This has to be a joke.
“What are you thinking?” Keane asks from his seat.
I glance back down at him with a grimace.
“I’m thinking that you and your family have no sense of personal boundaries…”
I shake my head at the audacity of them all and extend my hand for the drink, “but, you answered truthfully. I may not like the answer, but I appreciate the honesty.”
The Prince slowly hands the flask back to me, his brown eyes finding mine as he takes his turn.
“What exactly do you do for my father?”
While I expected this to be his first question, I’m still a bit disappointed that it is.
I eye the whiskey, replying straight, “I’m searching for something on his behalf. Something that he’s deemed important but hasn’t yet told me why. If I find it, I am to bring it back to his possession.”
“And you’ve been traveling our Kingdom for it?”
“Until now,” I nod, “two years ago your father approached me with the request. Our group has been traveling within Knowledge for the better half of over a year, just recently moving into your lands in the past half year. Pyre changes that. This will be the first time we’ve ever left Disce.”
Keane watches me silently, his brown eyes darting across my face in thought. I reach down and hand the drink back to him as his fingers brush against mine, the simple movement making my heart skip a single beat.
“Your summoning allowed you to see where I was tonight, where I was today…”
I glance at the bottle touching his lips and ask carefully, “did you know where I left to last night after court?”
“I didn’t have to use my summoning to know where you went off to, Alexis,” he replies bluntly, “or what for.”
A weird, unnamed emotion tugs at my stomach. I take a deep breath and will it away, remaining quiet as Keane extends his hand again and passes me the whiskey.
“You and Cal?” he asks.
My smile in response is genuine as I take a good swig.
“Never like that. We’re just friends.Goodfriends. A recognition and appreciation of the company of the other.”
Keane shifts his back against the tree again, his presence quiet as he continues to watch me. I watch him in return, my mind wondering if I should do what I want to do right now. I decide to take the flirtatious leap and step forward, offering him the flask. I settle my boot next to his leg and place my fingers timidly on his knee, pushing it straight down as I easemyself onto the ground in front of him. The air around us stills when I purposely sit between the spread of his legs with my toes nearly reaching the inside of his thighs.
“Trouble,” he murmurs softly, lips curving into a small smirk.
I give him a knowing grin and nod in agreement, shifting my feet slightly so that the edge of my boots actually do brush against the inside of his thighs. Keane reaches out quickly and grasps them in response, holding the tops of my toes in a tight embrace just as I lean back comfortably on my hands.
“What made you leave Knowledge?” I ask curiously.
The Prince takes a deep breath and considers his answer, opening his mouth and then closing it again before opting to take a swig from the whiskey.
“Do you remember Lord Daniel asking you about the human and Discerni relationships at your Court tonight?” he finally asks in return.
“Yes,” I nod.
“Well I was over the stiffness of it all, over the etiquette that comes between the Discerni and humans, Lords and Ladies, high born and common. Warrior was the escape from that, my way of creating a community to the standards I wanted to see. I’ve spent the majority of my time here easing those relations and offering a different way of living foreverybeing, magical or not.”
Ancients.
I shift in my seat and flush fiercely at his words, genuinely taken aback when they send a small tug between my legs. Keane’s brown gaze watches me intently, his eyes telling me that he wants to say more.
“Why do I get the feeling that there’s more to your answer?”
