Page 6

Chapter 6

Unsuitable

R aewyn

Somehow despite the unnerving feeling of Pharis’ big body spooning mine and the mind-scrambling scent of him all around me, I had managed to drop off to sleep.

Saol water to the rescue again.

I woke to the sound of him re-saddling Dargan. Hearing me sit up, Pharis looked at me over his shoulder.

“It’s dark out. Time to ride.”

He sounded cranky, his tone no-nonsense.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the cloak,” I commented.

He didn’t respond. He was still shirtless, though thankfully he’d put his riding breeches and boots back on.

Actually there was nothing to be thankful for. Even partially dressed, he was a disconcerting sight, his bronzed back and shoulders a mass of muscle that gleamed in the firelight.

The entire rear view of him, in fact, was something to behold.

When he turned around, the front view was even more troubling.

The powerful physique I’d observed from the window of Stellon’s suite was far more impressive up close, and the constellation of abdominal muscles I’d felt pressed against my back all too recently looked even better than they’d felt.

Splashed across the wide, muscled chest and narrowing as it moved downward to overlap his segmented stomach, was the large tattoo I’d wondered about.

It was a spiral shape, reminding me of a funnel cloud I’d once seen in the sky near my village. But this twister was studded all over with sharp hooks resembling thorns.

“Well?” Pharis said.

I blinked. How long had I been staring?

“Well what?”

“May I have my shirt back, or do you intend to sit there and ogle me all night?”

I got up with a huff and went to gather my now-dry dress and shift from the cave wall where they hung.

“I wasn’t ogling you.” I snatched the dress from the rock, nearly ripping it. “I was wondering why you still look so tired after sleeping all day—as you insisted on doing. You have bags under your eyes.”

Pharis chuckled. “You weren’t looking at my eyes , Wildcat.”

“Shut up and turn around,” I said.

When his back was turned, I hurriedly stripped off his shirt and shimmied back into my shift and dress.

Twisting back to face him, I noticed he was holding up the shiny silver flask in front of him at eye level.

“Is it empty?” I asked with no small amount of disappointment.

He turned to face me, though I hadn’t yet informed him I was dressed and decent.

“No, there’s some left—in spite of your guzzling last night,” he said, tossing me the flask.

I caught it and threw him his shirt in exchange. It was only when I held up the flask, preparing to take a drink, that I realized how reflective its surface was.

There was a clear image of Pharis dressing himself on the smooth metal.

An offended noise left my mouth as I whipped my face toward him. He gave me a wink and laughed out loud.

“Turnabout is fair play, my lady.”

I stomped toward the horse, irritable in spite of my satisfying nap. “Let’s just go. How long of a ride do you think it is to my village from here?”

“Shouldn’t be longer than three hours, I think,” he said as he went to put out the Auspex fire. “Unless you attract any more predators.”

We left the cave to find the storm had cleared. The air smelled fresh with a light breeze that was cool but not cold.

The sky was like a diamond-studded tapestry over our heads, though the moon had a bit of lingering haze surrounding it, giving it a gauzy appearance. Its glow on the field and rolling hills caused the droplets that remained at the tips of the grasses to sparkle.

As Dargan drank from a puddle that had formed in the rock outside the cave entrance, Pharis helped me up into the saddle.

This time he mounted the horse in front of me instead of behind me.

“Hold on,” he ordered and urged Dargan into a trot, then a gallop.

Having no wish to fall from the tall horse, I obeyed, wrapping my arms around his lean waist.

As we rode, I turned my head from side to side, watching the woods on one side of us for emerging Dryads and the rocks to our right for that mountain lion’s mate.

No predators appeared, and the next hour passed uneventfully.

My irritation with Pharis faded, unable to stand against the facts that he really had saved my life twice and that we were growing ever closer to my village and my family with each gallop.

“Did you decide not to use your glamour then?” I asked him, realizing suddenly that my view of our surroundings was not obscured by a dark haze.

“The shadows?” he asked. “I’m using them. They’re surrounding us right now as we ride.”

“Oh, I can’t see them. Is that how it always is? You can see out, but others can’t see in?”

“I’m not sure,” he said, sounding distracted. “I’ve only used it a few times.”

