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“So you can punish them?”

“No, I’m dying to know the juicy castle gossip. Pearl and…” She trailed off before saying Reina aloud. “They talked about maids trying to move up in status.”

“Well, Vyra for one. I’m sure it was Talon who told the guards to let her in.”

For show, Layala dramatically gasped at the scandal and twisted a piece of his long dark hair around her finger. “She did? What did you do?”

“You really want to know?” he asked and arched an eyebrow. She nodded. His chest heaved and dropped sharply. “I had been drinking wine, a little too much. I came into my room to find the fireplace already ablaze but that was usual. And there she was in nothing but a white, see-through nightgown. Don’t know what the point of the fabric is. I saw every inch of her private parts.”

“To stand completely bare in front of a male the first time is nerve wracking, perhaps it was for her comfort. But I also imagine it would make a girl feel sexy.”

“I can see you wearing something like that to show me you want me without saying it, but you could also strip down to nothing. I’m going to take it off anyway.”

Layala smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. Go on with the story.”

“Alright, well, Vyra practically mauled me. I stood there in shock for a moment.” He laughed at the memory. “She was like a rabid badger. Jumped on me, wrapped her legs around my waist. The kisses—so wet.” He shuddered.

“Wet?” Layala laughed.

“Yeah, like a slobbery dog.” Layala cupped her hand over her mouth to stop from laughing more. He carried on. “But I got my wits about me and had to unlatch her. She didn’t want to let go. She made sure to cop a feel of the goods too.”

“She grabbed your…” her eyes flicked down.

“My cock and balls, you can say it. Or how about meat and two veg? Wait, no, rod and berries.”

She shook her head but smiled. “What kind of berries? Aren’t berries a little small?”

“Plums. Actually, let’s go with grapefruits.”

“Grapefruit?” She rolled her eyes.

“It’s a figure of speech, my love.”

“We’re getting off track, so she grabbed your rod andblueberries.”

“They’re not blue anymore.”

Layala burst out laughing.

“But yeah. She grabbed me painfully hard. The girl has no finesse. I’m sure she talked to some harlot for advice and went a little overboard. And then to be nice I sent her out the servants’ passage with a blanket around her shoulders.”

“I don’t know how she showed her face after that. And you’re way nicer than I ever would have been.”

“So I hear. You gave a man a black eye for grabbing your ass. I heard your friends say it at the pub in Briar Hollow.”

That was right when she’d walked in with Forrest and Ren, and she hadn’t noticed him at all. “Bet that made you fall straight in love.”

“Almost went right to my knees before you. But it was when you stuck a knife in my shoulder in my room that I knew you were the one for me. All I thought was that this lovely maiden is wild, and I love her.”

“Maker above, are you ever going to let that go?”

“Never,” he teased.

“When was it that you really fell for me? The truth.”

He sat quietly, watching the clouds pass by above. She recalled many moments that whittled away at her heart.

“Hmm, I loved the idea of you most of my life. And you did truly dazzle me when you came into my room to assassinate me. I mean, the audacity alone.” He smiled. “But I knew what we had was real or what I felt was real, anyway, after the funerals and we stood out there in the rain and you slipped in the mud into my arms. You remember?”