Page 117 of A Legacy of the Light

If I’m being truthful, I want to be alone, but I don’t want to raise her suspicion. And I want to know what happened with her and Eòghann last night.

“Sure.” I open the door and gesture to her to enter first. We set cutlery and water on the table together and sit with a dinner of tender roast beef.

“Did anything happen with you and Tavish last night? You disappeared after you complained that your feet were hurting?” she asks, the bold Reyne from last night seems to have disappeared again now she’s sober.

“I don’t remember. I woke up and he was in my bed.

She raises her eyebrows at me.

“Nothing happened. Apparently, I was running around in my underwear and then asked him to stay.”

Reyne snorts and I nudge her with my foot.

“Do you at least remember what happened by the bonfire?” she asks.

“I remember us kissing in front of everyone, but after that, nothing.” My cheeks heat.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Elsie. No one was watching you. Everyone was either busy themselves at that point or too drunk to notice.”

“I’m worried the king will find out,” I admit. Last night I was bold and drunk and reckless. Today, my perspective is very different. I don’t regret it, but worry gnaws at me at what the king might do if he finds out.

“He won’t.”

I smile tightly at her.

“What about you and Eòghann?” I prompt, wanting to move the conversation away from me.

Her cheeks turn as red as mine. “We spent the night together,” she admits.

I squeeze her arm and grin at her. “How was it?”

She sighs with a dreamy look in her eyes. “It was amazing, Elsie. I think it could be the start of something.”

“I’m happy for you,” I reply honestly.

Reyne is incredible. She deserves to be loved, and you would have to be blind and deaf not to notice how Eòghann feels about her.

We then fall into easy conversation. Hector, her father, has been asking what day she is bringing me over for dinner, and we agree to carry on training tomorrow.

She gives me a warm hug before leaving, and her easy company tonight has eased some of the tension I carried back with me from the library.

◆◆◆

I’m brushing my teeth when a knock sounds at my door. I rinse out my mouth and pad out into the living room, wrapping the robe around myself since I’ve chosen the blush pink silk nightwear to wear to bed tonight. The small shorts, and spaghetti straps with lace detailing, leave very little to the imagination.

“Elsie?” the deep voice calls, sending a riot of nerves through me.

Tavish smiles when I greet him at the door.

“May I come in?” he asks.

I nod and his scent drifts by as he passes me.

He pauses next to the breakfast bar and watches me approach him.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, sitting on a barstool.

“Yes. I came to tell you that I need to leave tomorrow and I will be gone for couple of weeks.”