Page 54 of Tempting the Fae Lord
I grip his wrist, and he grips mine. “Deal.”
We settle back uncomfortably on the hard cot, backs against the dirty wall. Ezra lets out a long sigh, which I echo. It’s going to be a long night if we’ve run out of conversation already.
A thought occurs, and I wonder if he’s in a storytelling mood.
“Sir?”
“Yes, Gale?”
“Why don’t you like your proper name?”
The side-eye he throws me is sharper than his cheekbones. “Ask me something else.”
I don’t have to think long. “How did Eulayla learn it?”
Ezra drums his fingers on his knee. “Fine. I shall recall that dreary night for you, but only if afterward you’ll agree to go to sleep, hmm?”
“I’ll agree to try.” I don’t think I can sleep down here, but to get the story out of him, I don’t mind giving it a whirl.
His gaze swings away from me, straight forward. “Decades ago, when Eulayla was still a young maid, we had a rather unwelcome visitor.”
I try to picture a young Eulayla in my mind and fail. She must have been a girl once, but I can’t see it.
Ezra goes on. “The former queen of Luminia, Suvi’s mother Aurielle, showed up unannounced with a variety of irritating demands. ‘You haven’t done your duty to the realm. You must produce an heir or forfeit your lands. Lemossin guards can be stationed to watch over the gate.’ Blah, blah, blah.”
Another impossibility to imagine. Ezra giving up his lands. He’d never.
“What she failed to recognize is that a fae-turned-vampire such as myself is nigh unto indestructible. A true immortal. Not like fae, who can be killed or go dormant, or even like other vampires who often perish of their own free will. The best of both and therefore stronger than either. I have no need of an heir because I will never die. The gate will have its keeper, and no prattling by the lesser bloodlines will change that.”
He closes his eyes and folds his hands into his lap. “To make a long story short, we fought. Verbal sparring, mind you. Aurielle isn’t one to lower herself to hand-to-hand combat. Nasty little thing. Greedy.
“As the argument devolved into a match she couldn’t win, Aurielle grew desperate. In a bid to force my hand, she turned to Eulayla, who’d been present but wisely kept her distance in the far corner of the great room.
“I put my foot down on her involving my staff in any way.”
This doesn’t surprise me. He’s always been very protective of us. Then again, Eulayla can protect herself just as well.
“In the heat of the moment, Aurielle ignored my title and addressed me as Ezra.” He grimaces as if the name tastes bad on his tongue. “That was the last straw. I kicked her out, sent her back to Lemosin with threats should she dare return, and that was that.
“Afterward, Eulayla asked me, same as you have, why I don’t use the name, but I dodged the question. Just mentioned I’d prefer ‘sir’ or ‘Gatekeeper,’ and for the most part, she’s called me sir ever since.
“There are those rare occasions when for some reason…” He sends me an arched look. “Generally, reasons that somehow involve you—emotions are running high, and my old name slips from her lips. Or, occasionally, when she’s teasing me over something. I don’t mind the familiarity from her. Eulayla has more than earned my allowance and doesn’t abuse her privilege. I snapped at you because you sought to employ the old name to manipulate, which I don’t appreciate.”
“Sorry.”
He flicks his wrist, fingers rippling. “Water under the bridge.”
“Will you tell me why you dislike it so? Not now but some night?”
“I don’t speak of those times, Mooncalf. Not to anyone.” His voice takes on a distant quality. His gaze too. “Those I loved and lost called me by that name. Those I despised as well. Those who won, others who fled, one who betrayed.”
He shuts his eyes and sighs.
Only the slow, even breaths of the sleeping mage dapple the silence.
“I’m not that man anymore,” he says without opening his eyes. “I’m something else now.”
I don’t know what to say to that. I won’t pretend to understand. But perhaps I can offer a bit of comfort. I pick up his hand from his lap and place it in mine, holding it between both of my own. We pass the next few minutes simply existing side by side.
