Page 54

“As you wish, my lady Pearl.”

The spike of sunlight disappeared as he moved away from it, finding a seat atop the chest that faced the bathtub. He folded himself into an imperious seat with his legs spread wide to allow for the awkwardness of his armor. I watched him situate himself and smirked at the unease he seemed to have both in his stature and in this new body.

“Tell me, my Ard Tiarna, whose face do you wear this time?” I turned my back to him, slowly disrobing to prepare for my bath.

“A whelp of a minor noble house with no honor nor merit of his own. He challenged me for my position as heir to my own throne. He lost, so I took it from him as well as his life.” The callous finality of his statement was sharp as a scalpel and just as unfeeling. “It is the way of things in the Fómhar Court.”

“I don’t think I like it,” I stated just as plainly and tossed the overtunic into a corner that seemed unused by the finery around me.

I heard him shift behind me, the smile evident in his following words. “Is that so, my lady? If it displeases you, I can craft whatever face you would prefer as your saddle.”

I barked a laugh, untying my laces. “You just pulled me out of a hole in the ground, I smell like a goat, and your main concern is that I might not ride your new face?”

“Would you fault me for having my priorities set correctly, my lady? Save the damsel and then pleasure the damsel until she forgets any distress that might have ever occurred. One could, of course, pleasure the damsel and then save her, but I have found that tends to get a little messy. The damsels I like tend to get themselves into bloody messes.” The rattle of his armor indicated a slight shrug. “Not that I’m opposed to licking the viscera of my enemies from the flesh of my lover.”

“All you Fae think of is sex.” The chemise, soiled deep and salted with my own sweat, followed the kirtle.

“Can you blame them?” he purred.

A quick glance over my bare shoulder revealed him leaning forward, a hungry fire burning in his eyes as he watched my naked body, his elbows propped onto his knees.

“Them?” Flipping back the leather flap that covered the heated water, I watched him.

“Us. Them. A simple slip of the tongue.” That tongue slipped out and wet his lips as he watched me climb into the tub, but he made no movement to join me. “Tell me, my lady Pearl, when last I saw you, you were courting danger by awaiting The Oaken Rose. How did we get from the throne room to your lavish tent?”

The heat of the water seeped into my muscles and soaked them in relaxation, pulling my eyes down to enjoy. “Nothing too complicated. I found a door out. I took it. It let out in a wooded area. Found a village, got some supplies, and came to find you like you made me promise I would.”

“May I get closer, my lady?” he whispered.

I opened one eye just a sliver to watch him. “No touching.”

“If that is what you wish.” He rose, taking the chest with him as he dragged it across the carpet to seat it next to the raised dais that held the tub. “Your tale, why are you not telling me all of it?”

I frowned and swirled my finger in the smears of dirt that were melting off my skin into the water. “I don’t trust you.”

“And what have I done to earn your distrust, my lady? If it is because of what happened at the end of our tryst, I am sorry for it.” His earthen eyes searched mine, never venturing below my lips.

“There’s that. I don’t even know what your real face looks like. And frankly, it’s because you’re Fae.”

He hummed a quiet acceptance of this and leaned back in his perch atop the chest, stroking his chin as he watched me. Silence drew out between us as he worked through whatever it was that he was trying to decide on.

I leaned back in the tub and let my eyes slide shut just enough to see him through my lashes. Ages crept by before he finally plucked an embroidered cloth and a bar of soap from a basket next to the tub and leaned forward to hand it to me.

“I can do many things to alleviate these worries, but first I must tell you of the things that move against you.” When I opened my mouth to ask questions, he held up his hand to halt me. “Let me have my piece first, my lady, and then you will tell me if it is enough. You are aware that I am the Ard Tiarna of Tromluí Údramáil, the seat of the Fómhar Court. I assume that in Human, they still have similar titles, so you must know that I am a political entity and responsible for the well-being of the people, Fae, humans, and otherwise that live on my lands.”

Taking the soap from him, I nodded, letting him go on as I began to scrub at my skin.

“Then you will know the weight of what my presence here, with you, means when I tell you that the Ard Rí has placed a bounty for your capture and upon the delivery of the heads of your three friends. Any Fae caught harboring them risks a traitor’s death. Any noble found assisting them risks their family and their lands being burned to the ground. As an Ard Tiarna, my presence here endangers the lives of everyone who claims sanctuary in the land of Odharnait. The knights who attend me do so voluntarily. Each of them bears the weight of potential ruination if caught. They trust me enough not to lead them into folly.” He smiled softly and watched my eyes. “And I trust that you are who I believe you to be.”

“I’m nothing more than a human daoire, Brittle Spear. You shouldn’t put your people in danger for me,” I bit back.

“One day you will know that is not true, it is enough right now for me to be the only one in this tent who recognizes you for who you truly are.” He tilted his head, leaning forward. “I will swear fealty to you, my Pearl. I will swear it on my true name. I know you know the power of a true name.”

“Why the fuck would you do that? Just because you’ve been balls deep in me doesn’t mean you know me,” I spat at his ridiculous proposal.

“I am old enough to know more than I should and yet still young enough to be careless.” He smirked. “As for my appearance, you know as well as I do that it is a simple matter of changing it should it displease you. It is nothing more than a doublet or a dress. I could change it to whatever it is you so desire.”

I squirmed under his regard, busying myself by scrubbing at the red dirt caking my skin. I wanted that ability. I might already even have it, but now that I had watched my bungling of a simple magical bunny, I feared even more tampering with the fleshworks of my crafted body. With my luck, I’d end up with eyes for nipples and big toes for eyebrows.