And so, I dealt.
Mrs. E beat me handily at cards more times than I cared to admit before we broke for lunch. We headed inside and grabbed a platter of food before heading back out to the patio.
“Cassy and Leighton are due soon, no?” she asked about the twins while placing the food on the table.
I reached for a bun. “The end of next week.”
“Are your grandparents coming too?”
My hands squished the soft roll in response. “No,” I said, the word coming out harsher than intended—I didn’t enjoy their visits.
On the rare occasions my grandparents joined the twins, all four of them stayed elsewhere. But when it was just Cassy and Leighton, I was forced to relinquish my room for their comfort. Being relegated to the couch took away what little privacy I had, so during their visits, I would spend as much time in the forest as I could. Mrs. E had invited me to stay with her in the past, but my parents forbade it and she’d honored their decision, even if she didn’t agree with it.
“And Eithan, when is he leaving?”
“The day before.”
“Well, that’s unfortunate timing.”
I snorted. “That’s one way to put it.”
“How long are they here for?”
“Only a week.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, they’re just passing through. I guess they have a tutor of some sort down south. I’m not sure of the details.” Nor did I care.
“Well, a week, you can do that. At least it’s not a month this time. And, of course, you’re always welcome to come by as often as you like.”
“I know, thank you,” I said, and silently thanked the stars for Mrs. E. “So, what game would you like to beat me at next?” I smiled at her and handed her the deck of cards.
She shuffled them and gave me a grin, letting me know that no matter what game she chose, she would have no mercy. When it came to cards, she never did.
Chapter 5
Shattered Resolve
The week slipped by faster than anticipated. Eithan and I spent as much time together as we could, but as his departure neared, his time became limited. There was a lot to do when leaving an entire life behind and starting anew. Especially when his entire family was going with him.
I would have offered to help, but ever since the announcement, Eithan’s parents had all but forbade him to see me. Which would have never worked as he would have threatened to walk away from the arrangement if they pushed too hard, and they knew it.
Eithan’s family had treated me like one of their own until they suspected we were intimate. They were traditional and vehemently against us havingrelationsout of wedlock. Something to do with the forgotten gods of old. They hadn’t pressed the issue over the years because Eithan was male, meaning his virtue wasn’t as guarded as his sister’s. Female or not, I wasn’t highborn—or rather, hadn’t stayed that way. His family disapproved of me spreading my legs, but not because my virtue had any real value to them. And although we’d never confirmed their suspicions, they kept me away from theirfamily, namely his sister—lest I taint her with my sacrilegious behavior.
Eithan and I had joked about it mercilessly when we were alone. We’d even used the apparent impious nature of our relationship to seduce one another.
One time after training, Eithan had approached me from behind. His warm breath tickled the side of my neck as he leaned in and whispered into my ear, “What do you think the gods of old would think of me doing this?” His teeth slowly scraped their way down my earlobe.
“Or this?” Roaming hands slipped beneath the band of my waistline, fingers tracing from one side to the other. I leaned back into him as he unfastened my pants. Still standing behind me, he slid a palm straight down my center.
“Perhaps,” he said teasingly, “they’ll smite us for this?” My breath caught as he slid his fingers into my depths.
This type of banter had become an instant aphrodisiac for both of us and always culminated in him burying himself to the hilt, sending ripples of release through us.
Afterward, we’d laugh that the gods hadn’t smote us.Maybe next time,we’d joke. And sometimes thatnext timebecame right then.
Surrounded by the tranquility of our meadow, I sifted through those memories and others while waiting for Eithan. It was his last day, and he was no doubt running late due to his family’s protestations to see me, but we both needed these final moments together before he left. Yes, we would write, but it would be a mere whisper of what we had.
