Ellowyn tore her eyes from me for a moment to fix him with a glare that would wither the strongest of men. I chuckled then and clasped Torin’s shoulder before whispering in his ear, “You’re in for it now, brother.”
Torin huffed a dry laugh before shrugging out of my hold.
“Hello, Ellowyn,” I returned, not daring to come closer to her bed.
The Bondsmith blinked owlishly as she tossed her gaze from Torin and me before glancing back at Ellowyn.
“Well, this is officially the most awkward reunion I have ever encountered,” she deadpanned wryly before striding to the hidden door on the wall that connected her room to Torin’s. “You have some explaining to do, godling,” she called as she left the room, the door snicking shut in the quiet space.
“Did she mean you or me?” Ellowyn asked Torin with a raised eyebrow.
I felt Torin shift uncomfortably next to me, his leather boots creaking with the motion. He carved one large palm through his already disheveled dark blond hair before gripping the back of his increasingly red neck.
Torin, Lord of Iluul and the rebellion, wasembarrassed.It was an emotion I’d never seen him wear before, and I found it oddly endearing. A quick glance at Ellowyn proved I was the only one who felt that way, however.
“So you know,” he said quietly.
Ellowyn simply blinked in an exaggerated movement before turning her gaze back to me. “I’m not in the mood to speak to him right now.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And what do you propose I do about it, Queen d’Refan? These are his rooms after all,” I said, sweeping my arms out to the sides to gesture to the quite tackily decorated space.
Ellowyn wrinkled her nose before throwing the covers back, exposing just as soiled trousers and, thankfully, bare feet. She pushed shakily, yet surprisingly steady, from the bed, and my lips turned down in disgust at the mess that was left behind on the sheets.
Neither Torin nor I moved as she slowly made her way across the plush carpet that covered the majority of the grey stone floor. She winced a few times as her muscles stretched and spasmed, but she never faltered or halted her progress until she stood close enough to Torin that their chests nearly bumped.
His cream tunic moved with the frantic beat of his heart, and I watched in rapt fascination as he bent slightly forward as if drawn by an invisible string to my sister.
“Ell,” he rasped quietly, hands hovering above her hips. To my surprise, Ellowyn leaned forward just enough to touch her lips softly to his in a brief, almost-kiss. Torin’s eyes closed in relief and contentment, but instantly flew open when Ellowyn reared back suddenly and cracked her palm across his cheek.
A bright pink handprint began to immediately bloom from where she struck him. Torin stood still in shock, his hands still hovering in the now-empty space where Ellowyn once stood.
A laugh started low in my belly, boiling and gaining momentum as it worked its way up my throat until it exploded out of my mouth in a loud, sharp burst.
Ellowyn and Torin remained unfazed, the former glaring at the latter with the intensity of a thousand suns while he looked at her like shewasthe sun.
I’m fairly confident that slap only made him fall further in love with her.
I simply continued laughing; now that I started it felt hard to stop. Like a dam was finally bursting—the relief of my loved ones surviving the Battle of Vespera, combined with bubbling panic I felt over the unexpected guests Folami brought back to Lishahl.
Torin peeled his eyes from Ellowyn with a sigh as I struggled to contain my mirth.
“I’m going to bathe,” Ellowyn announced. “I would like the sheets changed and for him to stop braying like a donkey”—she gestured lazily in my direction, but I didn’t miss the slight uptick of her lips—“by the time I return.”
“Will you slap me again if neither of those things happens?” There was an undercurrent of heat to Torin’s wry question. Ellowyn’s eyes widened before she scowled again.
“Gross,” I gasped through my wheezes.
Ellowyn turned with a huff that was much less annoyed than she intendedand strode to the bathroom, closing herself inside. Minutes later, I heard the telltale sounds of the copper tub filling with magically heated water.
“Gods, she smelled,” I chortled, finally standing straight and wiping the tears from beneath my eyes. Torin turned to me with death written in his gaze.
I held my hands up in supplication. “I’m just stating the obvious, Torin. You could have at least washed her before laying her in bed.”
Torin pursed his lips before moving to strip the linens from the bed. “I didn’t want to . . . touch her without her knowing. It didn’t seem right.”
I finally sobered with his words as I helped him find new linens and remake the bed. These were old and smelled faintly of dust, but they at least didn’t carry the stench of death. With a casual flick of his wrist, flames shot from Torin’s palm and incinerated the offending pile of bedsheets.
“You’ve seen her naked. Of anyone, you’re theonlyone that could have helped her without repercussions,” I said as we stretched the sheet over the mattress.
