Chapter 17
The food came quickly, an indulgent spread of meats, vegetables, potatoes, and breads that overfilled each table and only created more waste. A small ensemble played in the corner, the strings of their instruments bright and high in pitch, and my mind settled on the upbeat melody as various guests took turns approaching the table and greeting Harthon and Ellan. Every once in a while, one would nod at me too, but it was always uneasy.
I was perfectly okay with that. The fewer interactions, the better.
“Wine! More wine, now!” Ellan demanded, waving his goblet in the air. A servant rushed over and filled his and Harthon’s cups. His eyes turned wide when he saw my full, untouched goblet. “You don’t like the wine?” he asked in utter disbelief.
I’d tried wine a few times before. Merelda and I never even thought of purchasing it, but when Marsik occasionally acquired a good bottle instead of cheap liquor, he always pestered me to take a sip until I complied. Every time, it was disgusting. Really. Whoever drank wine and spirits was determined to set their throat on fire. So I hadn’t even thought of touching the cup before me and had washed my food down with water.
“I don’t enjoy wine.”
His mouth gaped. “Who doesn’t enjoy wine?” he exclaimed, as if I’dtold him the sky was falling down.
He was boisterous before, but as I stared into his ruddy face, moist with sweat, it was clear he was drunk. I’d dealt with Marsik enough times to know that drunks couldn’t be reasoned with. Still, I tried. “Themagvisdoesn’t.”
He exploded in laughter. “Does themagvisnot enjoy sex, too?” he managed between snorts, and my eyes widened in shock.
Would amagvislike sex? Considering they could birth children, it was possible.
But didIlike sex? It was obvious thatpeopleliked it. But I’d accepted long ago that I wasn’t going to fall into any man’s bed. I’d never even felt attraction until…until—
No way. Absolutely not.
The feelings I got when Harthon complimented me were the warm emotions that followed any sort of flattery. And the feelings I got when I’d stared at his half-naked form this morning were just a regular female reaction to a well-built man.
A verywell-built man.
“You’re blushing,” Ellan observed all too merrily, yanking me out of my head. “She’sblushing!”
“I’m not blushing,” I shot back, even as I felt the heat in my face and neck.
“Sheis!” Ellan persisted.
I swung my gaze to Harthon. With a tilt to his lips, he leaned toward me and said, “You are.”
With that, my flush only worsened. I wasn’t only going to stab Ellan. I was going to stab Harthon too. Somehow.
“Aren’t we supposed to be united?” I hissed angrily, but he merely pulled away, his eyes dancing with light.
“I don’t know if the blush is because she hates sex or likes it!” Ellan shared far too loudly.
“Sex is great for humans, but it’s not something themagviswill discuss with them,” I exploded. Then, just to make him shut his mouth and end this horrible conversation, I jammed the goblet into my mouth and drained half the wine, choking as it went down.
Ellan triumphantly lifted his goblet. “Sexisgreat for us humans. Isn’t it, Harthon?”
Harthon’s expression was all rogue as he drawled, “It is.”
And then I was suddenly thinking not just about sex, but about Harthon and sex, and the sight of his bare torso, and the heat of his body, and how women probably leapt into his bed because his prowess in battle most likely extended to the bedroo—
Stop it. Now.
The red in my face spread to my entire body, and I desperately brought the goblet to my lips again.
Maybe I should get drunk. It might be the only way to make it through the day with my sanity intact.
* * *
“Would you care for a dance, Ladymagvis?”
