Chapter 34 Kas takes his dinner alone. #3
She sipped her whiskey, and he continued, “As I was saying . . . Cafer, the baker’s son, grew up in Kashuvol at the southeasternmost corner of Selwas.
When he was twenty years old and done with his apprenticeship, he ventured north to Rohilavol to try his hand at opening his own establishment.
But alas, Rohilavol had several bakers and no need for another.
This unfortunate turn of events led him, now twenty-four, penniless and nearly destitute, to continue his journey north to Kahovirib.
He was a proud young man who refused to return to his father in Kashuvol until he’d made something of himself.
” Kas paused to take a sip of his drink.
Nes leaned forward, her posture screaming for him to continue. A shallow rhythm vibrated against his thighs where they touched the underside of the table. He’d bet anything she was tapping her foot against the wooden leg.
Covering his smile with a healthy swallow of whiskey, he drained his cup.
She’s going to hate this. He stood up and crept at a snail’s pace to his bar where he took his time refilling his glass before ultimately deciding to bring the whole decanter back with him.
He didn’t want her to push her so far that she got up and fled.
Nesrina ran her tongue along her top row of teeth in annoyance and held out her glass for a refill.
“Where was I—”
“Cafer the Penniless moved to Stormhill.”
“Kahovirib,” he corrected with a quirk of the lips. “Everyone still called it by its old name when this story took place.”
“When did this story take place?”
“Mmm . . .” He did quick math: he was now twenty-six, his dad was forty when he was born, his grandfather had been around thirty when Kas’s father had come into the world. “About eighty years ago.”
“Oh.”
“May I continue?”
She eyed him incredulously.
He pumped his brows, and she rolled her eyes. “Cafer made a new home in Kahovirib, and though he had no coin to start his own shop, he found employment at the estate of the Lord and Lady of Stormhill, taking a position in their kitchens.”
“These kitchens.”
“These kitchens.” Kas nodded.
“Then what happened?” Nesrina leaned forward with her glass clasped between her two hands. At some point he’d slid their plates off to the side, which left her room to perch with her forearms atop the linen.
The way she angled herself accentuated her bosom, but Kas tried his best not to look. Instead, he focused on the way the greens in her eyes glittered in the flickering candlelight. “Then, Cafer Kahoth—”
She let out a smallish gasp.
“Cafer Kahoth,” he emphasized again, enjoying her reaction. “Met the heiress to the Duchy, Lady Shireen.”
“Oh!”
He grinned. “‘Oh,’ is right. My great-grandparents did not mind in the least, for Cafer was a fine young man with a heart of gold and a drive they recognized would make him an excellent partner for their daughter, and a worthy leader for their people.”
“Oh,” she breathed. Her rosebud lips remained open in a small circle as she processed all that he’d said.
Given the surname had lived on, Kas knew he didn’t need to continue the tale, but she leaned back and narrowed her eyes at him as if she believed his entire story had been a ruse. “Tell me more.”
Kas barked with laughter. “Honestly, Nes, I’m not sure what else there is to say. The two were married, here at Stormhill in the old temple out—”
“There’s an old temple here?” Her eyes grew into round saucers.
He couldn’t help but laugh again. “There is, I can’t believe I haven’t shown it to you. It was ancient then, and it’s all but ruins now. We’ll go. I’ll take you there soon.”
“With the twins?”
“No. I mean, sure. If you want them to go. It’s not exactly safe these days. The place has essentially caved in on itself, grown over and full of hidden crevices. I wouldn’t want them to be injured.”
Nes bobbed her head and sipped her whiskey slowly. It left a glistening sheen on her lips as she said, “I’d love to see it sometime.”
“I’ll take you,” Kas repeated his promise, meaning it with every fiber of his being.
She nodded again as a light blush crept up her neck.
“Cafer and Shireen went on to live a blissfully happy life, according to family stories. They brought not one, not two, but eight children into the world.”
“Gods, eight?!” Nes’s eyes grew wider than when he mentioned the temple ruins.
“It’s true. It was back when families could have that many, before the gods disappeared and conception became so difficult.” Kas’s face heated, maybe from too much drink, maybe because he’d brought up procreation. Probably the latter.
“Well.” Nes sat for a moment, looking serene as she swirled whiskey in her glass and stared out the window. Eventually, she set her tumbler on the table and stood. “I did not know any of that.”
Kas’s heart dropped. She was ready to go.
“You’ve left me much to think about.” She worried her lip for a moment before retrieving the discarded glass and downing the rest of its contents.
His heart shivered.
“I do need to get to bed.”
It was early for bed, but he’d pressed his luck by forcing her into dinner, and he didn’t want to push any further. She’d heard him out. More than that, really. It could only get better from there.
Kas escorted Nesrina to the washroom, and she gazed at the massive tub.
Probably imagining me in there, he chuckled.
As distracted as she was, he could have popped open the panel without her noticing the mechanism.
But she deserved to know how it worked, so he got her attention before reaching beneath the vanity to pull the latch.
Then, he kicked his laundry basket out of the way and reached up to open the door. Nesrina darted beneath his raised arm and into the stairwell. He expected her to disappear into the darkness, but she climbed to the second step, then turned around to face him.
Cautiously, he approached. His heartbeat picked up, and he knew she could see the rapid rise and fall of his chest. He could see hers. The tips of his boots bumped against the riser of the first step.
“May I kiss you?” His words were gravelly and tumbled out before he could scoop them back into place.
“Yes.”
Kas leaned down, forcing his hands to remain at his sides lest he get carried away. Nesrina tilted her face up, her eyes wide until the last possible moment when they fluttered closed. He shut his eyes too, and closed the distance between them.
One chaste kiss was all he allowed himself, though restraint physically pained him. It was simple, slow, warm, and inviting. His hope was that it would function as a good prologue should, encouraging her to want to read on.
As his lips left hers, her eyes fluttered open, pupils blown wide from a combination of the dark and her desire. Nesrina’s lips parted, and she blinked, bracing her palm against the wall. “Leneteki,” she whispered.
He stood back to his full height and laughed.
Nes returned his smile before turning slowly and climbing the stairs, her fingertips trailing lightly along the wall.
“Goodnight, m’ekina.”