“Oh,” I said. I wondered what my parents—and the prince—would think about me sharing a room with a guard. Although technically Elowin was my protection, so maybe it was all right.
He slid one of the large mugs across the table. “Drink up, Sparrow.”
I took a sip and made a face. “Oh, this isn’t cider.”
“It’s beer,” Elowin said. “Have you not had beer before?”
“No,” I said.
“I can get you something else.”
“No,” I said. “I just wasn’t used to the taste, that’s all. It’s nice. I shall do my best to finish it all.”
Elowin’s mouth twitched. “Well, you want to be in the mood for all the carousing, right?”
“I come from a genteel family, Elowin,” I reminded him. “I do notcarouse!”
Two hours later Elowin carried me upstairs over his shoulder as I continued to loudly sing the cheerful roundel I’d just learned, my new best friend chasing after him to get her lute back.
The sunlight woke me. It was an unpleasant sensation. I groaned and threw an arm up over my eyes. It didn’t help. My head ached, and my mouth was dry. I put my arm down and opened my eyes to see the unfamiliar ceiling of this unfamiliar tavern room. I remembered Elowin carrying me up here last night and helping me take my boots off, but where was he now? I peered over the edge of the bed and spotted him stretched out on the floor, his pack underhis head as a pillow. He didn’t even have a blanket! Although he certainly didn’t appear discomforted by that fact. I supposed that royal guards were trained to handle small discomforts, but I still felt guilty that he’d slept on the floorboards while I’d had a comfortable mattress. I sat up and regretted it immediately as my stomach rebelled and my head swam. I pressed my hands to my stomach and groaned.
Elowin opened his eyes. “You alright up there, Sparrow?”
“I don’t feel very well,” I whispered.
He stood up and stretched. “You’ll be fine. You just need a big greasy breakfast.”
That sounded like the opposite of what I needed.
He must have read the doubt in my expression because he said, “Trust me. It’s the best cure for a hangover.”
“I’ve never had a hangover before,” I said miserably. “I don’t think I like them very much.”
“Nobody does,” he said, far too cheerfully, and why didn’thehave a hangover?
He glanced over at me and his expression softened. “Come on. I promise you’ll feel better once you eat.”
My stomach flipped at the thought, but I did trust Elowin. The prince would only have sent his best guard to escort me, surely. Still, did he really have to hum the song I’d learned so faithfully last night, and sung so loudly, as he followed me down the stairs to the taproom?
Breakfast was porridge with honey, thick toast with lots of bacon, and a large mug of elderflower tea, and Ididfeel better after I ate. Then Elowin showed me out back to the yard between the tavern and the stables, and we washed in the chilly water of the pump. I averted my eyes for modesty’s sake when Elowin took his shirt off, but I failed to keep them averted. For some reason I kept stealing glances of the way the water ran over his skin, and the way his muscles moved,and how the droplets captured the sunlight and made him appear to almost glitter.
My fingers shook a little as I took my shirt off too, but Elowin just smiled and gave me space at the pump. I wondered if he was looking at me the same way I’d looked at him. I turned my head and?—
“Ah! Sparrow!” a voice exclaimed.
“Oh,” I said as the woman with the lute approached from the back door of the tavern. “Good morning!”
She pushed up her sleeves as she approached the pump. “You’re looking bright, considering how many beers you drank last night!”
“I think it was only one or two,” I said.
The woman exchanged a look with Elowin.
“It was four,” Elowin said with a shrug and a grin.
Well, perhaps that explained why I couldn’t remember her name.
“Thank you for letting me play your lute,” I said. “I’ve never done it before.”
