CHAPTER SIX #2
With a slow, determined breath, Ethenn stared at his plate, unseeing. A tingle spread over his skin like small pinpricks of ice. He imagined the heat receding, the coolness of his magic freezing it low in his gut. Magic never got rid of the fire, but it could quench it for a time.
The kitchen door opened, and Ethenn’s magic spiked. He took a sharp inhale, the scents of the dining hall becoming far too vibrant. Roasting ham, cooking smoke, peppered sausage, aged cheese, burning wood, boiling oats, and, above it all, the sharpest tinge of heather.
Ethenn turned to see Ilain walk in with Auden, Isla, Vayden, and Reyana. The ember in his stomach caught, the heat rising once more.
“Well, we’ve lost Loxley,” Rafferty said with a dramatic huff. “Say, Thommy-boy, I saw you talking with that stunning Warrior-lieutenant last night. What’s she like, eh?”
While Thom mumbled some reluctant reply, Ethenn watched Ilain and her family gather their meal in the kitchen.
The Crimson Clover’s kitchen provided three meals a day, served as a buffet.
The hotel owner’s daughter, Graicelle, walked around serving drinks and clearing plates.
There weren’t more than a dozen other patrons present, and while Ethenn recognized many of them from the meeting the previous night, he couldn’t remember their names.
Ilain finished filling her plate first and began to turn, surveying the room. She was dressed far more modestly today in a dark blue dress that reminded him of the wild berries in the forests of Estshire. It made her hair flash even brighter in the morning light.
Her eyes landed on Ethenn and his table, lingering on him, her face inscrutable, before turning to walk to a long table at the far end of the room.
The second her back was to him, Ethenn bolted out of his seat, muttering, “I’ll be back,” to his friends.
“Where’re you going?” Rafferty asked.
Ethenn didn’t bother to reply. He hurried across the room, sure the rest of the Calders wouldn’t be far behind Ilain, dodging tables and the scattered diners to step in front of her.
Ilain came to an abrupt halt, the sausages and potatoes on her plate wobbling as her eyes grew wide. And the heat seared across his back.
Staring at one another, Ethenn found his jaw clamped shut as Ilain waited. Beyond her shoulder, he could see Isla and her daughter beginning toward them. He had to speak up now, or he’d lose his chance.
“Could I speak with you?” he asked just as she said, “Good morning.”
“I suppose so,” she replied as he awkwardly added his own, “Good morning.”
Again, they stared at one another.
The anger scorched his spine.
“Would it be all right if I had my breakfast before we spoke?” Ilain asked.
Isla and Reyana were there then. “Good morning, Ethenn,” Isla said. “Would you like to join us?”
The girl stared up at him, her cheeks bright red.
Turning to the mother, Ethenn could feel his jaw flex with agitation. He’d wanted to get Ilain alone without drawing others into it. He already looked like a fool after last night; there was no need to make himself a greater one today.
“No, thank you,” Ethenn said just as Ilain began to say, “Go ahead without me, Isla. I need to speak with Ethenn.”
“All right,” Isla said, taking her daughter’s arm and leading her to the far table. Vayden and Auden were close behind, both men eyeing Ethenn and their sister.
The heat rose to burn the edges of his collar.
Reluctantly meeting Ilain’s gaze, Ethenn pushed against the feeling. “We can sit over there,” he said, pointing to the table at the opposite end of the room. While an older couple sat two rows away, it was the most secluded of their options.
Ilain nodded and let him lead the way. Once they were seated, Ethenn clasped his hands on the table. Ilain ducked her head and muttered a prayer, then took up her fork. She met his eyes with expectation.
Suddenly, Ethenn’s throat was tighter than a bowstring. He had to clear it twice to get any words out. “Do you, uh—do you know why I wanted to talk with you?” he asked.
A sly grin lifted the corner of her mouth. “Don’t you know?” she teased.
So she wasn’t going to make this easy.
Ethenn sighed. “Listen, I—I wanted to apologize. I was not . . . sober last night,” he said.
Ilain raised her full fork, her brow quirked in amusement. “Neither was I,” she said before taking a bite.
“Good—I mean,” Ethenn shook his head, “not good, but good that we both were in a rather compromised position.” He paused, then grimaced. “Not that that’s good either.”
Steadily, she watched him fumble, not bothering to stop him.
“What I mean is,” he corrected again, “it’s good that we both understand that neither of us meant what we said, and so we can easily forget about the whole thing.”
That got Ilain to set her fork down. “What whole thing are you referring to?”
Ethenn blinked. Didn’t she know? Had she been so drunk that she’d forgotten their exchange? He rather hoped so.
Cautiously, Ethenn said, “Do you remember—?”
“My intoxication wasn’t that great,” she said, a twinkle in her brilliant green stare. “Of course, I remember our conversation. What I’m asking is what part of that conversation do you want me to forget?”
Ethenn had to think about it for a moment. “The whole conversation.”
She frowned. “Are you backing out of our agreement?” she asked with indignation.
That set the heat flaring up his neck and into his cheeks. “We didn’t agree to anything,” he said tersely. “I said that I . . . When you asked if I . . . And I admitted I did, so you said we should, and then you left. That isn’t an agreement. That’s a—a . . . I don’t know what that is.”
Ilain patted the corner of her mouth with a napkin, then carefully spread it back over her lap.
She settled her hands demurely on the table, meeting his wary gaze.
“Very well, allow me to formally submit my proposal,” she said, then continued before he could get a word out.
“Corporal Loxley, I am a Fire Mage in need of a Warrior husband. As I find you more pleasant than any other male Warrior I’ve yet to meet, and you would like a Mage to Bond with yourself, I would request that you marry and Bond with me so I can take up my place as Highlady Chancellor of the Order of the Flame when Allund comes into its power, and so I can satisfy your desire to be a Bonded Warrior and your desire to have—” She paused, smirked, and concluded, “Me.”
Ethenn gaped at her, the heat covering his ears.
“Do you agree to my proposal?” Ilain asked.