I hadn’t expected that, and wasn’t sure how to respond, but while I still scrambled for a casual reply, something brushed my arm and a deep voice rumbled from inches over my head.
“Whatever the lady would like, I’ll have that and a glass of your best red. And there’s no need for change.”
The woman smiled, ducked her head, then hurried away for the drinks and a masculine hand flattened on the bar next to me, then slipped away, leaving two fat coins on the shining surface.
I looked up at him, surprised. “That’s very kind of you, Sir, but—”
He leaned one elbow on the bar, and smiled. “We have far too few women of quality who join us here. I’m just doing my best to be certain you want to return,” he said quietly. “My name is Trace. I’m a merchant. I deal with the palace.”
I hoped he didn’t deal with the Keep, too. “It’s lovely to meet you, Sir, but—”
A cup of pale wine—I hoped she’d watered it as I asked—and a deep red appeared on the bar and in the same motion the coins disappeared.
The man, Trace, picked up his cup and raised it towards me. “What might you celebrate on this fine evening?” he asked with a handsome smile.
“To… new friends?” I said uncertainly, but let my lips curl up on one side.
His smile broadened. “I’ll drink to that.”
We both sipped from our cups, then he leaned more heavily on the bar. “I haven’t seen you here before, have I?”
I took a deep breath and shook my head, forcing myself not to look at his cup that was only inches from my elbow. “No,” I said shyly. “This is my first time. I’m Brenna…”
~ DONAVYN ~
“Where is she?!”
I’d come to the stable to find Bren, to talk to her about the queen and let her know that I was willing to discuss it—only todiscover from Kgosi that Akhane said she’d left the Keep with Terra.
Dressed in skirts?
‘Donavyn,’Kgosi rumbled a warning in my head.‘She is with the woman you trust—’
‘In the city? Why?’
‘Akhane said they spoke of plans for Bren’s training—a skill Terra believed she could teach. A way of protecting herself.’
‘They have to go into the city for that?’
Kgosi rumbled a growl and shifted his weight. Akhane’s ears flickered towards him, then she submitted and slipped out of the stable as if he’d asked for us to be alone. I watched her go, frowning, but my agitation rose.
“Kgosi, I didn’t mean Akhane had to leave, I was—”
‘You are fearful for her, and that is a mark of your love. But your thoughts, Donavyn. They swirl in directions I do not like. You’re losing your balance.’
It was a term we’d used since I was young and cocky, too sure of myself on his back. In my arrogance, I had fallen during a dismount, very early on in my Flameborne training, injuring myself and slowing my progress.
The term had become a quiet joke between us—and a warning.
He meant I wasn’t being wise. That my thoughts took me in self-defeating directions.
My hackles rose.‘Protecting my mate isn’t imbalanced—’
‘It is when your mind drifts to men placing hands on her, with no thought for anyone else’s assistance, or her own capability.’
‘My mind goes in those directions because we know she’s already experienced those realities!’
‘We also know she walks with a woman that we trust… don’t we?’
