Page 19 of Ember and Eclipse
Channeling her bravery and boldness into a deep inhale, she dashed for it. The moment her hand touched the doorknob, she heard the bed groan as his weight came off it.
“Don’t,” he growled, but she was out the door before he could lunge for her.
She sprinted for the stairs, and by the cursing, he was only steps behind her. A door opened ahead of her, a laughing couple stepping into the hallway, bringing Rel up short. The pair’s gaze flicked from her to Devdan behind her before returning to her face, their smiles stuck as if they weren’t sure how to react.
“Oh, are you going down to enjoy the festivities?” Rel asked, voice pitched too high.
“Uh, yes,” the man replied, looking between them again.
The woman recovered quickly, though, a bright smile coming to her lips that made her brown eyes sparkle. “I want to dance, and Ilovethis song. Are you going down too?”
“Yes,” Rel breathed with relief, stepping closer to her as if to tell a secret. “Though my husband is such a grouch, I doubt he will dance with me.”
The woman’s laugh was pretty, and she let go of her significant other to take Rel’s arm instead. She smelled expensive, the scent bold and quietly seductive. This woman actuallywasa rich merchant’s wife. “It took me two years with this one before I made him see the error of his ways of not giving in to everything I want. Now, he’ll dance with me until morning and not complain.”
As the woman led her down the hall, Rel looked over her shoulder at the hunter. His death glare was in full effect, but she merely offered him a sly smile.
Once they reached the tavern, with promises to find each other later, the woman let go of her arm to meet with someone she knew in the crowd. Devdan was there a moment later, his hand around her upper arm, trying to pull her back into the shadow of the stairwell without making a scene.
Fighting against his grasp, Rel took a guess and called out for the waitress, Leeda. The room was packed, and she wasn’t sure if she could even be heard over the loud music and raucous chatter.
“You made it!” Leeda’s familiar voice called from the left. Her brown locks were messy—wispy strands sticking up here and there as if she had been dancing too. She smiled, her round cheeks flushed red by the body heat filling the room.
“Tonight’s special for my husband and I!” Rel declared, and the waitress gave her a knowing wink before being stopped by another patron.
“I wish your bountywasjust your head,” Devdan grumbled behind her, his grip tightening around her arm before he let her go.
“And I wish I had killed you when I had the chance,” she bit out. Despite her acidity, she reached back and grabbed his hand.
He allowed her to pull him deeper into the tavern for several steps before commanding her to stop.
She whirled around, a brilliant smile on her face that didn’t need to be faked. Rocking her hips to the beat, she could almost forget she was a witch on her way to the gallows.
He glanced from the smile on her lips to her swaying hips, something flashing across his features and gone just as fast.
“Dance with me!” Her body easily remembered the movements of the song. She had danced it several times with the princess when they were young, and neither had yet known their fate.
He merely watched her, arms crossed over his chest, immovable in the crowd even as they bumped into him. But where he was a dark statue in the middle of a sea of dancers, she fell into the waves and let them sweep her away. She didn’t care about trying to run from him—that hadn’t truly been the point of this particular disobedience.
It was tolive.
Leeda came back with drinks. “It’s sweet and strong,” she declared. “Only our finest. We make the best and the strongest Rain Festival drinks in the city, isn’t that right?” A chorus of cheers broke out, and Rel wasn’t even sure if they knew what they were shouting for.
“We’ll drink together,” the waitress said as she handed Devdan his drink. Putting two fingers in her mouth, she released a loud whistle. Though the music didn’t stop, the conversation did as most raised their cups dutifully.
“To long lives!” Leeda shouted.
“And smooth seas!” the locals in the crowd responded back enthusiastically.
The waitress downed her drink, and the room followed suit.
Devdan looked at her over the rim of the cup, assessing her, before he swallowed its contents in a single gulp. Rel studied her own chalice before she tipped it back. The sweet drink tasted of honeyed nectar and went down far too smoothly. It was a dangerous sort of drink that would be all too easy to consume too much of. But one or two wouldn’t hurt anything.
Leeda danced with her for a moment, laughing as they spun around and then clapped the two beats before she was whisked away by someone calling for a round of drinks.
That song came and went. Rel didn’t know all of the melodies that played, but people were more than willing to show her the steps.
When Leeda brought them another round, and the hunter shook his head in refusal, she put it in his hand anyway. “You can refuse any other night, but not tonight!”
