Page 58 of A Kiss of Embers
“Are you sure I can stay?” Seraphina asked when his father pulled out a chair for her to sit, warm bread, steaming meat, and sparkling wine in front of them.
“Believe me. I have kept many of Bastien’s secrets over the years. One more isn’t going to damn me more than I already am.”
Bastien shrugged sheepishly as they sat around the table and dined together. His heart warmed as he glanced between the other two making small talk across the table. The three of them…they felt like a family. If they’d had Nyana, Joel, and their two daughters with them, then the family would be complete.
He sobered at the thought of his sister. He might never get the chance to see them again because he doubted they’d step foot in the woods a second time after what happened months ago. If he crossed the border of the woods himself…
Seraphina tipped the wine bottle to pour him a drink, but he shook his head and smiled. “I’m fine, thank you.”
Father answered her questioning gaze. “Bastien doesn’t drink.”
“Why not?” she asked, tipping her head curiously while she took him in.
Bastien scratched his chin, trying to find a way to explain their culture without going too much into it. “I’m on the patrol guard. We’re not allowed to get drunk. And I prefer not to drink at all when I would rather have a clear head.”
“Oh.” She chuckled. “We are a bit more generous with our liquor in my clan. I’m sure if you visited our people, you would get more of a culture shock than you are prepared for.”
He stared at her for several long seconds as he tried to dissect her words. It almost sounded like… “What are you saying?”
She set down her fork and turned to face him in her chair. “I can’t allow you to stay here, Bastien. You don’t think I came solely to cure Ashryn, do you? I want you to come home with me.”
He and his father shared a concerned look over the idea of him crossing the border. Although he’d shared the danger it posed to him, perhaps she didn’t truly understand…
“I can’t visit you there.” He shoved a piece of bread in his mouth to prevent himself from saying anything more.
“No, no, no. Not visit. I want you to become my concubine. From Attleglade.”
At the same time, he and his father dropped their forks, which clattered to their plates. His father’s mouth hung open. Bastien scowled. “One of four concubines?” He scoffed and pushed away from the table. “I must be extremely special to you then.”
“One of three,” she corrected, following him as he stalked toward the tap to fill his cup with water. “I will not take a concubine from the Ebonywatch clan.”
He refused to glance her way as hurt festered inside his chest. “What about all your talk about running away together? I know it was only a fantasy but…a concubine? How could you ask that of me like I am some plaything to exist only for your pleasure?”
She stepped in front of him and glared, poking him in the chest with a finger. “That is not why the Ember Queen takes concubines from each clan. The exchange is meant to bring peace and harmony. Do you think I want two other men when I am in love withyou?”
His heart jumped at the admonition, and for a moment, breathing became difficult as he stared back at her. But then he swallowed and turned his head to gaze at the floor. “I can’t live that kind of life. Besides, it won’t bring the peace you want with Attleglade. Don’t ask me again.”
For the first time since they’d met, her eyes shimmered with unshed tears as her wings drooped. “Then you will let me go without even a fight? I don’t mean enough to you to try?”
“I never said that.”
“I’m trying to learn your ways, Bastien. I don’t understand monogamy. I just don’t. In my culture, many men will have multiple wives. The Ember Queen will have multiple husbands, or concubines as we call them.”
“And I believe in giving my life to one woman, and I expect her to do the same for me. I refuse to watch you disappear with your other concubines, tormenting myself as I imagine what you might possibly be doing with them.”
His father coughed beside the table. “I think I left my carvings in my room. I’ll be back in…umm…when your spat is finished.”
The chair wheels squeaked in his departure before his father slammed his door closed. Only then did they resume their heated glares.
Seraphina poked him in the chest. “How else do you recommend me uniting my people? This is the way we’ve done it for generations.”
His nostrils flared, and he clenched his fists at his side. “You told me you dreaded the thought of the night you were to take your concubines to bed. What changed? Did you meet someone?”
“No.” She released a defeated sigh and ran her hands over her hair, turning her back to him. “I can’t stand the thought of living life without you. This is the only way I know how to keep you.”
Bastien crossed his arms and ankles as he leaned against the table, tucking his chin to his chest. “Why did you return?” he asked quietly. “We keep having the same argument. Nothing will change. We cut our ties rather messily in the riverbed, but you should have kept them severed.”
“Ashryn would have died.”
