Standing behind Gustus, Father glared at him. His voice was more measured. “I’ve mentioned him to you several times, Durae.”
Had he? Durae sipped his wine and skimmed his memories of the last few weeks. His parents had done a lot of talking while they traveled by carriage. He’d spent most of his time either reading or watching their surroundings. Was he supposed to have paid attention to gossip and chatter about elves he didn’t know?
“Forgive me, Father. You know how I like to chase clouds,” Durae replied.
“His mind does tend to wander,” Father complained to Gustus.
Again, Father had a sort of eagerness in his tone that Durae couldn’t put his finger on. He must have heard him speak like this at some point in his life, but Durae’s recollections were failing him.
“I believe the young and beautiful have a prerogative to let their imaginations roam. Flights of fancy are how many an invention is born, after all.” Gustus smiled at Durae and gestured at the foot of his chaise. “May I?”
Durae motioned that he didn’t mind if Gustus joined him. Father’s smile broadened, and the glint in his eyes sharpened. He wasn’t upset; he was the opposite. Whatever the opposite without seeming pleased was.I did not get enough sleep for this.
“Should I leave so you and Father can discuss business?” Durae asked.
Father’s smile faltered, and Gustus laughed a little too harshly for Durae’s fraying nerves. Turning toward Durae, Gustus said, “Matters of finance and industry are for a different time. This is a fine afternoon in the making, and you’re a handsome elf at the beginning of his first, and perhaps last, marriage mart. I would like for us to get to know one another.”
Thank the gods Durae had a ring that would keep his complexion from becoming ruddy. The same magic would keep the fact that his cheeks were heating out of embarrassment a secret to everyone around him. And no one would see or smell that sweat was rolling down his spine.
This wasn’t just some business associate of Father’s. Lord Gustus Stelen was asuitor. Durae finished his wine and set the glass off to the side. Despite preparing for the eventuality of entertaining marriage prospects, actually being thrust into a conversation with a suitor was a bit of a shock. If asked a day ago, Durae wouldn’t have been able to describe his ideal match. Now, he couldn’t help thinking that someone who was clever, handsome, and kind was all he wanted, titles be damned.
“Lord Durae?” a timid voice behind him said.
Durae glanced over his shoulder to discover a pair of elves around his age. Both had long brown hair and golden eyes. One was more feminine than the other, and she wore a sky-blue dress. Her counterpart wore a deep green tunic and tan leggings. She said, “Good afternoon, Lord Durae. I am Lady Jessick of Emberleigh, and this is my cousin Eohan.”
Those names definitely came up during the trip here. But are they relations or suitors?Durae swallowed hard. He really hoped for the sake of how the duo was batting their long eyelashes at him that they were suitors and not family.I wonder how much wine I can have before I damage my reputation beyond repair …
CHAPTER 9
“It’s fifty gold,” the merchant said.
Blaze slammed his hands on the counter. The board rattled the tiny stall the merchant—which was a generous word to call someone who had exorbitantly raised his prices in the last four days—sat within. The merchant grunted a note of discomfort, and a figure stepped out of the nearby shadows.
He ought to give a damn that the figure was trying to intimidate him into leaving the merchant alone. There weren’t many others around as the sun raced toward the horizon. Most were partying. Everyone at Everend Market was either working to exhaustion or engaging in frivolity that Blaze never wanted to see again.
Which meant if the merchant’s bodyguard beat Blaze to a pulp, no one was going to notice. Blaze, who had roughhoused perhaps a half dozen times in his life, wished the other elf would take a swing so he had an excuse to unleash the venom that had been in his veins for the last two days.
One enchanted night and one sunlit dance shouldnothave twisted me out of shape!But they had. Whenever he had a free moment, his mind traveled back to Durae’s bright smile andwarm touch. To his laugh and his hair. To his fingertips dragging down the length of his body or gripping his arm as they danced.
So Blaze had worked very, very hard not to have a free moment.
He kept his voice steady rather than unleash the shout choking his spirit. “You charged only five gold for the same paint less than a week ago.”
“Market hadn’t started,” the merchant replied. “Good spell paint is harder to come by. Everyone believes one more coat will help them win the Innovation Awards.”
While the work hadn’t ended, Blaze hadn’t earned as much coin as he’d hoped. Food cost more, too. He was so close to finishing he could taste it, but his invention wouldn’t feed him. And if he couldn’t acquire more paint, he was doomed. Desperate, he blurted out, “I know Mackerel.”
The figure off to the side snorted, but the merchant held up a hand. A more genuine perturbed look crossed his face. “Mack is terrifying to some, I’ll give you that, but they’re not the only terror of the Glaeflod. They’re reaching a little too far for one so young. Someone’s bound to pull them up in a net for a scolding. Or worse. Now, the best I can do for the quantity you want, which is not insignificant, by the way, is charge you thirty gold instead.”
The price drop was better, but still hadn’t come down far enough for what Blaze had in his pocket. “Twenty now, fifteen more at the end of market.”
“You want me to give this to you on credit?” the merchant scoffed.
“Knowing Mack goes both ways. I’m certain that not only would they direct you to where I’m staying, but they’d happily sabotage any means of my escape for a few silvers on your part,” Blaze replied.
The merchant grinned. “You certainly do know them! We’ll call it twenty with fifteen owed, then.”
Blaze handed over the last of his hard-earned gold and took the two massive jars of paint. If his calculations were correct, then this would be just enough to see him through to the finish. If they weren’t … he was likely becoming an Everend Market local until his debts were paid.
