Page 25 of Brighter Than Gold

Callan anxiously ran his fingers through his dark, damp hair. I was frozen to the bed; this was the first moment since I’d met him that he had dropped his general’s mask around me. It was pure and honest, and I didn’t know how to respond.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace, I shouldn’t have spoken so frankly.”

I winced. “Stop that. I’m not ‘Your Grace’. All of this is wildly unnatural, and I don’t like it. Don’t treat me like I’m made of glass.” If he could speak honestly, then I would too.

“I wish I could. But you are my sovereign, an ideal I have built my life protecting,” Callan said apologetically.

“You’re right, Iamyour sovereign, and I am commanding you to treat me like a normal fucking person.” I didn’t know where the sudden burst of anger was coming from, but I didn’t feel sorry for it.

“My life has changed so dramatically in the last few months; I can barely keep track of who I’m pretending to be from one day to the next. I didn’t mean to become pregnant; the very idea terrifies me. And I had no intentions of marrying, ever, but I will protect this child in any way that I can.” I felt the anger twist in my chest and the prickling pang of tears welled. “And now I find myself held prisoner by a madman and locked in a room with a general who would rather stand on ceremony than be a friend to me.” I held my head in my hands as the tears flowed and I was wracked by one sob after another.

Soon, I felt Callan’s weight on the bed next to me, and then his arms wrapped gently over my shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “You’re right. These aren’t normal circumstances, and I should have taken that into account.”

“I’m fucking scared!” I sobbed.

“I know, Reyah, I’m so sorry.”

Eventually my sobs stilted and calmed. I could feel that my eyes were red and swollen. I lay back on the pillow, exhausted from the emotional outpour.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” Callan asked. “As a friend, not as a general.”

I sniffed and rubbed my swollen eyes. “Tell me a joke.”

“A joke?” he said smiling. “You’ve found my only weakness, I am the worst joke teller in the Realm.”

“I don’t care. I’m your sovereign, I’m commanding you to tell me a joke.” My tone was a blend of sweet and grumpy.

“Hmm, let me think…” He leaned back on his elbows and stared at the ceiling as he searched for the perfect joke. “All right, two training cadets were sitting in the mess hall, eating. One was eating corn on the cob and begins laughing. The other asks why he’s laughing, and he responds saying, “‘this is the only time I’ll get to chew out the Colonel.’”

I stared at him wide-eyed for a full five seconds before bursting out laughing. “That has to be the worst joke I’ve ever heard!”

Callan chuckled. “I told you, I’m terrible with jokes!”

I continued laughing, more at the generals taste in humour than the joke itself. There was the slightest trace of embarrassment on his face.

“It’s nice to see you laugh, Reyah. Even if it’s at my expense.” He gave me such an uncharacteristically warm smile.

“So thereisa real person underneath all the bravado.”

“Don’t tell anyone,” he mocked.

“Frankly I’m relieved for you.”

A gargantuan yawn overtook me then, and when I opened my eyes, they felt weighted.

Callan rose from the bed and snuffed the candles and lamp, and the room was washed in the amber glow from the hearth, creating long, flickering shadows around us. He walked to the dresser and pulled out another towel, balling it up and tossing it down before stretching out on the floor and using it as a pillow.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I chided.

Callan turned his head to me. I shoved over to the far side of the bed and pulled back the covers in invitation.

“Reyah…” he said, giving me a look to say there was no way he was accepting the offer.

I pulled one of the long decorative pillows out and plopped it down the center of the bed, giving us each a separate space.

“I’m not going to let you stay on the floor. We’ve already shared a tent, at least there’s a mattress this time.”

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