“We wanted to enjoy our time off more,” the other twin finished unabashedly, taking a hefty swig from his glass. On the porch behind them I saw a jug of the liquid that was nearly half empty.
“Are you drunk?” I asked incredulously, eyeing their glasses with a not small amount of envy.
“Just a little,” the right brother said.
“Quite a bit,” the left brother added.
I couldn’t help it; I grinned, my anger over their earlier teasing ebbing. These were the first people I’d met in this realm who weren’t taking everything so damned seriously. The pressure of supposedly being the chosen savior of an entire realm was just too much. I needed a break, if only for a few hours.
“So I'm your princess, yeah?”
They both nodded.
“Awesome. Well in that case consider my first royal decree that I need a drink and some food. Whatever you’re cooking smells insanely good.”
The brothers glanced at each other, a wordless conversation passing between them. The one on the left jumped up to offer me his seat on the porch while grabbing a discarded plate, and the other refilled his glass then handed it to me. I didn’t even bother to ask what it was before I downed half the liquid in two gulps. All I cared about was that it tasted delicious, like a rum and coke with honey.
I took another sip, and my eyes drifted down to the dying fire that flared back to life of its own accord when the spit started to rotate once more. I blinked a couple times. What the hell was in my drink?
“Am I hallucinating or is there no wood in that fire?” I asked the brother beside me who was lazily spinning his hand through the air. “Also, how is it turning?” The spit was nothing more than a metal rod set onto a few pieces of wood, yet it rotated in a smooth regular rhythm.
One brother laughed while the other brought me a plate of meat and said, “We are elemental casters. I am an igniservian so I’m holding the fire in place, and he is an aeriservian so he funnels the air that allows it to rotate.”
“Dang,” I said, starting to understand the appeal of magic in this world. “That’s badass.”
I tore into the food he handed me, devouring it in minutes, then tossed back more of the honey-booze, enjoying the feeling of relaxation that had started to wend its way through me. “So who are you guys, anyway?”
“My name is Camden, but you may call me Cam,” the one beside me said.
“And I am Ramset,” the one by the railing said. “But call me Ram.”
My eyes darted back and forth between them. “You go by Cam and Ram?” I tried not to laugh, but a small giggle snuck out anyway.
Crap. That couldn’t be good. I only giggled when I was drunk.
“I like you guys,” I said, laying my head back on the porch and staring up at the blue sky. I had a belly full of food and a pleasant buzz in my brain. Maybe I could get through these next few weeks.
“You are definitely not what we expected from our conversation with Dey,” Cam said. Or maybe it was Ram. I already forgot which was which.
“God, I can only imagine what he said about me. Wait, when did you talk to him?”
“This morning,” Cam or Ram said.
I remembered my morning encounter with Dey, and my cheeks flushed. “Do not believe a thing he said. He was the naked one and I swear I didn’t touch anything. I mean, yeah I peeked, but who wouldn’t…” My words trailed off when I caught both brothers grinning at me mischievously. “He didn’t say anything, did he?”
“Only that you had arrived, but please continue. Naked, you say?” He waggled his eyebrows at me, and I smacked him on the arm. The cottage tilted beneath me, rocking gently like calm ocean waves.
“It wasn’t like that,” I said, yawning. “Or it kind of was, but nothing happened. And nothing is gonna happen. Dey and me is not a good idea for a lot of reasons.”
“Such as…?” the brother below me asked.
“Oh, you know,” I waved my hand around loosely in the air, fighting to keep my eyes open. “Sex complicates things, and right now my life is complicated enough. Better if I don’t go down that road.” My eyes drifted shut, and I didn't try to open them. I would sit up when the world stopped spinning.
“Now you sound like Sin.”
“What’s a Sin?” I slurred, trying and failing to fight off the strong tug of exhaustion.
I didn’t hear their answer. The warm blanket of sleep had become too enticing to resist.
