He looked into the crowd, searching. When his eyes connected with mine, they held, and I heard his voice clearly, as if he spoke directly into my ear, as he rumbled out, “Delni unru drikkan kussun bak.”
Cheers rang up into the night sky and in a flurry of motion, females suddenly appeared with heaping, massive plates of food. They deposited them on every table. When one of the females came to ours, the platter thudded down and it was the most meat I’d ever seen in my entire life.
I caught Seerin’s gaze again, noticing that an olderbikkuhad brought him a specially prepared platter.
“Eat, Nelle,” Avuli said to my left. When I looked over at her, I saw that Arlah was already eating, plucking chunks of meat from the platter happily and stuffing them into his wide mouth.
My friend had a knowing expression on her face and I knew I’d been caught looking at Seerin. I nodded and began taking some meat, though my stomach was now fluttering.
After a while, I noticed that the tables began passing platters and our mound of meat disappeared, only to be replaced by one of my favorites: precisely cut squares of the purple bread I now knew was calledkuveri.
Avuli’s brother, Odrii, who’d shared his given name with me during our last shooting lesson, appeared, sauntering over to our table from a group of warriors he’d joined. In his hand was a goblet and he wore a wide grin when he saw me.
He collapsed with a deep sigh into the chair across from me and reached out to take my hand, leaning towards me.
“How pretty you look tonight,” he murmured, his eyes glittering.
I shook my head at him, chuckling slightly because it was obvious that Odrii was slightly drunk off the fermented wine, which spilled from his goblet. His hand was heavy and warm.
“Will you dance with me later?” he asked next, his gaze intent on me.
His father replied, “Leave her alone, you fool. You will only embarrass yourself if you force her to dance with you.”
Avuli’s hand covered her brother’s and peeled it away from my palm. “If you wish to keep this hand, brother, you would be wise to keep it to yourself.”
Shock at her words made me regard her, but her lips were pressed tightly together. I wondered why she would say that, but it only took another moment to realize why.
Seerin looked thunderous from his place on the dais. His eyes were on Odrii and I couldfeelhis displeasure on the opposite side of the feast. It rolled off him in waves.
He wasjealous.
Intensely so. But his jealousy seemed deeper, as if what Odrii had done was an insult.
Odrii didn’t seem to comprehend his sister’s words. Instead, he grabbed somekuveri, placing it into his mouth, chewing happily, gazing around at the females that swayed past.
I, on the other hand, turned to look at Avuli. She met my eyes and held them.
She’d never asked me directly about my relationship with herVorakkar. But I knew she was no fool. Even Odrii had heard the rumors around the encampment, so of course Avuli would’ve too.
I didn’t know what to say so I ate anotherkuverisquare, half-listening as mymitridrew his son into conversation about learning to shoot the bow and arrow.
“She is a good instructor,” Odrii said, grinning over at me. I forced a smile, all too aware of Seerin’s gaze. “I did well last time, did I not?”
“You did,” I agreed, before looking at his father. “He finally hit the target at least.”
His father laughed and the platters switched again. Another pile of meat came to us, though this was a marinated meat and thinly sliced.
I took another healthy sip of my wine, feeling a little looser and more relaxed because of it. More platters rotated and my table talked and laughed, though I only felt half present. The other half of me felt elsewhere, on the dais, held by piercing grey eyes.
Once most of the eating was finished and I was stuffed full, I noticed a beautiful, tall female in an icy blue dress approach Seerin, a goblet of wine in her grip.
Conversation from my table seemed to fall away as I straightened and watched the female climb the stairs towards him.
His attention turned to her as she bent low and placed the goblet on his table. Then they spoke, her smile brightening at whatever he said.
Something knotted in my stomach watching them. I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful they looked together. She was exactly the kind of female I’d always envisioned Seerin would prefer.
They only spoke for a few moments, but it seemed like it lasted a lifetime before she inclined her head and rejoined the feast.
