“You may read any of the books you wish,” Blaise offered. “And you may even share my favorite spot.”
“Thank you, Blaise.”
“My pleasure,” he said. “It's nice to have someone to share things with.”
We stayed in the library until dinner. Blaise showed me some of his favorite books and made me laugh several more times. I love a man who can make me laugh. In my opinion, laughter is a step away from love. So, I was probably beaming when Blaise led me into the dining room later that evening.
“Don't you two look cozy,” Lancelot noted.
“We went for a stroll through the gardens,” Blaise said brightly, ignoring his brother's irritation. “Then I showed Sylvaine our library.”
Blaise led me to a seat at the end of the table and pulled out the chair for me. It was right next to Lancelot's chair at the table's head. It also put me directly across from Audric, who either smiled or grimaced at me; it's hard to tell with the mix of prominent canines and human mouth. But his eyes seemed to be serene, so I went with my smile theory.
“That was rather tricky of you, brother,” Audric noted.
“I did not ask her to attend me,” Blaise protested. “Sylvaine found me on her own.”
“Honestly,” I interrupted, “I saw Blaise from my window. He forgot his book on the ground, and I went to fetch it.”
“He forgot his book?” Lancelot lifted a skeptical brow. “I find that hard to believe.”
“I did,” Blaise protested. “There was this rabbit–”
“You've never left a book behind in your life; you love them more than anything,” Lancelot scoffed.
“Just because you have issues with literature–” Blaise began but stopped suddenly at Lancelot's scathing gaze.
“Can I call you 'Lance'?” I asked suddenly.
“What?” Lancelot's anger shifted into bafflement.
“Lance,” I said. “Every time I say 'Lancelot' it makes me want to giggle.”
“Then I propose that you continue to call him Lancelot,” Audric said. “I happen to love your giggle.”
I blushed and had a moment of delighted shock. Maybe these men weren't the villains they'd been portrayed as. Or maybe the years of their solitude and punishment had changed them. Either way, I was feeling more and more certain in my decision to give the men a chance. Having multiple men loving you could be a good thing if they all got along. I'd been raised to believe that I would find one man to walk through life with, and he would be it for me–if he died, I would never love again. But sometimes the path of life split, and you were faced with choices... and sometimes the choice was not to decide at all. I could take all three paths before me.
“Yes, you may call me, Lance,” Lancelot said crisply. “It's precisely what my brothers call me.”
“Oh, go and ruin my fun,” Audric pouted.
Then food began to float into the room on silver dishes. It all smelled fantastic, and my stomach rumbled eagerly. The men made surprised barks of laughter, and I giggled.
“Sorry, it's been awhile since I ate,” I said.
“No apologies necessary.” Blaise waved his hand. “You should hear us when we get hungry.”
“It's not pretty,” Audric confirmed.
“We'renot pretty,” Lance huffed.
“Okay, enough of that,” I declared as a piece of chicken was placed onto my plate by invisible hands. “We're not going to get anywhere if you're constantly wallowing in self-pity.”
“Oh, she has you pegged, Lance.” Blaise chuckled.
“I do not wallow.” Lance daintily picked up a silver fork and stabbed his meal with it. “I am a realist.”
“You are a stick in the mud,” Audric corrected. “Sylvaine's right: you can't woo a woman while you mope around melodramatically. We're not vampires, for god's sake.”
