Page 39 of Pawns of Salistya

She waved off my apology. ‘No need, I like men and women equally. I just happened to become overly … infatuated with this woman and Xylan decided to help, ah, speed it along.’

‘Well, I’d say you’ve got a rather supportive brother then,’ I smiled, going with the glass-half-full approach.

‘Did you hear that, Orla? I’m asupportivebrother,’ he teased with glee.

‘Please, you wanted to fuck the wildness out of that girl.’

Again, the jealously stirred within me, which is probably not healthy.

Xylan merely shrugged, not disagreeing with her. ‘Every pubescent boy goes through it. I’m sure Valare knows all about that,’ he threw me a wink.

I kept my face straight as possible, replying, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Please, a woman with your looks? You were probably fending them off every day.’

He has the hots for you.Mer’s voice rang in my head.

My face turned the same shade of red as Orlandia’s had been. It was time to change the subject. I launched into the spiel about Arlom.

‘So, this is the start of rural Arlom. As you know, it’s about a day’s ride north to the Pass. The surroundings throughout the rest of the Kingdom are as luscious as this. Bar the villages you stumble into along the way, our landscape remains much the same make up as this. Once you’re within a kilometre or so of the coastline, there’s naturally a lot more sand and less vegetation. My favourite time to be by the coast is when the humid winds blow in from the Isles.’

My change of subject wasn’t my smoothest move and when I shot a look at the twins they were both staring at me, lips quivering as they held back laughter. ‘What?’

‘You really don’t know how to take a compliment, do you?’ Orlandia commented.

‘Well, I don’t think there was a correct response to that. I’m a married woman. Letting him flirt like that is inappropriate. Plus, I was told to take you on a tour. Explaining the Kingdom’s surroundings is a part of the tour,’ I replied, flustered.

‘I’d like to point out that I was merely stating a fact. If you took it as flirting, that’s on you,’ Xylan said. My face flushed again at his reply.

Orlandia glared at Xylan. ‘You don’t have to pretend with us, Valare.’ Her voice had turned gentle when she spoke to me.

‘Pretend what?’ What are these two talking about?

‘We know it wasn’t your choice to marry Eliasson. Pretending to be loyal to him isn’t necessary in our presence.’

Wow, that was a bold statement, even if it was true. I noticed Xylan had remained silent, his eyes intent on watching my every move.

‘No, it wasn’t my choice. However, he’s a good man and an excellent ruler. He cares about his people and his people care about him.’ Why did I feel like I was being overly defensive of myself? Of Eliasson?

‘He’s a good man, sure, but that doesn’t mean you need to pretend that it’s anything more than a good friendship,’ she probed.

I wasn’t sure what she was playing at, but I wasn’t going to bite. Not when I’d known them for less than twenty-four hours. Maybe taking them on this tour was a bad idea.

‘I tell you what. There’s a waterfall with a swimming hole nearby that I can show you to cool off. If both of you can agree to drop this discussion, I’ll lead you there. Deal?’ I levelled them with a stare that told them to back off.

Xylan cocked his head to the side as he continued his intense assessment of me. He read my message loud and clear and agreed, ‘Deal’.

With that, I hurriedly packed up the picnic blanket, thankful for the distraction.

When we arrived at the pool, Orlandia said – rather pointedly, I might add – that she wanted to explore the landscape, while Xylan stripped off. She hurried away before I could insist on her staying. As much as it was fantastic to see Xylan in only his briefs, I didn’t trust myself without a third party nearby.

‘What’s taking you so long?’ he shouted, having already submerged himself in the water.

I paused before I could start to strip. He picked up on my hesitation.

‘Would you prefer I looked away?’ he said. His tone may have been gentle, but his face told a different story. He was challenging me. And what was I going to do? Look weak in front of him? No way.

I held my head high as I took off my pants, folding them neatly on the ground next to his clothes before my top quickly joined the pile. I told myself that a bra and underwear was no different to wearing a bikini at the beach. Women wear nude-coloured bikinis to the beach allthe time in front of guys they shouldn’t find attractive and aren’t their husband.

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