Page 124 of A Legacy of the Light

“I’m good. I sparred with Reyne and it kept the chill away.”

His eyebrows shoot comically up his forehead. “How did that go?”

“She went easy on me,” I say with a laugh. “Just showing me how all the moves fit together.”

“You’ll be flattening half the guards in no time with that one teaching you. Go get yourself warm, lass,” he tells me, jutting his chin in the direction of the door.

I smile at both guards before passing through the door and hurry toward the promise of the tub that has become one of my favorite places in the palace.

As I approach the hall in which mine and Tavish’s rooms are, hushed voices drift towards me.

“I do not approve of this.” King Raghnall’s voice is sharp and unyielding. I stop just around the corner and keep my breathing quiet, knowing he will hear me with his advanced senses if I’m too loud.

“You need to trust me, Father. It’s better this way,” Tavish replies, equally curt. He’s never spoken that way before, certainly not towards his father. He always seems submissive in front of him; the perfect heir.

“I fail to see how this is better,” Raghnall remarks.

“It’s not simple and you know it. You either trust me or you don’t,” Tavish snaps.

“The longer this goes on, the harder it’s going to be,” King Raghnall growls.

“Father, you know there is no other way. Leave me to it,” Tavish raises his voice and my brows lower in confusion.

“Keep your voice down, boy. Someone may hear you.”

A sound echoes behind me and I grimace, hoping it hasn’t given away my spying.

Raghnall says something else to his son that I can’t hear, then footsteps echo on the stone away from where I’m hiding. I wait for another minute and pray they’ve both left the hall before moving round the corner.

My stomach tightens when I see Tavish outside my door, his fist raised and ready to knock. He turns in my direction when he hears me approach.

“Hi,” I say shyly.

“Hi, you,” he replies. “I missed you.”

My heart somersaults in my chest. “I missed you, too.”

“Was that you just now?” Tavish asks, looking over my shoulder at where I have come from.

I nod. “Just finished with Reyne and heading for a soak in the tub. Is . . . everything okay? I sort of overheard you arguing with your dad.”

Tavish stiffens and his eyes harden. He stares down at me for a moment while he figures out what I might have heard. He rubs his hand on the back of his neck and sighs, softening.

“Aye, just the usual rebel talk. And we’re both in a shitty mood from traveling.”

I place a hand on his forearm and electricity shoots up my arm when I touch him. “I’m here if you need to talk.”

“I know. Thank you, Elsie. I just need a good dinner and a night in my own bed without Dad snoring in the next tent.”

I scoff. “The king snores?”

“Like a dying pig.”

I snort a laugh. I can’t picture the composed King Raghnall doing something as undignified as snoring. Well, I also didn’t picture him getting a blow job off a Seelie at a sex party but here we are.

Tavish places a palm on top of my hand where it’s still resting on his forearm. “I was coming to see you.”

“I gathered that, since you were about to knock on my door,” I reply, quirking my brow.