“Oh, and I need to ask a favour of you.”
“Anything,” he said, smiling.
“I need you to drown me.”
“Absolutelynot!”
AEGIR
HEAD OVER HEELS
My heart fluttered at the combined scent of almond soap and horses that suddenly hit my senses. It was probably someone else’s scent, as per usual.
I realised then that during my four-day journey to the south and back, I had thought abouthermore than I had thought of anything else. I think I was looking forward to lunch, to talk to her, if only just for those few minutes while she set up my table.
It was a few words that we had exchanged after that incident with the young one, but the words that came out of her mouth that day…“I’m sorry,” she had blurted to her. Two little words that for some reason sent a raw ache to my heart. I didn’t like it when she feared me…I didn’t like it at all.
I knew it was not her at my door, both because of the knocking pattern—Cordelia’s was three taps at equal intervals—but also because of the scent. Cordelia’s was close to absent; the person behind the door smelled like a sand gale—Sabriela.
“Hello, young one.”
“Hello, Lord Hailin,” the freckled girl said, still wearing the cat necklace that Cordelia had made for her.
“You can call me Aegir.”
“Oh, all right, then. Hello, Aegir. I’m Sabriela.”
“I know. Where’s Cordelia?”
“Who? Oh! You mean Delia. It’s her day off today.”
“Day off?”
“Yes. King Belzari says that family is just as important as Amfir, so he lets us visit our family once a month. Delia is with her great-aunt as we speak.”
“Hmm.”
I did not eat my lunch.
I walked south, followed the same path we had arrived on this morning, but then veered left, instinctually following her scent. Well, not her scent, the scent of her clothes, which I swore was soon going to drive me insane. Too many times, I had snapped my head thinking it was her, only to find someone else wearing that same scent. It unravelled my sanity—being deprived of my senses.
I couldn’t feel her happiness. I couldn’t feel her fear, her pain, her…lust.
She just…humanised me.
I kept left, obscured behind the rocky mesa, then walked along the wide crevice. Had the smell of horses not been there, I would have been surprised to find stables at such an odd location. Well hidden, I thought.
My heart pumped at the sound of her voice. It drew me closer, like honey does a bear.
I couldn’t understand why it did that. All I knew was that I went on stealth missions and battled with a calmer heart.
She sounded like she was…acting, in some way. I figured she was reciting something. And then I peeked my head and saw her reading. She rested her head on a brown mare.
All of it looked like a painting that, when you looked at it, your stomach ached with longing beyond reason. I couldn’t properly describe any of it. All I knew was that her sweet voice pinned me there, my back to the wall, hidden, lest she catch my smile. I tried to leave, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t just step away without at least talking to her.
So instead, I went in and…I teased her.
She stood up so quickly—too quick, even for my Fae eyes. Then she turned around, blurting, “Shit!” in my face.
