of jest. In point of fact, the only naked man she’d ever seen was her new brother-in-law, and she had purposely avoided focusing on his genitalia the best she could.
To think that all it took was some jugs of ale to make all her inhibitions shatter like that was appalling.
He could see that she was still speechless and he nodded his head as if understanding exactly why. “Look, I’m going to the training grounds for a while. I heard that there is a black knight here that thinks she’s the best warrior within the castle walls. I aim to prove her wrong. Your friend’s knighting is probably happening right now and if you want to attend, I’d bathe and get out of those clothes. When you’re done, come find me, I’d enjoy your company in the daylight as much as I did in shadows last night. Until then, Princess Kylee,” he bowed his head, then reached out and grabbed her hand. He brought it up to his lips, planting a kiss on the back with an even wider smile. It was an odd, yet pleasing feeling, and for a moment she entertained the thought of throwing him on the bed and doing what she already thought she’d done the night before.
Barely holding herself back, she simply nodded and smiled.
Laughing, the elf slid out the door and left her standing there flushed, butterflies rippling through her stomach, and in very rank clothing. She peeked out the door long enough to tell a passing aide she needed a female servant to help her, then retreated in the bathroom and instantly slipped out of her clothing, piling them up on the floor by the door.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she took a moment to imagine herself clothed and crowned like her sister had been during Tristan’s knighting ceremony. She just couldn’t see it. One of the stewards came in and a bath was prepared.
Sinking into the warm water, she tried to forget everything that had just happened, but kept coming back to the warmth in his eyes. She was not going to be able to dismiss it that easily. In the privacy of her bathroom and with the steward gone to clean her clothing, she slowly slid her hand down her stomach and closed her eyes, picturing every moment that followed her getting out of bed in exact detail.
III
By the time she reached the Knight’s Hall, Kore was already knighted and standing proudly at the receiving line, his new silver armor well-polished and gleaming in the morning light. Not as many showed as had for Tristan, the lack of support for the King’s choice in inducting Kore into the Knights of the Realm evident by their absence. Still, there were more than enough to still make a rather large gathering and she slipped by in her new armor, her weapons strapped in place, as she pushed to come up behind him.
Erik smiled at her as she took Kore’s arm and showed her support for the honor being bestowed upon him; he deserved it. The orc seemed oblivious to the division in the knights’ ranks and his face was beaming as he embraced each elf with a warmth she hadn’t known possible. He smiled down at her and she couldn’t help but smile back. Merlin had appeared out of nowhere and after congratulating the large warrior, immediately disappeared back into the shadows from whence he came.
Reyna was absent, but that may have had to do with her uneasiness with the knights and their code of valor, with which she obviously considered herself an exception, and was probably at the training grounds dueling Morgan right now.
Even though she fought it, she couldn’t help but feel an urge to rush out there and watch him fight. The way he moved in his armor, the frame of his body, the slender flow of his cheek bones, it all made her uneasy and what she imagined a teenage girl would feel with her first crush. Was that what this was? How did she know? Who could she even ask? Willow was still on her honeymoon and wouldn’t be back until the following day. Could she wait that long without seeing him? As her legs moved her away from the knights and towards the door, she already knew the answer. Her body unwillingly drove her into the hall and towards the training grounds beyond.
She stopped by the kennels on the way and Rourke let her take the Dire wolf pup with her as she headed on to the training grounds with a quickened pace. The pup licked her palms, her mind reaching out for hers. She let the surface of her thoughts welcome the curious pup’s mind and let it mingle with her own. She segregated every
thing that happened earlier that morning, the young mind unable to comprehend what she was going through yet, and not wanting to subject her to the same uneasiness that she was experiencing as she stepped out of the woods and looked upon the training grounds with intense scrutiny.
Morgan had found Reyna, and the two of them were squaring off on the right side of the grounds, several knights watching and taking bets. Morgan wielded a katana in each hand and was a whirl of armor and steel. Reyna parried with her longsword, using her shield to block the other weapon as they drove each other from offensive to defensive positions. Even though the elf was faster and stronger, the black knight was clearly holding her ground, the training she’d been forced to go through as a child making her a formidable opponent.
