Xaydin gave her a droll stare. “Are you trying to piss me off?”
“Just trying to help. Since you know…there’s no reason to hide what I can do.”
“There are lots of reasons to hide.” Masakage jerked his chin toward all the stares they were collecting. “Wish I could turn into a dormouse.”
Xaydin tossed a handful of peanuts that had been left on the table at his brother. “You can do better than a dormouse. You can vanish.”
He flashed a smile. “Very true.” Then he scanned the room. “Wonder if any of them could use a fortune or two.”
Before he could respond, Masakage wandered off to hustle business.
Xaydin ordered them drinks.
“You still mad at me?” Gisela asked.
“I don’t know. I want to be, but I know it’s not your fault. Although, that being said, you should have been the one who told me.”
“Would you have told me if you were in my place?”
“Would depend on how churlish I was feeling.”
She smiled at that.
And all he could really think about was her hand in his.What is wrong with me?That was the last thing he should be thinking about.
Their server came over with two tankards of mead and set them down with a grimace. “Two crowns.”
Gisela scoffed at the amount.
Without a word, Xaydin fished the coins from his pocket and tossed them on the table.
As soon as they were alone, she gaped at him. “Why would you pay so much?”
“Should I die, I’d like to be drunk when it happens. Should I live, I’ll bill this to Dash. Either way, I’m good.”
Gisela shook her head at his glib tone as he downed a good portion of his mead. She sipped hers much more slowly. “You really are reconciled to death, aren’t you?”
“Everyone dies at some point, my lady. Doing what I do, Theren is more likely to come for me sooner than later.”
“Theren?”
“Our god of death. It’s said he comes personally to claim the souls of true warriors. That’s why trolls fight so fiercely. We all pray for him to escort us to our paradise where we will fight, wench and drink for eternity.”
“That sounds nice. We don’t have paradise.”
“Centaurs?”
She nodded. “We believe that if we’re worthy, we’re reborn into a new family and body. If we’re unworthy, we cease to exist.”
He drank the last of his mead and grimaced. “What do centaurs believe makes them worthy?”
“If you’re a leader, leading. If you’re a follower, following. We accept our lot and don’t fight it.”
“Hence why you blindly follow your mother’s orders?”
She nodded. “I don’t know what shape shifters believe in. Do you?”
“They believe in a paradise where they live in peace with everyone.”
