“A small delegation from Woodlands, Your Highness,” the innkeeper moves next to Keane. My heart stills at his words as I follow the trail of their gaze.
Two pale Discerni men and a Discerni woman stand around a small table at the other side of the room, all three of them giving the Prince the smallest incline of their heads. They’re coldly beautiful, their skin light and hair even lighter, the blonde strands nearly turning a silver under the bottled moonslight around us. The angles of their faces are all sharp and cunning, with prominent cheekbones gracing each of them and resting below three different sets of cool blue and green eyes. The men are both wearing various tunics of light green with white stitching throughout, the fabric immensely rich and too proper for a pub and inn like the Drunken Stump. The woman is wearing a simple gown of grey, one that covers her full body with lightgreen flowers down the sides. The whole ensemble compliments her pale blonde hair that falls gracefully down her back in the curls of Discerni fashion. Their cool eyes haven’t left the Prince’s since the moment he walked in, the group holding his gaze directly as they remain standing at their table.
Keane gives a brief nod of recognition before turning to me, his brown eyes stoic.
“I need to greet them,” he says quietly.
I nod, hiding my frown at his cool Discerni features. “I’ll find us a table.”
“Still ale to drink, Lady?” the innkeeper asks as Keane moves towards the Woodlands group.
“Yes, ale for the Prince and I, please,” I give the man a small smile, keeping Keane in my eyesight. The Woodlands Discerni watch him approach, bowing their heads in small greeting.
“Very good, Lady,” the innkeeper smiles and starts to walk away. I look around the inn for a table of my own and spot one in the middle of the room with the twinkling fireplace well in its view.
“Actually,” I say to the innkeeper’s retreating back, “can I add two half glasses of whiskeys to that as well? Foreachof us.”
The innkeeper turns with a dramatic grin and a sparkle in his eyes, appreciative of my drinking habits. I smile and make my way to the empty table, angling my chair towards Keane as I watch him with the three blonde Discerni.
The four of them are talking in hushed voices with the look of polite indifference gracing all of their features. The woman looks to be a few years older than me in human years, nearing her late twenties and looking beautiful in her rigid grace. She stays quiet for most of the conversation and only occasionally nods her head or takes a sip of whiskey as the men talk.
One of the two men has his hair pulled back in a half up, half down fashion over his sharp ears. He’s classically Woodlands handsome, with a clean shaven face and his pale skin glowing under his high-arched cheekbones. He looks to be a bit younger than the woman, perhaps around the same age as me.
The other man seems to be the oldest and leader of the small group, his features hardened with his long blonde hair falling straight down the front of his chest. I spot two large argents stitched to his tunic under his hair, the white birds resting proudly against his chest and mimicking the emblem for Woodlands Court. He looks to be a Lord, or perhaps a high ranking Sir, maybe in his mid-thirties, nearing forty in human years. His features remain matured and set as he looks at Keane through cool blue eyes, doing most of the talking for the group.
Stormfall pinches my shoulder and draws my gaze away from the table. I look at him in curiosity and then turn back to the Discerni, my gaze immediately catching the younger man’s stare. He’s looking at me fromacross the room without emotion, his cold glance sending a small shiver down my spine.
The leader of the three bows his head to the Prince from his seat. Keane nods in return and then turns around to look directly at me, somehow already aware of exactly where I’m sitting. His features are calm and collected when he stands, brown eyes holding mine as he begins to walk over to our table with a look of indifference. I seriously hate that look.Knowthat look. He’s upset about something and hiding it behind his mask of Discerni disinterest.
Keane joins the table at the same time an older human woman does as well. She smiles at me and then drops four small glasses of whiskey on the table.
“I’ll be back with the ales, dear,” she grins, glancing from the drinks to Keane and I.
“Thank you,” I smile, noting the twinkle in her eyes. I wish I could tell her these whiskeys are for pleasure, but I know more than anything they’re only there to take the edge off of Keane’s encounter with the Woodlands group.
The Prince swiftly pulls out the chair next to mine and promptly sits down. His body falls heavy, leg brushing against mine under the table.
“All’s well then?” I chuckle, pulling two of the half glasses towards us. Keane looks at me and my teasing eyes, holding them with his own as we stare at eachother.
No, his glance tells me,everything is not well.
I laugh and offer him a whiskey.
Keane leans in slowly and moves his hand below the table, ignoring the drink as he squeezes my thigh, lips caressing my ear in a whisper.
“Every damn thing I need, Alexis.”
I flush and tip the drink in his direction again, holding his gaze with a smile.
“To our last night alone, Keane,” I say just as quietly, “this has been everything I needed and more. Thank you for making it happen.”
Keane squeezes my thigh again with a knowing grin. He reaches for the whiskey and clanks his glass into mine, the two of us drinking and dropping our glasses on the table in unison. He leans back with a relaxing sigh, his arm coming around my chair as he smiles like the smug warrior Prince I know and love. I feel his hand behind my shoulder reach up for Stormfall’s back, his fingers caressing the Bird of Ash who begins to purr in return.
“Twowhiskeys, Alexis?” Keane asks with a chuckle, noticing and reaching for the second glasses.
“We’re in Brierman, Your Highness,” I smirk back at him, “did you expect anything less?”
Keane shifts under the table and presses his thigh against mine.