The pup in her arms whimpered lightly as her eyes followed the frame of his body, admiring the fluidity of his strikes and counterstrikes. She absentmindedly stroked the pup’s head, focusing on one of the ears, and realized that she’d brought the Dire wolf along to act as a buffer should Morgan’s attention be drawn her way.
Trying to think of something else other than the elf, she purposely walked towards the targets used for archery practice nearby, the sounds of conflict so attuned to her ears that even though she wasn’t watching, she knew exactly what blows were being exchanged by who.
She was going to tell the Dire wolf to stay put as she practiced with her new bow but she realized she hadn’t even named her yet. The pup’s eyes were glued to the clouds overhead, her ears perked as she searched the heavens with keen interest.
Skye? The pup looked up at her and she felt a click within her heart. The Dire wolf’s tongue slid out and she looked overjoyed with their new companionship. Skye, I’m going to practice some, I need you to stay by my side, do not wander off, she instructed the pup and got that same loving look back. She knew the pup understood and she hoped nothing caught her attention and made her forget what she’d been told.
Trying to drive the fighting behind her out of her mind, she drew an arrow from her quiver and gently set it in place. Drawing the cord slowly, she tested its feel, and with a long deep breath outward, let it fly. It immediately impaled the target center mast and she couldn’t help but feel pride at the precision of her shot. Drawing faster, she fired multiple shots in succession, her eyes drifting to the next target before her bow even moved to follow. Twenty arrows had streaked out of her hands before she paused and stared at her marks.
Four target dummies had shots through their heart, head, and groin and she heard chuckles from behind as Morgan looked at the groin shots with shock. The other knights who had wandered over were slapping the elf on the shoulder and jeering at him for his slack jawed look.
“Where’s Reyna?” she asked with a smirk, glad that she’d made him uneasy for once.
He couldn’t take his eyes from the target dummies and she drew another arrow, notched it, and let another fly without bothering to look at where it hit. It nailed another one in the groin and he winced visibly with mock anguish.
“She’s taking a break. She’d already knocked these fools on their asses this morning and I was just dessert,” he told her, refusing to look at her just yet.
“Oh, did she kick your ass?” she asked with surprise. She had finally flushed the elf from her mind when she’d started firing
He shook his head, finally looking her in the eye. “We called it a draw. She’s quite a fighter, especially if she can take one of these guys on. They’ve been at this their entire lives and very few can take one of them on one on one.”
“Well, not like she had much choice,” she commented, thinking of the past that Reyna so adequately hid from the world. The black knight neither cared nor wanted sympathy, and would more than likely spit on the first person who offered it.
The other knights were sauntering off, another battle taking place nearby drawing their attention. She left the arrows where they were, not only would they put the testosterone flaring around her in place, but her quiver had already refilled and she didn’t have anywhere to put them anyways.
Scooping up Skye, she noticed that the elf was looking at her Dire wolf curiously and she smiled as the pup licked his outstretched hands.
“Name?” he asked.
You already forgot my name? Oh, right, the wolf pup. “Skye.”
“Hello Skye,” he greeted softly and the pup barked in answer. She began walking back towards the kennels and Morgan took a place by her side. “So, a shrike and a Dire wolf. Looks like you’ve got your hands full already. I must be just driving you crazy distracting you away from them.”
“Yes, you are,” she answered automatically and he burst into a quick laugh.
He bowed his head and spread his arms. “I can always depart, my Lady. If that is your wish, speak it and I’ll be gone.”
She almost told him it was, but her heart ached at the thought of his leaving. She couldn’t explain what was going on and she didn’t know how to contain what Morgan was bringing out in her. “I don’t know what I want yet. I’m taking Skye back to her mother for now. After that, if you want, we can walk and seek out some breakfast. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had time to eat yet.”
“As you wish, my Lady,” he smirked.
“Okay, you can knock that shit off. I’m no lady,” she threw back at him.
He shook his head. “I would tend to disagree. Otherwise the thought of your virtue being tarnished wouldn’t have made you flush so deeply this morning. You are a lady, whether you believe it or not.”
