Page 42 of Vow of Magic
“He’s rather handsome too.”
“If you’re into beasts.” This time Alric spoke up and I couldn’t hide the smile on my face. He was jealous. He had every right to be, but he was also being an ass. They both were.
“Maybe, I am,” she growled back and I couldn’t help but laugh. They were being ridiculous.
“He isn’t even interested in you,” Alric’s snotty reply wiped the grin off of Reva’s face. “He’s interested in what the crown can give him and his people.”
“I think he’s interested in what’s between her legs, not her kingdom. He has a lot more to provide than we do.” Reva hacked through overgrown brush and we walked through. Most of the path was dense and unattended. It was hard enough walking through it on the way to the Shadow Elves, but it was even worse on the way back to the castle. Most of what we’d cut away grew back almost instantly. The magic was very much alive and well in these parts.
“So that’s it? You’re just going to forget about Ryven?” Alric hissed.
Reva stopped her hacking and turned her sword to the spymaster. “Not another word.”
“Someone needs to say it.”
I didn’t know what to say to even defend myself. I wasn’t forgetting about Ryven, it was impossible to not think of him. Especially when Jesper ran his knuckle down my face. I wondered if I would forget the way Ryven touched me before. He was all I thought about as I talked and watched the king of the shadow elves.
“Sometimes women have needs, sometimes it’s more than the emotional. She might need to be taken care of in other ways. Do you know what it's like to crave touch after being deprived of it for so long?”
His face fell as he looked between us and I wondered if he was thinking about how much he wanted Reva. He didn’t say another word for the rest of the trek and I was thankful for it. I was left alone with my own thoughts and wonderings about all the leaders we’d met thus far.
Jesper could certainly offer our people more than anyone else. I would need advisors eventually. I probably needed more now, but I couldn’t take him away from his people at the drop of a hat. I would need more than just one man to help me. I would need women too.
Even as I lowered myself into the bath later that night I wondered what other creatures were out there. Who else would I be meeting? Would there be more people to sit on my council? Would I even have advisors at the end of all of this? If I didn’t scrape together an army, I wouldn’t.
When the sun came up the next morning, after tossing and turning all night, I knew what must be done. Jesper would be one of my advisors, after we spent more time together. That didn’t mean romantically, but things could always change. They’d changed with Ryven, there was no telling what could happen now. It didn’t help that I craved the touch of another and even the attention of another. The romance novels really weren’t helping with that. But eventually, I would need to move on. Would it be so terrible for me to do so with someone from here? Someone who knew the land? The people? No, it wouldn’t be the worst match. I knew I could eventually come to like him, if I needed to. If that was the direction this needed to go. He hadn’t proposed marriage as his terms of agreement and I was thankful for that. Did Shadow Elves even get married? Perhaps they didn’t. There was so much for me to learn and I knew if anyone could help me, it would be him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
JUNIPER
Alric opted out of sparring for a few weeks. He was still sore about the meeting with the Shadow Elves and he was no longer bickering with Reva. If she tried to needle him, he stared at the wall. If she walked by, he looked elsewhere. Anything that pertained to her, he tried to look in another direction. He wouldn’t even entertain her mouthy jests. I didn’t blame him for being bitter, but I also didn’t expect it to last this long. In the mornings, he excused himself to adventuring on the island and I was left to spar with Reva.
Sparring was different with her though. She didn’t want to spar, she wanted to talk, and she was afraid of marking me up so she took it easy on me. I decided on the fifth day of us training together that if she couldn’t step it up, I was going to hunt Alric down and force him to fight me. Except on that fifth day, Edna came running with another disaster. The kitchen was only making spiced ale now. There was no reserves for meat, cheese, eggs, or milk. It wasn’t going to service the kitchen anymore and I couldn’t pull cattle out of thin air.
If I hadn’t come to the conclusion that I needed Jesper before, I definitely came to it then. He would get his answer a lotsooner than I planned to give it but this time, he would get an invite via magic. He would come to me.
We toldyou to keep it simple. The gods weren’t happy with my choice of attire to be meeting the king of the Shadow Elves but one, I wanted an excuse to look pretty. I practically lived in my fighting leathers these days. And two, I was his queen and he needed to see me as such. I couldn’t be a homely woman every time I met with him. If he was going to be one of my advisors, he would sit with others and I wouldn’t come off as a peasant to them too. I needed to take a stance. Going out to his home was one thing, I could always use my homely attire as an excuse for all the walking we needed to do to get there. But in the castle? No chance.
“I think he will appreciate the effort I put in to see him.”
He will appreciate it too much.
I rolled my eyes. “Should I start calling you mother or father?”
They remained silent.
“That’s what I thought. I am not a mindless maid for you to do with what you please.”
My gown was a sparkling midnight. It reminded me a lot of the dress I wore at the Winter Solstice but more extravagant. I hated myself for even thinking that but when it came to the work of the gods and Sita, I couldn’t pick my friend. She was magnificent and she worked wonders but the gods worked magic and it delivered on a completely different level.
A glittering tiara appeared on the chest of drawers in the center of the closet and my bottom lip trembled. It looked like a tangle of sparkling stars. Very carefully, I placed it on my head and assembled my curling hair—thanks to Reva—all around it. My makeup was light and accentuated my natural features. Itwas simple but with a statement. The shoes, however, were not working. Just before I exited my chambers, I kicked them off at the door. The dress was so long no one would be able to see my feet anyway.
As soon as my doors swung open, I could smell the feast Edna was cooking up downstairs. Reva was waiting with her hands tucked behind her back and a small ping of sadness shot through me. This wasn’t the life I wanted for my best friend, but she wouldn’t hear anything about it. I would bring it up again when there were more guards or something. She deserved so much more than this.
Jesper stood at the bottom of the stairs as I descended. The wicked grin he’d worn when we were in the woods was completely gone. His face was serious and full of business. It was intimidating and somewhat frightening. He was every bit a war general tonight. His suit was pressed and immaculate, it almost resembled the attire he wore when I first met him except tonight his sleeves were not rolled up, much to my displeasure. There was just something about a man’s bare forearms on display like that. His bronzed skin had somewhat of a glow under the sconces on the walls.
“I wasn’t expecting you to come calling so soon. Did you miss me that much?” His smile was teasing and I found that I liked it very much but it also made me wonder where I stood with him. I couldn’t tell what his real intentions were.
