“You seem quite eager not to walk out of this room without it,” he counters.
She stands, grabs his shirt, and pulls his face close to hers. They are about the same height, and her strength is well-honed.
“Give. It. To. Me,” she grits out.
“Why did you step in front of my blade,mo chuisle??1” His voice is soft as silk but loud enough to fill the space.
The moment has taken a turn I wasn’t expecting, far too intimate for me to behold.
I start to move, ready to scurry away silently and let them… finish whatever that was. I barely make it two seconds when Ulla says, “My queen?”
I freeze, and heat spreads throughout my body as I’m caught in the act. Slowly, I turn and walk back to the library’s door.
“Hello, I was just…” my mouth runs dry.
Thorne lifts an eyebrow. “You glow now? What the hell is this place?”
I frown, but Ulla glares at Thorne.
“It happened after traveling through the deep,” I say, aware he was there when it happened.
Thorne laughs. “Marvelous. We saw some very excellent… fish down there.”
Ulla doesn’t yet know about Endu, and I’m not quite sure I want to talk about it right now. Thorne, however, was there. In a way, it feels like he is extending me a branch of friendship.
I purse my lips and try to process this new information as he slides off the table, lands on his feet, soft as a cat, and saunters by.
“I’ll leave you to your boring scrolls and ink,” he says, parading out the door while drinking the rest of his drink.
When he passes me, he pauses, gives me an exaggerated bow, and says, “My leader, Mrath, is delighted by our successful mission. She will be here within a few turns of the sun.” And then, he leaves.
At last, I step into the room and cross to Ulla, who is trying and failing to rebind her hair.
“Stop fussing,” I say gently, pulling the tie off my braid. She looks up as if to protest, but I shake my head. “My room is much closer than yours. Is it all right if I help you?”
When I had first come to Enduvida, Arlet and Liana styled my hair, but that was before I learned about the custom of braiding. Ulla looks up at me and smiles.
“Only if you don’t mind touching another’s hair.”
I pause. “Humans don’t all follow those rituals. Would it be strange for you?”
She shakes her head. “I would consider it a gesture of our friendship.”
I grin and take her silky hair in both hands, nearly shocked at its sheer volume. Her hair is similar to Teo’s, and a strange feeling twinges in my gut when I think of my nonexistent child having long, soft hair like this instead of the wild curls that my mother gave me.
“We weren’t being indecent,” Ulla says after a few moments.
I smile, as I twist the hair atop her head. “An Enduar concerned about being seen ravishing another’s mouth? You wouldn’t need to be ashamed if you were. Gods know I have seen my fair share of indecency in Enduvida.”
She brushes her hand over the scroll. “I wouldn’t say that if he were an Enduar. But he’s not one of us. He’s an elf,” she says.
“One of us? Ulla, I’m a human,” I say, laughing almost. My heart almost can’t take the excess of friends I’ve acquired lately.
She waves her hand, “Humans are one of us. You’ve proven that well enough.”
I quirk an eyebrow as I finish wrapping her hair. “Isn’t Thorne half-human?”
She freezes. “What are you saying?”
