CHAPTER V #6
My heart beats hard against my chest as Keane tilts his head with a smile, urging me forward. He takes my hand and walks us to the door, placing his palm over the emblem etched into the wood as it flashes a vibrant black.
I take a hesitant step inside.
The first thing I notice is that the walls of the residence are covered in tree limbs and vines, the brown of them melding beautifully along the greenstone.
In front of me is a staircase made of wood that leads up to the second story, and to the left is an open seating room with a massive fireplace within the wall.
Three deep green settees form a half square around the fire with a thick black rug resting underneath.
The home itself is a bit dark as the fire is unlit, though a large stack of logs rest inside and at the side, waiting to be used.
I move past the staircase and into the seating room, running my hand against the soft cushion as I pull my traveling bag over my head and drop it on the settee.
Past that room and towards the back is a large mahogany table that seats eight, the top of it littered with unlit candles in the middle.
Beyond the table is a large open cut in the wall that leads to an outside veranda, one that I suspect juts straight out of the mountain.
Two dark green curtains billow with the breeze at the sides of that open wall, the cool mountain air calling for Storm.
The Bird of Ash promptly pushes off my shoulder and glides out of the room, disappearing into the night.
My heart swells at everything around me.
This residence is Knowledge, but it also has its own subtle twist of Warrior that’s fitting for Keane.
I turn back to our group with a smile, catching Keane’s gaze just as he closes the front door behind him. He flicks his hand at his side and the full room flames to life, his summoning lighting the fireplace and the many candles that rest on the table and along the walls.
Clair quickly turns back to her husband, looking at his hands in question as he himself turns towards Keane. The two of them raise their brows in silence at the King of Disce, both surprised at his summoning.
I grin and turn back towards the large table, noticing that the room opens up to a small kitchen.
A ceramic oven rests in the wall as another table stands tall in the middle of the room, this one smaller than the other but no doubt used for preparing.
Two baskets of Chef’s extra food rests casually on that table, as does a variety of decanters of whiskey and water.
I grin even wider as I spot a small barrel of ale, the size of it good enough for a few rounds of drinks between the three of us.
And Ancients, do I need it.
Because walking into this residence settles something deep in my core… I know this place is going to be our home whenever we travel back to Bardot. I feel it in every bone of my body.
“Are you cooking?” Clair asks from behind.
“I am,” I grin, eying the food Chef gave us. “I spent a few of my younger years with our chef in Bardot. I actually enjoy it. Do you cook?”
Clair shakes her head, chuckling as she pours herself a glass of water.
“Any food I attempted to prepare came from the game I caught in our travels. My Da’ did all the cooking for us growing up. I can make a good broth and perhaps help you with the veggies, but that’s about it.”
“That’s good enough for me,” I smile, wondering again about the Princess’ past life.
“Men?” Clair turns around to McQuoid and Keane, “what’re you both drinking?”
“Whiskey.”
“Ale.”
We both chuckle as she gets started on the drinks and I turn to get the oven lit. The men take a seat at the table, the two of them angling their chairs to the kitchen.
“I forgot to mention this morning,” Keane tells the royals, “but you’re welcome to stay here for the night. The hall on this level leads to a small guestroom. I’ve had it prepared.”
McQuoid looks at Clair as she walks to the table with two drinks in hand. I smile when I notice a third glass of poured whiskey waiting for me next to the food and bring it to my lips.
“We may just take you up on that, Keane,” Clair grins, placing her hand on McQuoid’s shoulder. “I hadn’t thought about returning down the mountain later tonight, though now the prospect doesn’t seem all that desirable.”
McQuoid brings his own hand on top of Clair’s as he looks up at her with a small frown.
“We have no way of alerting Grant.”
“I can write to someone in the Castle,” Keane offers, reaching below the table.
He pulls out his thin slab of wood just as the small sound of shuffling feet greets us from the balcony outside.
“Good evening, Golem,” I tip my whiskey at him.
Golem nods and turns to the royals with a bow. He gives Keane a small smile before taking a quiet stance behind him in the shadows.
Clair looks down at her husband. “It would be easier to stay here the night, my love.”
“I agree,” McQuoid moves his hand to her belly.