“I—,” she began, but stopped. How could she argue against that? Her mind went blank and she wasn’t sure what to say next.
He remained silent, wisely letting her stew in her confusion, keeping from giving her a crack to slip through and gain her freedom. As she handed Skye over to Rourke, she scratched her behind the ears one last time and whispered goodbye.
“Just because I haven’t been with a man before doesn’t mean that I’m a lady. I just don’t have room for that in my life,” she told Morgan finally, as they began walking towards the palace.
“Why’s that?” he asked curiously and she could feel his eyes running over her again.
She walked awkward for a moment, unable to move beyond the uneasiness that kept creeping up on her. “Why are you so interested in me? There are plenty of other elven women that would probably throw themselves at your feet if you gave them just a moment of your attention.”
“They don’t interest me,” he commented dryly.
“And I do?” she countered, slowing their pace as they entered the gardens. “Why, because you think I’m a princess?”
He chuckled. “You are a princess, but unlike one I’ve ever met before.”
“You should know, I turned down my birth rite. Being with me won’t advance your status or make you a King one day,” she told him, sure that he’d lose interest once he knew there was nothing to gain from it.
“I don’t want money, or power,” he told her softly, pausing a moment to stare up at a large oak tree. “I live for the next challenge. The greater the obstacle the more I want to do it.”
She sighed and diverted her eyes. “So now I’m just another challenge, that it?”
He laughed and shook his head. “I wasn’t talking about you. I’m not actually part of Earhen’s army, you know. I had a mark to turn in while I was in Earhen and heard the army was marching for war, possibly for the last time. How could I not tag along?”
“Mark? Are you a bounty hunter?” she asked, feeling a sudden kinship with the man. Her life had been like that before meeting Merlin, and sometimes she longed to hit the road and be on her own again.
“I am what the moment makes me,” he answered her with a grin. “I take the odd contract to get by, otherwise I’m just on the road, living life from one day to the next.”
She nodded, understanding completely.
He leaned forward. “That is why I like you; you get it. I don’t have to be judged or try to e
xplain what I’m trying to say. You understood in an instant what I’m talking about.”
“I’m not sure I can give you what you’re looking for,” she replied. She wasn’t even sure what she was feeling at the moment, it was all new and confusing to her.
“For right now, let’s just take it as it comes, worry about the rest later,” he suggested and she reluctantly gave in, what else was there for her to do? She couldn’t stop thinking about him and whether they were together or not, she’d still be dealing with these conflicting emotions.
Aides began streaming for the palace, drawing their attention.
“What’s up?” Morgan asked as one of them ran past.
The aide turned around and hollered, “Scouts have returned, the horde is within a day’s march of the castle!”
“Well, on that note. Still interested in keeping your virtue intact?” he asked with a sly grin.
Her eyes were following the aides streaming towards the palace, her thoughts on her pregnant sister out in the woods somewhere. Were they safe? How did they warn them that the moment they feared had come at last?
Breaking from her thoughts, she looked at the elf standing at her side; then grinned. “Let’s get through this and then we will talk.”
Morgan broke out into a deep laugh. “You’re on.”
Chapter 14
It has begun
I
Erik greeted Filauria warmly. The politician accepted his hand with a smile and he was glad that she had risen to take Haymdal’s place at the council. She had dark green hair and it was obviously dyed. She was old enough to have as much gray as him, if not more. She wore a light purple tunic with a heavy gold necklace announcing her station around her neck. She had a darker purple skirt, though he knew that she had always been more a tomboy than lady. Her dark brown eyes glanced at the new Seer and he followed her gaze.
He shot an indifferent look in Talaedra’s direction. She was in a full regal gown, whiter than what seemed possible, silver and gold necklaces and bracelets adorning her body. She had fifteen piercings in her ears and a hint of more beneath her tight bodice. Her very light blond hair was pulled into a twist, her long ears angled up and towards the back of her head. Her bright blue eyes took in everything and her smile was too quick; hinting at the snake lurking in the brush. She was younger than her other sisters and her ambitions had only been held in check by Larahredhel. Now that she was gone, there was no one left to rein her in.
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