Page 113 of Winds of Ruin
“I’m going to put a bell on that girl,” she grumbled.
The moon had climbed into the sky and now reflected on the shimmering tides that surrounded the city. We dipped low enough now to see lamplight from ships in the distance as they returned to the port. Surprisingly, the ascents and descents didn’t bother my stomach; the levity was exhilarating.
I laughed into the back of El’s hair as Mayra circled lower. “I’m sure she’s fine. Likely caught up in conversation and forgot to come out. It seems she’s been running circles around you all, though.”
An inkling told me that Lark didn’t have an errand to run in the middle of our tour of the realm. I may have woken up two days ago, but I wasn’tbornthen.
My bet was she’d snuck off to talk to the boy. Her husband. My son.
I’d only been with one woman other than Sybilla.
And she had died that day in the amphitheater.
Hadn’t she?
If what Ryn had said before I woke rang true, then the boy’s life had been gifted by the Sources themselves. The mounting anxiety over how to share that with Elsedora formed a knot in my gut. How could I admit I’d conceived a child with the woman who had betrayed Else’s brother centuries ago?
“She may be retribution for my independent streak as a younger immortal. Krait used to have every pub owner in Sahlmsara trained to alert him if I caused any disturbance. He eventually gave up.”
“Doesn’t surprise me a bit,” I said. “Don’t you miss getting up to that trouble?”
“Sometimes,” she hummed out. “At eighteen, the settlement in Sahlmsara was new. I missed out on a lot. I didn’t have the option of being young and carefree then. Survival took precedence until I felt safe enough to enjoy anything. Then the little enjoyable things became an escape. An excess that I could justify.”
Her tone had turned wistful, and I longed to see her expression as we drew near the ground.
Mayra landed hard, jarring my balance. El grabbed my wrist and steadied me, accidentally moving my hand across one of her breasts. I pulled it away like I’d touched hot coals.
“Sorry!” I exclaimed.
She chuckled and threw back a mumbled, “Sure, you are.”
She was right. I dreaded getting off the Griffith—it meant giving up her nearness, her warmth, her touch.
Mayra halted at the gate, shaking out her feathers. As the night breeze pulled at Elsedora’s hair, the soft scent of plum blossom tickled my nose.Mmm.Intoxicating.
“While cuddling up to you isn’t unpleasant, I’m ready whenever you are to dismount,” Elsedora teased and broke my train of thought. I’d laced my fingers through hers so absentmindedly, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
“Right,” I answered and released her before leaning forward just enough to hook my knee over the beast’s rump and slide to the ground. Once there, I lifted a hand to help El down.
“Those courtly manners will woo many ladies,” Else said as she grasped my fingers. “You going to kiss my hand, too?”
My cheeks heated. The chances of making Elsedora swoon were unlikely. “What if I did?”
Elsedora swung her opposite leg over to dismount, facing me. She slipped down and her boots hit the cobblestone, but her eyes never left mine, staring expectantly and with a hint of interest and challenge.
Unlikely but maybe not null.
I bent forward, intending to brush a kiss over her knuckles.
Before my lips reached her skin, limestone ground apart and metal clattered. The stone gates of Eros Palace opened for us.
Armored guards greeted us on the other side, and El gently pulled her hand away as a groom approached.
“You can unsaddle her and let her roam,” she instructed. “She’ll enjoy fishing the sea. Thank you.” The young man nodded as he took the rope to Mayra’s harness.
Elsedora gave her mount a scratch on the neck. “Menace, you be good, and listen for the whistle.”
A guard with war metals on his golden armor approached and greeted Elsedora by name. He held onto her hand too intimately and leaned down to whisper something to her.