That made me draw back in surprise. “You’ve only used the glamour gift you were born with a few times? In your whole life?”

Pharis body beneath my hands tensed. “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to talk at all, actually.”

“Well I do. I’m bored. I’ll fall asleep and drop to the ground if we don’t talk to pass the time. This horse is very tall.”

He grunted. “What do you want to talk about?”

“You never explained why you didn’t tell the King about me conspiring with the Earthwife.”

“I told you, I made a promise to my brother.”

“Yes, but why did you do that? I thought you were convinced he was making a terrible mistake by falling in love with me.”

“ Were convinced?” he said. “Am convinced.”

“How do you know? You barely know me. Stellon and I spent weeks together.”

“ Two weeks,” Pharis pointed out. “And I know because I know.”

“Right. Because he’s an Elven prince, and I’m an inferior human. Wait—you didn’t say ‘inferior,’ you said ‘unsuitable.’”

“If you want to be particular about it, I believe my exact words were ‘not well-suited.’”

“Oh yes, that’s much better, much more flattering,” I muttered.

“I don’t want to talk about my brother,” Pharis said, “and you should be endeavoring to forget him since you’re never going to see him again.”

As it always did when Pharis gave me his frequent reminders of that fact, my heart felt like it had been pierced with a sharp instrument.

“Fine, let’s talk about something else,” I said. “Why are Elves so… warm? I thought at first it was just Stellon, but you are very hot as well.”

“You’re still talking about him,” Pharis grumbled.

“No, I’m asking about Elven people as a whole. I’m curious. I want to understand.”

“Yes, we run at a higher temperature than humans, I guess. I’d heard it said but wasn’t sure of it myself until I touched you the night I found you sleeping in Stellon’s bed.”

“Now you’re talking about him,” I pointed out. “So you’d never touched a human before that?”

“No,” he said flatly.

“But what about the women in your father’s retinue?”

“What about them?”

“Stellon said no one has access to the women but the King and him… and you. And he swore he’d never taken advantage of it.”

“And you think I have?” Pharis sounded offended. “You’re wrong. I never touched those women. Never once.”

It made sense. Stellon had told me his brother had no use for our species, and I supposed that applied when it came to sensual activities as well.

I felt a strange blend of insult and relief but decided to focus on the latter.

“Tell me about the regions you’ve traveled to,” I said to change the subject. “I’ve never left Marinus. Have you been to many others?”

“All of them,” he said. “What do you want to know?”

“Is the desert region of Sundaris really as vast and barren as they say it is?” I asked. “Is the Cyan sea really the color of blue topaz? Are there really Dwarves in the Silvery Mountains of Nordaris?”

“You’re rather well educated about the continent for a girl who’s never left Marinus.”

“I’ve read books about it,” I explained. “And my mother traveled some before she and my father married.”

That seemed to interest him. “Stellon mentioned your mother died during the Rebellion.”

“Yes,” I said. “And so did yours, I was sorry to hear.”

There was an extended pause before he responded. “Thank you.”

“To answer your questions, I haven’t crossed the entirety of the Desert Lands, but enough of them to know they are vast indeed,” he said. “I’ve actually sailed on the Cyan Sea, and I can tell you that not only is it as blue as a robin’s egg, it’s so clear, you can see straight to the bottom of the ocean where the Selkies reside.”

“Wow. I’d love to see that.”

“Maybe you will someday,” Pharis said.

It was doubtful. My family didn’t have the means to travel for pleasure. The only trip we’d be likely to take was if we had to flee the Earthwife and find a new place to live.

Pharis went on. “The Dwarves do indeed dwell in the Silvery Mountains, but I haven’t been there. I only know because I’ve met some during political summits.”

“Your life is amazing,” I said.

“I suppose it seems that way. Stellon’s seen most of the places I’ve seen. Did he not tell you any of this?” Pharis asked. “What were you two doing in his suite all that time? Clearly it wasn’t conversing.”

His tone sounded unaccountably bitter.

And I felt unaccountably defensive. “We talked… mostly. Just not about travel.”

After roughly three and a half hours of riding, we arrived at the outskirts of Waterdale.

Unfortunately we did run into a predator after all.