Page 79 of Kiss of Fire

“All the salt in this castle, and indeed throughout the land, comes from my mines,” he said proudly. Raya agreed it was very fine salt, whilst trying to lean away from his halitosis.

She took a glass of wine, gulping half of it down as he launched into a detailed explanation of salt production. She was relieved when Shade broke off his own conversation with the man to his right.

“His breath could strip paint from a wall,” she whispered.

“Hardly worse than what I am enduring. This man seems to have an unnatural amount of knowledge about beans. It is about as interesting as watching the damned things grow.”

They grinned at each other, conspirators in a shared ordeal.

“Perhaps we should just get incredibly drunk,” she suggested. “It might be more bearable.”

“A very fine idea.” He held his hand up. “Pasha, more wine.”

She relaxed as the evening passed. Various dignitaries came to speak to her, passing on their congratulations or simply introducing themselves to her. One or two mentioned her mother and Raya was gratified to learn she had been well-liked.

Yet nobody mentioned her human heritage, even though Raya could sense there was a lot of curiosity about that.

“No-one’s asking about my life before coming here,” she muttered to Shade. “They know I’m half human, don’t they?”

“I expect so. But it is seen as impolite to point out one’s shortcomings. You can be sure they’ll be whispering about your human traits.”

“Like what?”

“Like your rounded ears.”

Raya’s hand shot to one ear.

“Butyourears are normal.”

“For a jinn. Yours are entirely abnormal for a fae.”

“Oh.” She remembered the photo of her mother, with her daintily pointed ears. “I suppose compared to fae ears, mine are quite ugly.”

“I like them.”

Shade replied offhandedly before turning back to his neighbour, leaving Raya pondering his remark.

He liked her ears even though they were ugly? Or he liked them because he thought theyweren’tugly?

Fuck. She’d drunk too much wine.

The dinner progressed interminably. The noise levels grew as the wine flowed. The band started playing more upbeat music. Halitosis Man had thankfully turned to his other neighbour to continue his monologue about salt and Raya pushed her dessert plate away, full to bursting.

She was startled when Shade took her hand.

“Dance?”

“Fuck no.”

“This is our engagement party. People expect us to dance. And no-one else can dance until we do. So.”

She looked at him wide-eyed.

“But I can’t dance. I don’t know how.”

He bent so close she could feel his breath on her skin.

“Do you trust me?”

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