Page 81 of Enchanted Heir
I wondered when he’d take pity on me, but apparently, he was now mad I had spoken to Keir, innocent though it may have been, because four women later, I was still standing there.
“Renna,” I groaned minutes later. “I am shot.” We were the last of Krew’s women remaining.
“It is after two in the morning,” she agreed. “This is asinine.”
“Whyyy didn’t they just let us go before the game?”
She rolled her eyes. “So they had something to look at, of course.”
My head went back. “But we are nottheirconsorts.”
She leaned in. “They cannot touch us, yes, but they can look.”
A shiver traveled down my spine. “That’s disgusting.”
She gave her head a shake. “I’m betting the king didn’t want us to go yet. So they had something to distract from the card game.”
“Renna,” Krew’s voice said behind us. “Ready?”
“Have been for hours, Your Grace.” She said it smiling but somehow with a bite to it also.
Krew’s eyes switched to me, and he didn’t look angry, but he didn’t look not angry either. I was going to have to explain what had happened back there with Molly and Keir soon.
While he was gone letting Renna go, there was some sort of misunderstanding at the card table between two men whose names I didn’t know. A blast of magic was used, followed by the king releasing his own magic to diffuse the situation. While most Enchanted’s magic seemed to ebb and flow, the kings’ was far thicker. Almost like a fog. I didn’t know if that was because of how powerful he was, or what. I wanted to ask Owen about it.
“Finish the game,” the king commanded. “Now.”
The altercation seemed settled then, and everyone sat back down.
“Hey,” Keir said, making me jump slightly.
I put a hand to my pounding heart, wishing that Krew would hurry.
“Can Nicola and I wait with you until Krew gets back?”
I looked to her and flashed them both a grateful smile. How had I gone from being scared to be around a single Enchanted, to being glad that there were a few good ones close by? Not that I knew Nicola that well, but no matter how things ended between us, I knew Keir wouldn’t let her hurt me.
I stood there, drinking the last of my water, wondering why it was taking Krew so long. Was he just going to punish me by leaving me here all night?
“Nicola said there was a bit of a scuffle?” Keir asked.
I nodded. “Yes. It was...”
“Ridiculous,” Nicola provided. “They are all stupidly drunk.”
I snorted a laugh. “Yes. That.”
Looking at the men’s body language, it wasn’t hard to see how right she was. One of the players who had already gotten out was slumped over sleeping, and another still in the game didn’t look far off. Another was laughing entirely too loud and about every minor thing. My new friend Thomas Varga looked to be the only sober one of the bunch. And I didn’t know if he was sober or was just themostsober.
A few minutes more, and there was Krew, striding across the room for me.
“Jorah,” he said. “Let’s get out of here, shall we?”
Keir gave Krew a nod. “We were just waiting for you to return. They’re getting rowdy.”
Krew looked at him a moment as if trying to decide if he believed him or not. “Goodnight,” he bit out, jaw clenching as he finished.
“Goodnight,” Keir said, then to me added, “Goodnight, Jorah.”
