I watch the exchange, even more confused.
“He bet you wouldn’t even take one sip,” she explains as she deposits her winnings into the pouch with her Sazo. I look from her to the drinks to a still laughing Sice, as everything clicks into place.
“It was a prank?” I ask relieved.
I’m not even pissed, I’m just so happy I’ll never have to torture my tongue with that shit again.
“My taste buds will never recover,” I whine and then laugh as I grab fabric from the skirt of my dress and proceed to wipe my tongue with it.
That kicks off another round of laughter, and this time I have laugh tears right alongside them.
I might be a little drunk.
“I should tell the both of you that I’m not one for holding a grudge...I cook them their favorite foods, sing songs of retribution to them, and read my grudges bedtime stories. You two have no idea the wrath you just unleashed down upon you.”
I release an epic evil laugh, but its effect is ruined by the loudest, grossest tasting burp I’ve ever experienced in my life. I slam my hands over my mouth, too late to stop it from billowing out, and Sice’s eyes widen with shock. Dri and several other patrons shoot out of their chairs and start clapping for me. My face heats up with pure, undiluted embarrassment, which only serves to spur them on as they start cheering and clapping even harder.
After a beat, I stand up, flip everyone the bird, and then curtsey. “Now someone get me something to drink that doesn’t taste like upchuck,” I order, and to my surprise, several people make a dash toward the bar.
I sit back down, surprised that my bossiness worked and didn’t get me punched in the face. Sice grabs my half full stein and downs it, his punctuating belch even weaker than his last one. I eye him with judgment and then crack up.
“No wonder you’re unmated, with burps like that,” Dri teases, and Sice rolls his eyes on a chuckle.
“I am unmated because no female is worthy of me,” he announces, gesturing to his body like this should be obvious.
I laugh, and he looks mock offended by it.
“I know you laugh to keep the tears from your eyes,” he teases. “Alas, it is true, not even you, as beautiful as you are, could pin me down.”
Dri snorts and shakes her head. “As if you’d be worthy of an Ouphe blessed!” she jeers, laughing even harder when Sice gives an indignant gasp.
“I’ll have you know, I’ve had a few in my time,” he defends, and Dri chokes on the large sip she just took from a stein handed to her by another guard.
Sice pats her back hard. A new metal cup is also set in front of me, and I turn to thank the male for getting it. He looks at me oddly and then moves to sit back down at his table. I remember Ryn telling me thatpleaseandthank youaren’t a thing with Gryphons, and I make a note to flip my polite switch off for the night.
“If an Ouphe blessed even so much as looked your way, it was because of who you flapped with,” Dri points out, and Sice lifts his metal cup and thunks it with hers.
“Ain’t that the truth,” he agrees, and they both crack up again. “It’s good having friends in high places,” he adds taking deep pulls of his drink.
I chuckle, enjoying the back and forth between them. I pick up my cup and sniff it before taking a hesitant sip.Oh thank fuck, it’s meade.I release an appreciative moan that sends Sice into a choking fit and Dri into a round of giggles. I lift my stein in the direction of the guard who procured it for me and throw my head back and down the contents. The group of guards bang their metal cups on the table in approval and cheer when I hold up the empty cup victoriously.
“The good days, before the wars, when us feral boys stalked mischief and hunted danger,” Sice poetically recalls as I sit back down.
“Hunted danger?” Dri teases. “More like your keepers cleared away any threats, while you boys frolicked around none the wiser, trying to bed girls and climb ranks that were already laid out for you like stepping-stones.”
Sice chuckles. “Don’t let Ryn or Lazza hear you say that,” he jokes, and my ears perk up at the sound of familiar names. “The only one of us to earn a place is Zeph, and look what he did with it,” Sice adds, and Dri immediately sobers and shushes him.
She looks around us, clearly checking to see if what was just said was overheard.
“Watch yourself, Sice. You know what just speaking his name will get you, especially now when the best of us are out there fighting,” Dri warns him.
“Oh cum on the lot of ’em,” Sice declares, but he drops his voice just as he was told to do. “I know who he is now, but it doesn’t change who we all were growing up. You’d think we all grew in the same womb and suckled from the same tit, we were that close. Lazza, Treno, and Ryn can pretend it never happened, but we all know the truth,” he grumbles quietly.
“What do you mean?” I ask, not able to curb my curiosity.
Sice and Dri both look up at me at the same time as if they had forgotten I was even there. Sice’s gaze immediately takes on a guarded glint.
“Nothing at all, milady,” he states, pushing out of his chair, his empty mug in hand.
