Page 114 of Shardless

As I write this, we are all out on the third-floor balcony—Sarina, myself, and the children—enjoying the last of the summer air. Sarina is currently sitting to my left, thoroughly engrossed in her latest hobby. Something with glass and paint that I don’t really care to understand. And of course, the children, if I can really still call them that, are doing what they do best—bickering.

In her attempt to educate the younglings on mortal culture, Sarina recently taught them how to play a human game called chess. It has been an entertaining experiment, to say the least, especially considering how antagonistically competitive those two have always been. The game they started this evening has been going on for nearly two hours now.

They are at a standstill currently, and though Skye has more pieces left on the board, I believe Taly may actually have the advantage—if she can keep it. Her strategy is quite bold. So far, she has risked everything, even going so far as to sacrifice her queen two turns back. Skye, however, has chosen a different approach. I daresay he is at times as daring as Taly in his tactics, but only to a point. For he has now retreated and protects his queen at all costs. He has already had several opportunities to take the lead, but he refuses to give up that one piece.

And now I see that she has him backed into a corner. He has nowhere else to retreat and no choice but to play his queen or throw the game. Taly is already quite confident in her impending victory, but Skye seems to be wavering now in the face of defeat. I know for a fact that there is nothing the boy hates more than losing to Taly, but after such dogged dedication to this strategy of his, I can’t help but wonder which option he’ll choose.

“No,” Skye said tersely as he handed off yet another stack of paperwork to a young fire mage.The petite woman almost had to run to keep up with him as he strode into the main building. “Tell Carlin that the mortals stay inside the keep. The other fey can complain all they want, but the fact of the matter is they’re better equipped to deal with the cold. Mortals get sick far more easily, and we barely have enough earth mages to go around as it is. If more fights break out, open up the dungeons downstairs and throw the dissidents down there to cool off. Also, inform Geran that I won’t be able to meet with him until later this evening.”

“Yes, sire,” the girl replied, sounding almost as harried as Skye felt. “And Lord Emrys? Er… the other Lord Emrys? What shall I tell him?”

Skye stopped at the entrance to the servants’ stairwell, shaking his head. Kato had been clamoring for his attention all morning, but he just hadn’t found the time to meet with him yet. He barely had time for his current errand. “Tell my brother that unless it’s urgent, he’s going to have to wait. I’ve got 20 different people bending my ear right now, and they all want something different.”

“Yes, sire.” The girl bobbed her head before turning and disappearing into the crowd milling about the great hall.

It was just after midday, and Skye breathed a sigh of relief as he started taking the stairs two at a time. This was the first moment of peace he’d had all morning. Between organizing the teams responsible for scrounging the surrounding area for supplies and trying to devise a training regimen to teach the civilian mages basic combat formations, he was starting to regret stumbling out of bed before the fifth bell had struck just to tag along with Taly to do a little pre-dawnresearch.

There’s a lie, he thought, grinning like a fool as he ascended the final stair to the top floor of the living quarters. The worn carpet muffled the sound of his footsteps as he made his way to the end of the hallway, to the suite he and Taly had shared. Yes, he was tired. Well, exhausted. But he didn’t regret a single moment of that morning. From waking up with Taly in his arms to that life-altering kiss they had shared in the library—he wouldn’t change a thing. Except for the part where Kato had interrupted them. That he would change.

Skye came to a stop in front of the door to their room, and his hands were shaking as he combed his fingers through his hair.Why am I so nervous?he wondered, attempting to straighten his wrinkled shirt. It was just Taly. Not much had changed since that morning. Except for everything. Only everything had changed.

What if she says no?That thought had occurred to him at least once or twice since they had parted ways. He had asked her what she wanted, and she had never given him a clear answer. Yes, she had let him kiss her again—seemed open to his advances—but she could still change her mind. She could still decide that she just wanted to be friends.

Before he could second-guess himself, Skye pushed open the door and then quietly closed it behind him as he stepped into the antechamber. He could see Taly just beyond the doorway, her back hunched as she leaned over a writing desk that had been shoved into a corner. Her hair had been swept to the side and braided, and she had changed into a plain white linen shirt with long tapered sleeves that were pulled down andbuttoned at her wrists. The toe of her boot tapping out an absentminded rhythm was the only sound breaking the silence as she studied whatever was on the desk in front of her with rapt interest.

“Hey, Tink?”

Taly whirled around, her hand clutching her chest. “Shards!” she yelped, her gray eyes wide. “Wear a bell or something!”

Skye chuckled, his hands in his pockets as he came closer. To his great surprise and delight, she hadn’t buttoned her shirt yet, and he could clearly see the lace of her undergarments peeking out from underneath the sheer fabric of her camisole. The long lines of toned muscle, the sharp curve of her waist, the generous swell of her breasts—all were on full display to his eager eyes. Beautiful.Strong. A far cry from the half-starved waif he’d had to coax and cajole into talking to him as he walked her back to the manor only a few short weeks ago.

Noticing his intense scrutiny, Taly tensed, her fingers twitching. But she didn’t tug at the edges of her shirt, not even when he let his eyes drift down and linger—tracing and retracing the feminine contours of her body.

“What are you staring at?” she muttered, her back stiff as she turned back to the desk.

Closing the remaining distance between them in a few long strides, Skye wrapped his arms around her, pulling up the fabric of her camisole and letting his hands rest on the smooth skin of her stomach. “You,” he murmured, delighting in the slight flush that reached even the tips of her ears. Pressing his nose into the crook of her neck, he finally allowed himself to fully take in her scent. Even after he had been cleared to use hismagic, he had abstained back in the library, afraid that the extra layer of stimulation might break his already tenuous restraint.

“You know I don’t like it when you do that,” she said with a soft sigh, one hand coming up to tangle in his hair.

“Do what?” he asked, slightly dazed. Shards, she smelled good—like mint and sage, with just a hint of jasmine. There was a faint tickle of iron, just around the edges—distinct but easily ignored.

“I don’t like being scented. You know that. Besides, you’re a shadow mage, not a dog. I know it’s hard to tell the difference sometimes but—"

Skye pinched her sides, just where he knew she was ticklish. “I could be a dog,” he said, his own laughter mixing with hers. “If you feed me, I’ll just keep coming back.”

She turned in his arms, placing a hand on his chest. It was just enough to make him pull back. Yes, he wanted to push her, but, first and foremost, he wanted her to want to be pushed.

“Spoilsport,” Skye muttered, pressing his lips to her brow. “I’m sorry, but that shadow mage in Ryme didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, and you should never have given him a second thought. Humans do notreekof iron. That was a gross exaggeration.”

“Says you,” she quipped. Her hands twisted in his collar, pushing the fabric aside. Skye shivered when he felt her fingertips ghost across his skin. “But then again—"

Unable to resist the urge any longer, Skye pressed his mouth to hers, a low moan escaping him when her hands found their way into his hair, teasing and tugging as she eagerly returned his kiss.

She was the first to pull away, and he followed her, placing one last gentle kiss just at the edge of her mouth. “I’ve been wanting to do that all morning,” he murmured against her lips, not ready for the moment to be over just yet. “You were saying?”

“What are you doing back so early?” she asked breathily, turning back to the cluttered tabletop. “I wasn’t expecting you until tonight.”

“I’m between meetings, so I thought I’d come check on you.” Looking over her shoulder at the faded map spread out on the desktop, he added, “See if I needed to put you to bed.” That earned him a sharp elbow to the ribs, and then another when he just laughed shamelessly. “Seriously, though, how are you feeling? You had me worried.”

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