Page 128 of Fate and Flame
“One day, she’s going to poison you,” Fen said, still brooding.
“Nah. She’d miss me too much.” He grinned, but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes and I wondered if there was more going on with Kai than what he showed on the surface.
Round and round we went, drinking and talking about war and females and life and how they were all so similar. My eyelids grew heavy and my smile wide as we continued the card game. Kai kept pulling more cards from his pockets until the table was stacked with them, we smelled like a brewery, and none of us could sit up straight.
“Last round,” Kai mumbled, his eyes unable to focus.
We all turned our final card over. Rhogan lost that round, grabbed the pitcher and chugged what was left. He belched and slammed it back on the table.“Enjoy your smooches,” he said to Kai, who clearly had the tallest stack of cards. “I’ve got a female to find.”He stood, swayed, and laughed, his wings helping him balance as he crashed into a side table.
“We could just sleep here.” My tongue was so swollen I didn’t think anyone could understand me. I laid my head on the cool table and closed my eyes.
Fen grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me to my feet. “Isnot too far.”
As one, we stumbled out of the building, leaning too far to the right and then left, our feet dragging and bodies heavy. Kai sang a bawdy tune about a big-chested mermaid as we walked back to the castle. We got close enough to the door that I could see a beautiful red-haired female standing against the frame, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes level with me. Nadra.
“Ohhhh,” Kai drawled. “Tem’s in trouble.”
We all burst into laughter until I realized Temir was me and I was the one in trouble. The smile fell from my face. At least I thought it did, until she shook her head and smiled, and I realized it never had.
I’d needed that night with them. To let go, to vent about the world. And she knew it. I left the group behind and walked quickly to her. In my mind it was quick, but I imagine it was quite lopsided and a little laggy. She slid her hands up my chest and looked up at me in the doorway. I leaned down, kissed her hard and pulled her inside, ignoring the catcalls from Kai and Rhogan as we left.
“Did you have fun?” she asked later, still trying to catch her breath, lying naked and glorious beside me.
“Tired,” I answered, unable to open my eyes.
She ran her hands through my hair, avoiding the horns as I feel asleep to her sweet laughter. Moments later, she was shaking me awake. She had bathed and dressed, and the blinding sun coming through the window told me it was nearly noon.“We’ve been called to lunch, Temir. Are you going to bathe and dress or go down naked?”
I felt like holy hell. My stomach turned and the smell of my own breath made me almost vomit. I slumped into the bathing room, keeping my eyes closed tight so the sun wouldn’t burn my retinas. I shut the door and took several deep, grounding breaths. I called my magic forward and cured the hangover that would have consumed my full day. My shoulders relaxed and I was in and out of the bath in no time. I brushed my teeth and hummed that tune Kai had sang on the way home.
“It’s not fair, you know.” Nadra gleamed as I pulled her into my arms. “Normal people get hangovers and have to suffer for drinking enough to poison a kingdom.”
“Luckily for me, I’m not normal.” I flashed her a smile and pulled her out the door. I hadn’t felt this happy, this carefree, in so long. Not because I was in denial about the coming war, but because I was actually happy. I’d accepted complacent for so long, this just felt so foreign.
We proceeded into the dining hall, and all four of my drinking buddies looked as if they’d regretted every decision they’d made last night. Fen held his head in his hands and moaned as Loti piled his plate. Rhogan was just laying his head on the table across from Kai who groaned and slid his plate away from him.
Gaea and Ara sat with Wren at the end of the table, smirking as they relished in the suffering of the males. Nadra sat down with them, and I crossed the room. I placed my hand on Fen’s back and pushed my magic through to him.
He sighed and sat up straighter.“You are a godsend, Temir.”
“Me next,” Kai groaned.
I healed the rest of them and filled a plate, sitting next to the king. Greeve began to shovel food into his mouth. I’d never seen the draconian so out of character. He looked down the table to Gaea. She looked his way, and his head snapped forward. I’d heard what happened in the tavern last night, but we still didn’t know where they had actually gone.
“Loti, you are looking lovely today,” Rhogan said, smiling wide at her.
He wiggled his eyebrows at Kai as Greeve and Fen snorted. I tried to keep my face neutral as Kai stood from the table, a tart in his hand, and moved in her direction. Rhogan buried his face so he wouldn’t laugh. Within seconds, Loti was screaming and running around the table while Kai chased her, lips puckered.
He caught her around the waist, and she squeezed, squirmed and swatted him while he pressed his lips onto her cheek and held them there. He swung her around for show, and by the time he released her and she took off running, the atmosphere of the entire room had changed with Loti’s infectious laughter. The divide wasn’t quite as wide.
Fen stood and cleared his throat. “We’ve had some new arrivals come in today. Someone I think you’d like to meet, Kaitalen. I am calling a meeting in the open council room before dinner, though the doors will remain shut. Everyone in this room is to attend. Wren, if you could invite your sister, and Greeve, if you could call in Brax? I’ll have Inok join us as well as Umari, who should already be on her way.”
He locked eyes with Ara down the table and then quickly looked anywhere else. Nadra turned to whisper something into her ear, but her face didn’t give an inch as she watched Fen carefully avoid her. He walked out of the room and she stood, following him out of the door.
“That was awkward.” Kai scooped a pile of eggs into his mouth.
Greeve reached over, snagged a piece of meat from his plate, and then stood. He watched Gaea, but she didn’t so much as look at him as he walked out. She didn’t stand to follow him either.
“No,” Greeve told me later in the training yard. “If you put too much weight on your left leg, you won’t be able to turn to the right quickly enough. You have to disperse your weight evenly. Again.”
