Valen’s deep voice makes me jump and I realize he’s back. Relief floods me—I’m not alone! But I push it down quickly. Yes, I have company, but Valen and I are still enemies, as he pointed out earlier.
He sits the pan over the fire and uses a knife with the tip of the blade broken off to slice up the sausage. He must have found that in the smoke house as well—I have to admit he’s resourceful. Having lived in a castle all my life, I’m not very good at foraging for myself. I should probably get better at it in a hurry, though—I can’t expect him to take care of me during this entire quest—especially when he hates me and I hate him.
But it’s not hate I feel as I watch him fry the chunks of sausage. The firelight plays over his long black hair, giving it reddish highlights and he handles the iron skillet as though it was cool instead of burning hot.
“Does fire never burn you?” I ask, when he accidentally flips a chunk of sausage out of the pan and into the fire and then reaches right into the coals to retrieve it.
“It can’t.” He shrugs. “It’s my element—part of me the same way my Drake is part of me.” He pops the hot chunk of sausage in his mouth. “Mmm—I think it’s done.”
He pulls the pan off the fire and cuts a few slices of the stale bread. Then he toasts them in the drippings from the sausage. He piles some slices of sausage onto one of the pieces of bread and hands one to me with a mock bow.
“Here you go, your Highness. I know it’s peasant food and not nearly as good as what you get in your fancy Court, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Actually, it’s a lot nicer than what I get in Court,” I say honestly. “At least, during a banquet.”
“What?” He frowns. “I thought that Royals and Nobles ate nothing but the best of the best.”
“Oh, our chefs do cook amazing dishes, but it’s not considered ladylike to eat at a banquet,” I explain. “All you’re allowed to have is broth—otherwise everyone thinks you’re a cow.”
“What?” he shakes his head. “What kind of bullshit is that?”
I shrug.
“It’s the way things are done in my Court. Mostly because the Head Healer tells everyone it’s a bad idea for ladies to become too ‘robust.’ Unfortunately, I didn’t take his advice.”
I take a bite of the crispy, toasted bread with a meaty chunk of sausage and hum with pleasure. This really is surprisingly good—and the wine is nice too, even if it isn’t some ancient vintage that’s been aging in the wine cellar for decades or centuries.
“So they want every woman in your kingdom to be skinny?” Valen asks, making a face as though I’ve said something distasteful.
“You make it sound like a bad thing,” I point out. “Skinny is beautiful.”
“Not where I’m from. We Drakes like a woman with some meat on her bones.” He gives me a look that makes my cheeks feel hot.
“You can’t be serious,” I protest. “Your people really feel that way?”
“Of course.” He gives me that look again. “Who wants to sleep with a skeleton? Besides, a woman with curves is just more beautiful.”
We lock eyes for a moment and I see that his are glowing. I have to look away because I feel so breathless and uncertain.
To cover my confusion, I take another drink of wine.
We eat in silence for a while, and I finish my sausage toast and we share the last of the wine. Then Valen leads me down to the small stream and we wash up. I rinse my mouth, and we refill the empty wine bottle with water.
We go back to the campsite, and I settle close to the fire—too close, because a spark flies into my hair.
“Watch out!” Valen exclaims. Leaning towards me, he catches the flame in his bare hand and smothers it quickly before it can set my hair alight. Then he drags me away from the fire. “Didn’t I tell you not to get too close? Your people aren’t fireproof like mine,” he growls.
“I was cold,” I protest.
“That’s easy to fix.” He puts an arm around me and pulls me close to his big body. Before I know it, I’m basically sitting in his lap with his broad chest against my back.
“Hey! I protest, wiggling against him to try and get free.
“Hold still, Princess,” he growls in my ear. “Or we’re both going to have a serious problem.”
As he speaks, I realize I can feel something hot and hard pressing against my bottom.
Oh my Goddess…what am I going to do now?
