“What are you thinking about?” Sparrow said, voice a little odd. “You’re turning beet red.”
I felt the heat upon my cheeks and probably wore some bemused look on my face. I shook that off. “Nothing, just… thinking that you’ve… opened my horizons. I think… I might like to be with men… and women.”
“Together?”
Well… now that you mention it…
Naughty girl.
Yup, that’s me.
“Maybe…?”
“Oh.” Those beautiful green eyes grew larger still, if that were possible. “I suppose I could… try that?” Sparrow said tentatively.
“I won’t force you to do anything. But I’ll keep that in mind,” I said with a mischievous grin.
After that, we lay dozing together for the rest of the morning before our stomachs started to rumble.
We dressed and left to head down for — what would now be — lunch.
Once again, Amber was outside my room as the two of us came out. She smiled knowingly at us, winked and nodded.
She joined us as we moved down the hall and put an arm around both of us. “Now that you’ve gotten that out, you should come see me sometime.”
I was curious… so I asked, “what about you and Ant?”
She nodded. “I care for him deeply,” she said, but then her voice grew husky. “I care for all of you… deeply.”
“Oh.”
“Exactly.”
I was learning more and more about my housemates.
Chapter 4
The next fewdays passed with a hush over the manor as we all waited and prayed for Silence and Ant to recover. Still, life moved on.
The prince came and went with Fin, but while he was with us, he was quiet and reserved. It was clear he could sense how we felt about Silence and knew that even though he had not been a part of what had been done to the young man, it had been people under his command who had done it. He knew he was responsible, so he remained distant: solemn and quiet. We all avoided him. That was until the third day, when Amber grabbed his arm as he rose after breakfast in the great hall.
“Come with me, princey,” she said pulling him to his feet.
He blinked, surprised. “I… ah… I’m not… please, what…?”
She turned her disarming smile on him as we all watched. “You’re coming with me and we’re going to work out some of that pent-up frustration of yours.”
His eyes grew wide, as did most of the rest of ours.
She grimaced. “No, not like that. I’m going to teach you some combat techniques.”
“Combat…?” He was clearly confused. “I have been trained…”
“Not like this,” she said low and secretive. “You’ve got a small frame, you’re lithe and quick. I think you’ll do well with my style.”
Ah, so that’s what she had in mind. Curious, I rose and followed as she dragged him out of the hall.
“Don’t hurt him too much!” Maverick called after them. “He’s royalty!”
