I recalled my conversation with Zayr, the morning he gave me the cluster of withered yellow flowers. I’d tossed them the moment I’d left the tavern that day, remembering Elaine’s disgust and fear when Ray had tried to force the flower on her at the auction. I didn’t know her well back then, but I already knew I wouldn’t force anything on her that she disliked so fiercely.
“I heard it heightens their pleasure,” I said. “From what I saw in Ray’s bedroom, however, I doubt it’s really as joyful for them as I was told.”
“It’s not,” she confirmed, her brows knitting into a frown. “I mean the lust is clearly there, but if they didn’t choose to drink the tea in the first place, if it was forced on them, it’s abuse. Their free will was taken away from them.”
Her bottom lip trembled. Helplessness spread through her emotions like a gray spiderweb. Her compassion had no bounds, but it was more than just compassion, she felt the pain of others like her own. In many parts of this world, that would be considered a great weakness.
“What I’m saying…” she drew in a deep breath, finding her composure again, “is that maybe it’s the effect of the hyacinth tea that makes human’s sexual pleasure so harmful to the fae? And if so…”
Her voice trailed off, but I knew what she tried to say because I shared her hope. If I could be connected to her just like this, I would. I’d drink her joy as often as she would let me.
“Do they make humans drink the hyacinth tea in the queen’ssarai?Do you know? Lord Arnaf visits it often. Maybe that’s where his…well, that weird obsession of his comes from?”
“I’ve never been to the queen’ssarai, but I’d bet my life they do not serve that tea there.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because the golden hyacinth is forbidden in the kingdom. Planting it, cultivating, gathering, and consuming in any shape or form is punishable by death.”
She blinked at me in surprise. “I didn’t know that. But why?”
“Queen Abeille’s husband was assassinated with a dagger laced with the potion created with the hyacinth.”
“And it killed him?”
“Well, it paralyzed him for many years, both his mind and his body. But eventually, yes, he died.”
“But you just said that hyacinth has no effect on the shadow fae.”
“In its natural form, it’s harmless. But when brewed in potions with some ancient spell that a mage discovered a while ago, it has a devastating effect.”
“It’s different for humans. The thugs who caught and sold me talked about a hag who came up with the recipe for the tea to give to humans. But I also saw them feed just the juice of the flower to a human woman, and it had a very similar effect on her too.”
Her expression darkened with that memory, and I ran a soothing hand down her back. I made sure to use my right hand, gently scraping over her skin with my claws. A shimmer of pleasure sparkled though her emotions, rippling over my skin too.
“Brewing tea would require less flowers, I imagine. And since their supply is scarce, it makes sense that they would use magic to strengthen its potency,” I said.
With Elaine’s sweet pleasure spreading though my body, I struggled to maintain focus on our conversation.
“It doesn’t apply to Lord Arnaf then, since he only tastes the human emotions without the tea,” she pondered out loud.
“Right.”
“Maybe he’s just naturally that needy and jittery?”
“Maybe.”
I felt relaxed and more at peace than ever. My thoughts drifted away from Lord Arnaf and his odd behavior. Instead, I focused on studying Elaine’s responses as I caressed her body.
Curiously, her reactions varied depending on where I touched. During our meetings with clients, I’d learned that she enjoyed me touching her in some places more than others. WhatI hadn’t expected was how wide the range of those emotions was and how so finely nuanced they were.
Her joy came in so many flavors, it took all my concentration to map her feelings by touch.
“You’re not listening, are you?” She narrowed her eyes at me.
I blinked, meeting her accusing look.
“Sorry.” I stroked the side of her face apologetically.
