Page 15 of Thief of Roses
VIII.
She intended to askhim about his distraction without trying to intimate that anything was amiss.She didn’t actually know if anything was amiss.She intended to make a passing mention of it to see if her misgivings had some foothold in reality, but after yet another span of days, the suspicion abandoned her foremost thoughts.
While inelegantly poised on the countertop, she scrubbed the cabinet shelves and picked at the food tray every time she came down for something.Her plans required the Fir’Darl’s assistance.The jars she retrieved from hervyardin, strewn about the kitchen, would not suffice.She might have asked the Magic for jars that morning but recalled his instructions to bring her requests to him.
“Fir’Darl,”she addressed when he entered, still perched on the counter.“Just the fellow I wished to see.”
“Goode morrow to thee, Rivani,”he bid her, falling back on courtesy.He came from the direction of the great hall today and paused.He raised his brows, clearly caught off guard when she expressed delight at his interruption.“Mooste pleased am Y that Y mayest satysfy thy desyres.”He spread his arms out and inclined his head.“Lookest thou as long as thou needest.”
She screwed her mouth up at his literal interpretation of her request, giving him a disapproving glare.She clambered down from the counter and straightened her skirts before she surveyed him, intending to do as he suggested.She had not gotten much of a look at his feet the other day, having stopped herself from her study once she had reached his hips due to intrusive thoughts.She expected the same as his hands — dexterous clawed paws — but found instead massive hooves at the end of spindly ankles, features too precarious for a body of such size.
“Still the same Fir’Darl,”she pronounced after a cursory glance over the rest of him.“Did you intend to join me in breaking your fast?”
“Nay.”He tilted his head.“And whilst thou art styll uncerteyn, thou art not afrayd today.”
“Do you want me to be afraid?”
“Ydeallie, nay.”He crossed his arms over his chest.“Y woldest perhaps have preferred to accorden styll somewhat ymprefsyve for yet a lytle whyle, however.”
“Proud and vain, I do believe!”
“‘Tis nary so much as once Y was.Alas, permanent flaws of character.”
She almost patted his arm in consolation of his mournful tone.She clasped her hands behind her back to keep herself from doing any such thing.
“I do not think you need fear losing your impressive nature, Fir’Darl.A person can only maintain a level of terror for so long.If we are to live together, it does not suit either of us for me to remain afraid.”
“Aye,”he conceded.“Thou speakest verrilie.”
She redirected her attention to the reason he had been in her thoughts.“I need more jars.I brought everything I had, but it will not be enough.”
If he had asked, she would not have been opposed to telling him her reasons.
He did not.
“How manie?”
Good.He trusts that I need them for a reason and is showing me enough courtesy not to question my needs.She bit her lip, thinking that he showed real promise.Promise of what she did not explore, but if this behavior continued, there was hope for their cohabitation.
“Many more.”She scanned the kitchen to judge what thevyardincould hold.“Perhaps that cabinet full?”She paused, trying to think about food stores too.That would keep her busy here and well-stocked when she left.“Maybe more?How many can I request?”