I smile and turn back around, rummaging through the utensils to find a large knife. Clair comes back to the kitchen to join me, accepting the knife I hand her as I look for another.
“So you summon the elemental fire now, friend?” McQuoid inquires as him and Keane begin their own small conversation.
“I meant to ask you,” I turn back to the small table, looking at Clair. “How does everyone in Pyre communicate? Do you have your own set of summoning messages? I ask because I’d like to keep in touch after we depart.”
“Unfortunately we don’t use an oak slab as you do. There’s no writing with flames. We have the standard foot messengers and carrier birds, a system that has done well for us even if slightly outdated.”
“You should try,” I smile at the Princess.
“Try what?”
“The Disce oak wood and pen,” I grin, feeling all three sets of eyes on me. “It would make it easier for us to communicate.”
“But I don’t control the elemental earth,” Clair frowns.
“Here,” Keane pushes the thin wood towards McQuoid. “Give it a try, Rion.”
McQuoid looks at the thin wood in curiosity, picking up the pen.
“Turn away from the ladies and envision Alexis in your mind’s eye. Write into the oak as if you are writing to her. If it works, she’ll receive your message on her own wood.”
Clair’s gaze quickly moves to me, her brows lifting in question.
I shrug my shoulder and set down my knife to walk back to the settee, opening my bag to grab the oak in there.
The feel of it is unfamiliar in my hands, as it’s been resting inside my bag unused since Keane and I returned to Bardot.
That small bit of magic just hasn’t been calling to me lately, and with Keane making my room in the castle his, there’s been no real reason to use it recently.
But, oh, how very wrong I’ve been about that.
The slab is full of text etched into the wood, the words waiting there until I get a chance to read them. I quickly look up at Keane and catch his glance from the table. He’s sending me a wicked grin, his eyes darting back to the oak in my hand with a look of pure, smug, enjoyment.
I furrow my brows and look down at the text, reading the first few lines…
You’re standing naked with your shoulders held proud, letting your breasts perk up, just for me.
You don’t know this, you think I’m writing to one of my men, but I want to press my lips on your skin more than anything right now.
I want to hear the moan that I know I’ll bring from you when I let my teeth join in.
You like the small roughness, Alexis, and I get hard knowing that.
“No,” I whisper heatedly.
Keane was finally writing to me. Was finally playing the game that I so openly taunted in front of him.
How long ago did he write this?
“Did it work?” Clair asks from the kitchen.
“No,” I announce, my voice cracking, “it didn’t.”
I can feel Keane’s smirk from the table and avoid his eyes.
“Come give it a try, lass,” McQuoid tells Clair.
My breathing is shallow as I walk back to the prepping table, dropping the wood down next to my knife to hide the rest of Keane’s words.
“So I just think of Alexis when I’m writing?”
“Yes,” Keane nods. “Can you let us know, Alexis?”
I blush uncontrollably and let my slightly shaking hand reach again for the wood, turning it face up. It’s hard to ignore his words, though it does become easier as I watch a new message etch into the wood.
My eyes go wide…
Hello.
“Ancients,” I breathe, grinning to Clair with a wild nod.
“Well I’ll be damned,” McQuoid grins, bringing his ale up to his lips as he sits back in his chair.
“This will make communicating with you much quicker, now,” Keane chuckles, tilting his whiskey to the royals in salute.
Clair’s eyes are as wide as mine as she shakes her head.
“The elemental earth,” she nearly chuckles in bewilderment, “who would have thought?”
It is an interesting revelation, though one that has all three of us grinning.
“I’ll have a set delivered to your rooms, for you to take back to Pyre,” Keane tells McQuoid.
“I wrote again!” Clair announces.
“Is she going to abuse this?” I laugh.
“Oh, yes,” the Prince chuckles, “she’s going to abuse this.”
I smile and look at my wood, reading her next message.
There’s something I noticed you do before you reach your climax, Alexis… and Ancients, if it doesn’t set me over my own edge.
No, my heart beats hard, don’t read that one.
We’re going to have so much fun writing to each other!
Clair’s words are so innocent, so gentle next to the hard ones that are making me shift on my feet. I take a deep and steadying breath before I look back at her sparkling blue eyes, nodding my head in agreement.
“We will.”