“Marigold,” he rumbled, “I didn’t mean—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” I snapped. “The moment’s over.” I grabbed my towel, wrapping it quickly around myself. I wasn’t sure what was the most humiliating—being sexually rejected for being a virgin, having Octavian question my ability to emotionally handle this situation, or having him make it clear, in no uncertain terms, that any sort of feelings between us were absolutely off the table.
He straight-up told you that his heart is unavailable, I reminded myself about that last point.It’s your own fault if you chose to ignore that and hope for something more.But I quickly shoved that shaming voice down. It absolutelywasn’tmy fault that this man thought I couldn’t handle making my own choice about this. It didn’t matter howhonorablehe thought he was being.
“Marigold.” Octavian was already climbing out of the bath, but I was too worked up to have a productive conversation about any of this right now. I was done.
Without bothering to grab my dirty clothes off the floor, I pushed the door open and darted into the corridor outside.
And slammed right into Talon.
A pair of birds startled from his shoulders, rising into the air with a string of chirps.
“Whoa, there.” Talon caught me by the arms, steadying me. “Everything all right?”
Octavian burst through the door behind me.
“Mari—” His deep rumble cut off when he saw his friend. He hadn’t even bothered to grab a towel before chasing after me, and his huge, naked, dripping form took up the entire doorway.
Talon raised an eyebrow. “Lovers’ spat?”
“No,” both Octavian and I said at the same time.
Talon’s eyebrow rose even higher, and his eyes sparkled with barely repressed amusement.
“Well, perhaps my dear old friend should put on some clothes,” he said. “This isn’t a pleasure house, after all.” His voice was slightly raspy, but in a pleasant way. His dark eyes fell to me. “May I escort you back to your room?”
“That would be lovely, thank you,” I replied. I was very aware of the fact that I was in nothing but a towel, but nothing about Talon’s manner made me feel uncomfortable with that.
Octavian looked like he wanted to say something more, to argue with his friend or with me, but he seemed to think better of the idea. His expression became unreadable once more, the emotions in his eyes once again disappearing behind his practiced control as he turned to retreat into the bathing room without another word. He’d do what he believed was the right thing, even when another part deep inside him wanted something very different.
“I trust Oak didn’t try anything untoward?” Talon asked as he walked me down the passage.
Despite the wording, there was genuine concern in his tone, so I assured him, “No, nothing like that.”
“Good.” He nodded. “I would have been shocked to learn my old friend had changed so much.”
“Nope, I can promise he’s still as honorable as he ever was,” I said, too worked up to stop myself from talking, even though I probably should have. “That’s precisely the problem.”
“Ah,” Talon said knowingly. The birds had resumed their perches on his shoulders, and one of them gave a little warble that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle.
“I mean, obviously it’s good that he’s honorable,” I said. “I’m not complaining about that. But there’s a difference between being honorable and acting like you know more than the woman you’re supposedly trying to protect in the first place. Don’t I get a say in any of this?” Realizing I was dumping on a stranger, I quickly added, “Not that you need to know any of this. I know he’s your friend. And we’ve only just met.”
“I don’t believe we’ve even been formerly introduced,” Talon said, his amusement plain on his face. “I’m Talon, though I trust you’re aware of that by now.”
“I’m Marigold, which I assume you know as well.” I hugged my towel across my chest. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to put you in the middle of all this.”
“No apologies necessary. It just goes to show that even the best of men can become complete asses when it comes to matters of lust and love.” He grinned at me. “He always was the best at everything growing up, and I don’t mind being reminded that he has a few flaws.” He struck me as the sort of amiable person who could find humor and joy in just about anything, which was refreshing after the tumultuous couple of days I’d had. It was unsurprising that someone like him had attracted an entire crew of people ready to join his cause.
I smiled, in spite of myself. “You two were really close, huh?”
“We grew up together in Riversend. Back then we were the same size.” He reached up and rubbed one of his little birds on its downy head. “We were extremely competitive as boys, always racing, wrestling, getting into all sorts of trouble together. He almost always came out on top, of course, especially after he basically doubled in size overnight. But he was humble about it, so I never held it against him.” His tone suggested he found the whole thing endearing. “It probably helped, as we got older, that we were never competing for lovers. Most of the young women in Riversend were ready to drop anything at a moment’s notice just because he happened to glance in their direction.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” I muttered.
Talon nodded. “By then, he had already gained something of a reputation as a hero, traveling all around the surrounding countryside slaying monsters and saving villages. He could have had any woman he wanted, but he only had eyes for Esmerine.”
That wasn’t the first time he’d mentioned that name since we’d arrived here. Something contracted in my chest, and before I could stop myself, I asked, “Who was she?”
