Page 31 of Faeling
He found Ravenna sitting in a chair on the far side of his den. A spacious chamber, it was stuffed full of plush furniture meant for reclining and relaxing. Gathered in a semicircle around the cold hearth, the red sofas and benches and chairs were well-loved, his sisters often joining him for long bantering conversations. There was little better than sitting in his favorite chair on a winter’s night, watching the crackling flames as he sipped his goblet of mead.
Ravenna hadn’t taken any of the comfortable seats, instead dragging one of the wooden chairs from the six-seat dining table over to one of the windows. He contented himself that the window was far too high to offer an escape.
Although, weren’t fae women supposed to have wings? He looked carefully as he approached but saw no sign of any suchlimbs on her back.
All he saw was loveliness.
Gone was the dowdy brown dress. Instead, she sat in the finest cream linen, the fabric draping around her lithe form like water cascading from the pitcher. Her hair had been washed and brushed to a high shine, black waves softer than the night sky. Her lilac skin seemed to glow in the hushed light of the sconces, and the gathering moonlight just touched the gently tipped points of her ears.
The breath rushed out of him in a harsh exhale. Gods, she was exquisite.
She could do with a less dour expression, though. Those violet eyes were sad as they turned to watch him approach. Her rosebud mouth was downturned, her hands folded delicately in her lap.
He didn’t believe her show of docile tragedy for a moment, not after the fight she gave both him and Ulrich.
“Good evening,” he said.
“Good evening.” Her soft voice had gooseflesh breaking out across his neck and arms. Gods, he needed her whispering like that while he sucked on her pert lilac tits. He assumed they were lilac, anyway. What color would her nipples be? A deeper purple hue or perhaps more pink like human skin?
His cock twitched with interest at the thought.
He watched as she stood from her seat. She regarded him thoughtfully for a moment—and then her face shifted. Between one blink and the next, he stared at the soothsayer he’d known for years.
His beast roared in outrage.Give her back!
“This doesn’t have to mean anything,” she said in that softvoice. “We can go back to how it was before. No one need know.”
Vallek growled, closing the distance between them. To her credit, she stood her ground, even when he caught her chin with his thumb and finger to tilt her face up.
“In these quarters, with me, you will wear your own face.”
His sensible side reasoned that it might be wise for her to maintain her disguise, at least for the time being, but he wouldn’t have it now. Not with him. He demanded her true face and all of her loveliness. Even when she was glowering at him—as she was when the glamour fell.
Lifting her head out of his grasp, Ravenna skirted around him.
Disliking her retreat, Vallek demanded to know, “Why do you wear a false face?”
When she gained enough distance from him, Ravenna turned to answer succinctly, “This world is dangerous for halflings.”
That was true—but it also wasn’t everything.
Halflings were more common than many realized or preferred to admit. Although smaller and weaker, humans were far more numerous than other folk. They bred like rabbits, and their soft bodies were appealing to some.
“Why not stay with your kind? Human or fae?”
Those berry-red lips pursed. “I’m both and neither. Living with humans or fae would be far more dangerous for me.”
Vallek wasn’t sure he believed it. Although he couldn’t claim to have seen many fae, he didn’t consider her very different from the handful of fae women he’d spotted before. Perhaps more lilac than gray. And less skeletal. There were fae who looked like walking skeletons, their grayish skin pulled taut over prominent bones.
His Ravenna was all healthy curves and colorful flushes. His beast rumbled in approval.
What he couldn’t approve of was how much danger she’d thrown herself into.
“So you thought an orcish stronghold would be safer?” It defied belief.
“As a human, yes. Nowhere would be safer than the orc king’s court.”
Pride pricked his heart, but he didn’t let it swell to his head. “I fail to see the logic.”
