Page 25
Story: The Ballad of a Bard
“No!” She instantly insisted.
West didn’t believe her. “Then what’s the issue?”
Crimson almost made a face at him, one that would have caused him to actually laugh out loud if he was correct about the withering emotion behind it. She came closer as her hand ran up his arm, leaving singular shivers to skitter over his skin.
New stars burst inside of him, exploding and flashing white colourful fires. The ivory moon curved around him, ushering him closer to her.
That was new.
No oneevermade him feel alive likethisbefore.
He tucked that observation away for later.
Especially as her hand found his chest and began to circle over his heart. His pulse quickened, and he knew she immediatelypicked up on it because she stumbled in her romantic wench once more. Crimson looked deep into his eyes, she went to kiss him.
Her lips halted only a centimeter from his as she uttered, “Keep my secret, without the additional clause. You know you want to,handsome.”
West’s throat bobbed.
Why in the Saints name did she have so much of an effect on him? She wasn’t supposed to, since he was a full Saint and she was only a lesser one. And yet there was an undeniable thirst in the back of his mouth, a tingle on his tongue and a spark in his soul as she looked at him likethat.
“Fine.” He mumbled, not sure if the baritone voice that came out was the correct one or not. He couldn’t unfix his sight from her tempting mouth.
Did he want to kiss her after all?
Something akin to mortal excitement bubbled up and he couldn’t ignore it, finding fascinating new feelings rising up.
Crimson let out what seemed to be a breath of relief and turned to exit the chamber before he could say another word. But as she reached for the handle, unlocking it, his hand slammed it back closed.
She jumped.
“Little lesson there,Heartstrings. Lesser Saints can’t affect full Saints. I suggest you do some research before attempting to change the emotions of just anyone.” West rumbled into her ear. “Nice try though.”
She gaped at him. “You’rea Saint?”
“Yes.” He flicked a stray piece of hair out of his sight line. It wasn’t like his hair was long, since it was shorn close to his head in the back. But the front strands like to test his patience in steamy situations. “The Northern Star, before you need tosatiate your curiosity. But as you’ve been one of the only people to ever look at methatdeep, I’m sure you’ve already figured it out in your smart mind.”
“What do you want with me, Westley Saint?” Crimson dropped all pretence and brought her tone down an octave, as if the higher pitch was something she only used to sell the image.
In his opinion, this one suited her far better.
He would have been surprised that she didn’t grovel and scrape like most did when they found out that he was one of the six Saints of Hisaith, had her father not been the most notorious one himself. She likely wasn’t impressed by him, which only plucked his interest even further.
He lifted a finger into the space between them. “First of all, it’s West. No Westleyand drop the last name. Westley is only for those who earn it. Second of all, Red Lyric needs to disappear. For good.”
She waited for him to explain, to go on and tell her the reasons behind his demand.
West sighed and let go of the handle as soon as he was sure she wouldn’t try to escape before he got this part over and done with. “Prince Altivar Talon is searching for you. Well, for who hethinksyou are. He-”
“Does he know?” She interrupted him before he could continue. “Did he send you to come after me? Why does he want me?”
“No.” He lowered a finger to her lips in order to quiet her down before she could ask a mountain’s worth of questions. She stopped talking. “But it’s not for anything good. I’m quite sure that it’s for nefarious purposes and until I can figure outwhatthose purposes are, I’m notgoingto tell him about you either. But until I can do that, Lyric has to vanish.”
“I can’t do that.” Crimson began to untie the ribbon that kept smaller wefts of hair out of her face. “I can’t just abandon the only means of making money that I have. Working for Roland isn’t nearly enough to cover the cost of living.” She brushed her hands through it and thin bangs fell to her eyebrows.
Another clever, pretty thing to hide her true identity.
“What sort of lifestyle are you living that the tips from these vile bloodhounds aren’t supporting you?” There wasn’t any sort of judgement in his resonance, he made sure of that. Not after his earlier mistake that made her abandon him with an angry flash in her eyes.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25 (Reading here)
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141