I willed my stunned body to retreat, silently, but I was too late. Faern’s eyes snapped open. I almost stumbled backwards.
“Shit,” Faern breathed.
“Fuck,” Semuel muttered. I was about to exit the stable. “Delia, wait!”
I turned around, finding it a bit uncomfortable to look him in his eyes at first.
“I’m sorry,” we both blurted.
“What are you sorry for?” Semuel’s glassy eyes were filled with either doubt or confusion.
“I’m sorry for invading your personal space.”
“Are you not repulsed? Or disgusted by me? By us?”
“What? No, Semuel, of course not.” I chuckled. “I—I did suspect it, you know. You’re my best friend and this changes nothing. If anything, I am happy for you both.”
Semuel came running towards me, grabbing me at my waist and swirling me around. I couldn’t withhold my giggles.
Then he held me tight. “Wildheart!” he said, close to my ear. We locked eyes the second my feet touched the ground. I felt something made of joy—something I only felt when Semuel and I shared a moment. And the thought that often appeared in my mind struck once more.
Is this what it would have felt like if he were my brother, my older brother?
Faern finally came out of the stall, his face flushed. He gave me a small wave and said, “Hey, Wildheart.”
“We didn’t mean to keep it a secret from you, but if word came out…I would be cast out as a traitor, my father would never accept me,” Semuel said, head lowered.
My jaw clenched. “It pains me that you have to hide yourself from your parents, your friends. But I understand, and I promise you both that I will keep it a secret for as long as I live.” After all, who was I to judge them for keeping secrets? I wasn’t completely honest with them either.
Faern walked towards me and gave me a long hug. Then I said, my voice muffled with my cheek pressed against his chest, “If I knew I’d be getting this many hugs, I would have come sooner.”
Faern barked out a laugh that I felt thrumming in my ear.
I smiled at both.
Then I watched Faern grinning at Semuel, exposing his pointy canines. And as my gaze moved from Faern’s mouth to Semuel’s scarred neck, I realised how those twin scars came about. I had heard about it, this thing that the Fae do. I wasn’t sure what it truly meant. I thought it must have been something intimate, good even, in some kind of weird and twisted way.
CHAPTER 17
Iwoke to the sound of gushing water.
After rubbing away the sleep from my eyes, I realised that I was lying comfortably in bed. I propped myself up. The room spun on itself, thanks to the ale, surely. I blinked.
Uh, at what time did he tuck me in bed?
Through the curtain, I glimpsed Aegir’s shadow in the bath. Then it disappeared beneath the water, which I would have bet was freezing cold.
I reached for the tankard on the bedside table, my parched throat offsetting the desperate need to relieve myself. Then I wrapped the bedsheet around me and hurried to the common restroom. When I returned, Aegir had not yet put on his shirt.
I was about to make my way into the bathing chamber when he said, “It’s freezing. Let me warm it up for you.”
“Leave it,” I replied, drawing the useless curtain closed. Even my human eyes could make out his moving silhouette. I could tell he propped himself on the left side of the bed, right across from the bath he knew I was about to make use of.
I loosened my hair from the tight coronet, leaving my scalp with a bittersweet sensation of discomfort and relief. I gently massaged it with my fingertips. Then I made my way around Aegir’s bath, eyeing the frigid water. I watched pieces of ice floating lazily on its surface as I emptied a vial of lavender oil into it.
I let my underdress fall to my feet.
My first breath came quick and sharp. Goosebumps formed all over my skin. My breasts turned firm against the cold. I silently counted to three and lowered myself into the icy water. My teeth rattled. Yet I still forced my lungs to take in a deep breath before submerging myself beneath the surface. I wasn’t sure why, but my body felt like I needed it—craved it even. I wished to remain there, though I couldn’t linger for long. The loss of sensation in my fingertips and toes didn’t let me.
