He’d already suffered through the ordeal of allowing a brownie attendant named Tulli to dress him and do some weird thing with his hair. Did he really have to subject himself to extroverted revelry as well?
“I’ll drag you,” Autumn said.
The thunks emanating from her vicinity had grown worrisome. “What are you doing in there? Did the sheer weight of the clothes create a black hole?”
She appeared at his doorway in a gilded dress, a pair of mismatched shoes in hand. “I can’t find my gold boots.”
Knowing he’d regret it, David left his bed and approached the chaos, raising an eyebrow at the dozens of shoes now tossed about like confetti. He bent to pick up the strap of a silky undergarment lying near his feet. “How do you find anything in here?”
She snatched it from him, flashing her megawatt smile. “Magic?”
As usual, ecstatic bubbles hovered inside the core of her emotions. What must it be like, to be that happy all the time?
David leaned against the doorjamb as she delved through the mess like a burrowing owl. “If I go, what do I get out of it?”
Red hair formed a curtain over her face when she shot a grin at him. “The pleasure of my company, obviously.”
“Okay, so say I go, and say that, as expected, I’m not wanted. What will we do when they start telling me to go back where I came from?”
She waved a careless hand in his direction. “They’ll all be too sloshed to notice.”
He sighed. “Fine. I will attempt to go. If you can get me through this night without anyone whisperingDjiantein my vicinity, I’ll give you my virginity.”
Autumn burst into laughter. “You can’t offer me things you don’t have. Or things I don’t want. Ew!”
David pressed a hand to his heart. “How dare you?”
“Autumn!” Isobel marched their way. “What’s taking so long?”
“I think she’s trying to drown in fabric,” he said, sensing Isobel peek around his shoulder into the room.
“Aha!” Autumn emerged from the cloth graveyard, gold boot in hand.
David moved as she bounced through the door, then followed them into the main common room, where Sean sat sipping a glass of wine. He met David’s gaze but looked away without saying anything. The ceaseless consternation threading Sean’s emotions tasted likespiced bitters. Worse, it was sprinkled with the tang of agonized panic, a fun little aperitif that made David ache deep in his chest.
He detoured the long way to the dining room out of mere self-preservation, but as he considered the weight Sean must’ve been buckling under, a memory crept up.
“You ever grow weary of playing their hero, brother?” Galadaine asked.
Lhynion laughed. A teasing glint lit his blue eyes. “I find playing anything different only bruises my ego.”
He shook his head at the lie. Lhynion had never been self-important, but Galadaine played into the jest nonetheless. “Careful. Ego is a wicked game.”
“None so wicked as the game of pretending I am a hero in truth.”
Galadaine chuckled. “’Tis not pretend, Lhyn.”
“Bah. All heroes fall in the end.”
So…Lhynion had resisted the veneration he received. Would Sean do the same? David shook off the memory and reached for a wine bottle.
“Wait.” Bel grabbed a dark, uncorked bottle from the countertop. “I stole this from Kywyn’s quarters. He’s a bit of a snob about this stuff.” She showed David the etchings on the glass, written in elegant Lux script. “Elderberry wine. It’s a good year.”
He shot her a wary glance. “Are you laying your weapons down?”
“I think I can manage to make nice for one night. In the name of harmony.”
In confused silence, David held out a glass for her to fill, analyzing the fluttery, exhilarated tinge to her emotions. Judging by the dark stain on her lips, she’d already been drinking. Tipsy Isobel was probably less of a dick than the sober one. Definitely less guarded.
