Pharis laughed. “Patience, patience. We’re almost there.”
We’d been strolling through the idyllic village, past its pristine storefronts and homes, their window boxes overflowing with colorful blooms, toward its most striking feature, the waterfall.
It was majestic, cascading from a high cliff and forming a fluffy white veil against the gray rock. The sound of the rushing water was somehow soothing and exciting at the same time.
The meadow bordering it was decorated by wildflowers and the flutter-bys who visited them. I’d never seen a more picturesque setting in my life.
As we drew closer to the falls, I spotted a blanket spread on the grass on the other side of a rise. A handled basket sat atop it. It hadn’t been visible from the main road.
I sidled a glance at Pharis and grinned.
“What have you been up to?”
He chuckled. “You ask that as if I’ve done something naughty. I’ve just been visiting the local food purveyors and supporting their business efforts.”
“That’s a very large basket,” I observed.
“I’m a very supportive guy,” Pharis said. “Andyouhave a large appetite. I discovered that when you inhaled my supply of raff and left me to go hungry in that cave.”
I pushed at his arm. “I did not.”
Stumbling a few steps to the side, Pharis laughed loudly now. I hadn’t heard that magical sound since Turi had commented that he seemed “tame.” It lifted my spirits to new heights.
The sunshine, the smell of spring flowers, the soothing sound of rushing water… rarely in my life had I ever experienced such a feeling of rightness.
Though we’d spent the past few weeks on the run from danger, this beautiful village felt like the safest place in the world, and this sunny day here with Pharis a moment out of time.
The feeling of wonder and ease persisted as we lowered ourselves to the blanket warmed by the sun, and Pharis withdrew a bottle of wine from the basket. Two glasses followed.
As he extracted the cork, Pharis said, “Elven wine is far superior to the human-made version, but Solfrid assures me this one is close.”
“Still such a snob,” I teased him. “Even when you’re being magnanimous.”
Filling a glass with sparkling liquid, he handed it to me.
“And your vocabulary still shames me and reminds me I should be reading more. I assume ‘magnanimous’ is something good?”
I smiled and accepted the glass, sniffing its fragrant contents before taking a sip.
“It is. Very good. Being magnanimous means being especially kind and generous toward a less powerful person.”
Pharis took a sip from his own glass and kept his head bent to let the edge of it linger at his lips. His brilliant cyan eyes raised to meet mine.
“You have your own kind of power, Wildcat.”
For some reason, a chill passed through my body. It wasn’t necessarily what Pharis had said but the way he’d said it, his voice low and intimate sounding.
I gulped down a swallow of wine and forced myself to smile though I felt a bit shaky inside.
“You sound like my mother.”
He winced. “Not what I was going for. But she was right. Are you ready to eat?”
“More than ready,” I said. “I’m starved.”
“Then let’s eat.”
Pharis got to his feet, drawing a long cloth from his back pocket. “There’s only one condition.”
