Page 61 of Stitches
“Unless someone else has been living there.” Daedlys winked. “Make sure he opens it as soon as it’s in his hands. Very time sensitive. Go on now. I’m sure I’ll see you later.”
Words failed Levi other than to offer a harried thanks, and he rushed from the shop, eager to see Ashmedai and know what the gift contained.
Still, to reach the castle Levi not only needed to traverse back up the market steps butthroughthe rest of the festival. It would be impossible to not look at anything, but he tried regardless, keeping hiseyes squinted and moving swiftly.
“Are you trying to injure yourself?” Yentriss’s firm voice scolded just as a hand clamped down on Levi’s shoulder.
His eyes popped wide of their own accord, and he realized he had been about to plow headlong into a post not quite as brightly decorated with crystals as others and therefore almost invisible with his eyes half-shut. “N-no, I… I’m sorry.” Levi turned to her, still trying to keep his head bowed and his eyes not focused on anything. “I just don’t want to see the festival until I’m with Ash. I know it’s silly, but—”
“Plowing forward without looking where you’re going is not the answer. Hold still,” she commanded, and Levi looked up at her with another start as she placed both scaled hands on either side of his face. A warmth spread from where her fingers touched, and when she lowered her hands again, the lights around Levi seemed dimmer.
He looked about in surprise. The grounds looked like they had yesterday, with more people about and just as many stalls, but no decoration or added lights.
“You can conjure illusions,” Yentriss said simply. “I enchant the mind. I don’t do it often, mind you, but you’ll see what you want to until after you’ve reached the castle. It’ll wear off then, so don’t look down the road again until you’re ready. Understood?”
Levi spun back to grin at her with boundless gratitude. “This is brilliant! Thank you so much!”
Yentriss shrugged. “Useful for when Kenner has nightmares. And Grillo,” she added with a grin of her own. “Now go.”
No longer needing to rush blindly but still eager to reach Ashmedai, Levi continued toward the black multispired fortress that evoked almost the same wonder and sense of magic as its inhabitant.
One lone toll of the bell was all it took before the doors opened.
Levi’s breath caught, not only because Ashmedai looked as beautiful as ever in his usual black and red brocade, but because of how his eyesshimmered and his mouth dropped open with a shudder, his chest heaving—purely from the sight of Levi.
The silk violet-colored tunic had clearly been the right choice.
“Special delivery,” Levi said.
Ashmedai
Ashmedai stared at himself in his floor-length washroom mirror. “Oh Daedlys, you old busybody,” he muttered, taking in each line of the elegant draping and fine stitchwork. “I’ll have to think of a proper way to thank you.”
The new tunic, made fromredEmerald silk, matched Levi’s violet one perfectly, though Levi’s silver trim had likewise been replaced with gold from glittering lace ribbon.
It wasn’t Ashmedai’s normal style, since he tended toward high-collared garments that covered his ridges. This tunic dropped into a deeper V, where ties held it closed. With the black undershirt and trousers Ashmedai had already been wearing, the matching attire to Levi’s would leave no imagination anymore as to their relationship should anyone not yet have guessed.
Ashmedai didn’t mind, and before leaving his bedchamber, while he hadn’t intended to don his sword belt today, given how well it would also match Levi, he secured it with his longsword about his waist.
“Shall we?” Ashmedai called as he descended the central staircase to the foyer, where Levi was waiting by the doors and spun toward him.
Ashmedai would swear he heard Levi gasp.
Then Ashmedai nearly gasped, because Aurora was there, and Levi was holding a small squishy red ball.
“Where did you get that?”
The wonder and adoration on Levi’s face fell to amusement. “Oh, Aurora brought it for me. We’ve been playing fetch. There’s more around here somewhere. It seems she has quite the collection. She keeps bringing me more. Is… that all right?”
Ashmedai’s expression must have been utterly dumbfounded, but he eased Levi’s trepidation by laughing. “Quite all right. Just don’t ever tell Dreya. You little rascal,” he added to Aurora, scratching the top of her head. Since she wasn’t fully solid, she adored his clawlike nails and pushed up into the firm scritches. “So?” Ashmedai spread his arms, facing Levi. “I think Daedlys outdid himself. What say you?”
“You are breathtaking, my king.” Levi reached for Ashmedai’s hand, and Ashmedai marveled at the grand gesture when Levi kissed it like a true courtier. “To call you beautiful is never a strong enough word.”
“You know you needn’t ever call me your king,” Ashmedai reminded him.
“I know. But I would call you mine,” Levi said with his sweet smile.
The scene was far too much like a fairy tale to be marred by all the painful memories of this day swirling in the back of Ashmedai’s mind, so he kept those thoughts quiet. “That you can,” he said and leaned forward to kiss Levi properly.
