Page 27 of The Elven Spymaster's Thief

He raised his hand between us, palm toward me. His head lowered and tilted to one side as though processing something, he hid his face. “Perhaps it is too soon.” He picked up his fork again.

I reached across the table and claimed a roll. Whispier was so preoccupied with whatever he was thinking that he didn’t comment, so I launched it at his head.

The soft roll hit him square in the forehead and landed in the center of his plate. He stilled. Then very slowly, he lifted his head. His green eyes glittered darkly so that they were almost black with the silver glinting in the depths like stars. “So, you want to make the wager?”

“Yes,” I whispered before letting myself think about the repercussions. I cleared my throat before repeating it louder. “Yes.”

“You are that determined not to rest?” he asked, rising from his chair. He came around the end of the table, stalking my position with a tiger-like grace. I kept forgetting he was dangerous.

I stood. Instinct told me I needed to be on my feet, but I moved too quickly. My head went light, my balance shifted, and I would have fallen if he hadn’t caught me.

A strong arm encircled my waist, pulling me up against his chest. My senses settled as he leaned over me. For the first time in a very long time, I felt safe, protected. No, that wasn’t true. Right before falling asleep, I had been in his arms, and I wanted that closeness again.

I reached up to touch his face, my fingertips catching on the slight scruff along his jaw. Whispier leaned into my touch. Then he kissed me. It was brief, fleeting, and equilibrium disrupting in the best way. I gripped his shoulders to anchor myself, but by then, it was over.

I buried my face against his shoulder. He continued to hold me with gentle firmness as I struggled to collect my scattered thoughts.

“I won. Now, you are going to go and rest.” He picked me up, tucked my head close, and then sped through the house. Before I knew it, I was standing at the counter in the center of the kitchen, and Whispier was talking to Ergon.

“See that she stays in bed for the remainder of the day.” Then he was gone.

My head swam, draining any inclination to protest as Ergon herded me off to my bedchamber. I collapsed into bed with my head whirling.

What had he meant by that? I hadn’t expected him to kiss me. Not that I minded much that he had. In fact, I kind of hoped he would do it again. Still, this swirl of confusion wasn’t helpful. I fell asleep while trying to make the whole situation make sense.

∞∞∞

Illeron

As impulsive as that kiss had been, I refused to regret it.

Leaning back against the edge of the table, I signaled the first shadow elf scheduled to report to me. He appeared in the middle of my study, bowing slightly. Then he launched into a detailed summary of the activity in the northern regions where the human kingdoms mingled with the brownie and lesser fae populations.

Although the region remained reasonably stable, I suspected it wouldn’t stay that way.

Once he finished, I gave him a new mission: find my companion’s brother and fetch him here.

The elf bowed and left.

Casimir appeared in his place with a crack of displaced air. “What were you thinking?”

“Of what do you speak.” I turned away under the guise of fiddling with the remnants of lunch. Ergon hadn’t come and cleared away the leavings yet.

“You kissed your companion. You flirted with her, embraced her, and kissed her right here in your study.”

“Ah, that.” I picked up a roll from the basket with a slight smile.

“Don’t you ‘ah, that’ at me! I demand to know what you have been scheming. You are playing with fire, and you better have a good reason.” Casimir stalked up to glare at me, practically nose to nose.

Although we were almost the same age, I being the elder by two years, we rarely vied for dominance. More importantly, we were a team. We worked together to accomplish our goals, mainly the security and preservation of the relative peace our kingdom was enjoying. Not since childhood had we grappled. Argued? Yes. Shouted? Definitely. But we always came to an agreement.

However, as I met his angry green stare, I began to suspect we would not end this argument on the same side.

“You were the one who told me to seek out companionship,” I pointed out.

“I didn’t tell you to adopt the first human you came across.”

“Grimore sent her to me as repayment of a blood debt.” I tweaked the spell holding the toy dagger. It dropped into my hand. “What was I to do? Ignore her? Insult Grimore?”

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