Page 54 of Obsidian Prince

His strong arm on her shoulder guided her out of the crowd of waiting people. They passed through a softly lit restaurant filled with diners and bustling servers. They stopped at a table in the very back next to a window. It looked out onto porch seating that was empty in the chilly evening. The table was cradled in a shallow alcove that isolated it from the rest of the restaurant. No one would be able to see or hear them once they sat down, as if they had dinner entirely alone.

Liliana smiled up at her prince. He’d said he would take care of her.

Alexander managed to look smug, despite his expression remaining virtually unchanged.

"You knew I had trouble with crowds."

"You did mention it, and I saw your difficulty in the hangar."

"Thank you." It was incredibly considerate of him. It probably cost a small fortune to reserve this specific table in such a popular restaurant.

The menu was all in French, which was familiar, but the food was still mostly unfamiliar. She had eaten very simply when she lived in Europe. Circus people didn't have a lot of money to spend on fancy food.

Alexander ordered for them both in French.

The waiter answered in French, asking if they would like any appetizers, and what sort of wine they wanted.

In the same language, Liliana requested the toast with tapenade appetizer. If the other food was too strange or too rich, at least she could eat the bread and olive paste.

"Parlez-vous français? Alexander asked her, surprised.

"Oui. Ma mère m'a appris à parler Français."

"How many languages do you speak?"

"Only eight, fluently." Liliana shrugged. "I know some Russian and Norwegian and a smattering of some other languages, but mostly just the curse words and simple things like 'Hello' and 'Where is the train station?' I'm not fluent, but I know a little Romani. When I was young, I had many Romani friends." Friends long gone.

"Which eight do you speak fluently?"

"As I said, my mother taught me French. She also taught me German and English. I only learned a little of her native Egyptian, sadly, not enough to be fluent. I learned Greek, Latin, and Arabic from my father. My second mother taught me Spanish and Portuguese as well as a Peruvian Indian dialect that I do not remember well, but I could probably pick up again if I were around people who spoke it."

"You continue to surprise me. Have you travelled a lot?"

"I have not left the United States for the last eighty years. I have been in Fayetteville for nearly four decades."

He shook his head with a wry expression. "You barely look twenty, but you're over twice my age. That's difficult to reconcile. Where were you before you came to the states? And what made you decide to come?"

"I grew up in a travelling circus. We toured all over Europe and into Russia for many years. When World War II made most of Europe unsafe for us, the whole circus came over on a big boat. Himmler's red wolves killed my parents and many of my family and friends. There was a bounty on the heads of all spider seers. The Roma were being rounded up into camps. My first mother’s visions saw they would all die there.” Liliana carefully did not open any eyes. She didn’t want to see into that awful time again.

“No secrets were safe from spider seers,” Liliana said softly. “So both the allies and the axis powers wanted us dead. Nearly every spider seer I knew of was slain. My second mother smuggled me out of Europe hidden in a cage with two of my lion-kin brothers and some true lions." Liliana fiddled with the tablecloth under the table where it wouldn't be obvious. She would never forget that time of her life, but she hadn't actively thought about it in many years. The constant presence of fear and grief had faded with time.

Alexander held his hand out to her across the table. She let the tablecloth go and took his hand instead. His long fingers held hers, rubbing gently. She watched the movement. It was soothing, like her scarves, but warmer, better.

"Considering how you danced and how you fought Bradley, I'm not surprised you had a circus background. Even when fighting for your life, you looked like you were performing."

Liliana was grateful for the shift to less painful ground. She took a breath, let the old sadness go, and smiled up at the ribbons on his chest. She knew he enjoyed watching her fight, even though he had been afraid she would die. "I wish you had seen me fight Pete. When I fought the lion, I was confined by the dome cage. My battle with the Celtic wolf was like being on the trapeze again."

"You fought Pete?"

"That is how we met. He thought I was a murderer. He tried to kill me."

Alexander's jaw clenched. "I’m sorry about that. I should have trusted you when you said you weren’t the killer."

She shrugged. "You didn’t know me."

"Why didn't Pete kill you?"

"I defeated him."

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