65
Unlike the other tables, which were circular, the one designated for my family and our relatives was long and positioned near the dance floor so we wouldn’t miss any dances.
My parents settled into the two central chairs.
As was customary, as soon as I sat next to Father and Araton sat next to Mother, the guests began to take their seats at their tables.
My cousins approached us with our other kin, laughing at one of Amlach’s jokes. Three of them slid gracefully into the chairs in front of me, and I willed myself to keep my eyes on my silver platter to avoid watching Amlach sit with them.
“May I, Your Highness?”
I tried to hide the hot flash that his voice alone triggered in me, then lifted my eyes with a smile. “Of course, Your Grace,” I said, gesturing to the empty seat beside me.
I cast a rapid, aggressive glance at the fourth cousin, who had just sat on Amlach’s left. He noticed it, nudged my foot with his boot toe to grab my attention, and gave me a wink.
I knew I should look elsewhere. I knew I shouldn’t keep staring at him that hungry way in front of everyone. Yet, I couldn’t stop myself.
It was as if I were his prisoner.
As the servants started serving the first course of the banquet, my cousins promptly seized the opportunity to trap Amlach in a new conversation.
As a ceremonial tradition, my family was served last. After he had his own plate of raw vegetables, fava beans, and cheeses, the King of the Elves solemnly gestured to officially start the dinner.
Everyone began eating, and a melodic chatter slightly rose above the soft music.
I lowered my eyes to my plate, ready to pick up my cutlery, when Amlach, still listening to my cousins, reached out and took one of my celery sticks, taking a firm bite.
Every elf at our table gasped so loudly that it drew the attention of guests at other tables as well.
Amlach took half a second to understand what he had done, completely forgetting we were no longer in Rubra, and then he casually dropped the rest of the celery on his plate.
He met my parents’ perturbed gaze over my head.
“I am terribly mortified, Your Majesties. It was an impulsive gesture made without any malice, I assure you.”
I reassuringly touched his upper arm and then boldly faced the horrified looks of my relatives.
“Among the many things the King of Men did for me during our enslavement in the Lands of the West,” I proclaimed loudly enough for all the noblemen in the hall to hear, “was also testing the food first.” I fixed my father in my gaze.
“To make sure that our Master’s rival Houses didn’t try to poison me. ”
My mother covered her quivering lip with her fingers, and Araton clasped her other hand as she bowed her head to hide the big tears in her eyes.
Little by little, the anger in my father’s gaze faded away.
His hand covered mine on the table, giving it a light squeeze.
Then his attention returned to the man at my side.
“Our gratitude for how you looked after my daughter in those lands unknown to us, King Amlach, has no limit. Our people will not forget it, nor will I.”
“It was the least,” Amlach said solemnly. Then he turned to the other elves sitting with us and sarcastically remarked, “Considering all the stunts she pulled in Rubra’s arena to ensure we made it through the day intact.”
My kin enjoyed the joke and shifted from horrified grimaces to expressions of composed appreciation, then resumed eating as if nothing had occurred.
My cousins gazed dreamily at Amlach and, one after another, started asking him futile questions about our time away from the Lands of the East.
In a moment, I felt cut off.
My parents and Araton were already engaged in conversations with our relatives at the far right of the table. Those sitting on the left were too far for me to join their talk without bothering my cousins and Amlach.
Suddenly, he shifted his leg beneath the table to press the outside of his knee against mine.
I blushed, my eyes darting around to see if anyone noticed. I glanced sideways at his profile as he kept talking to the young ladies hanging on his every word. The cunning gleam in his eyes made me feel just as daring, and slowly, I lifted one foot off the ground to hook it around his ankle.
Amlach paused for a split second in the middle of a sentence, then resumed with flaunted calm. But now, spirals of black lust swayed in his gaze.
Satisfied, I took a piece of cheese and took a small bite. I kept rubbing my instep subtly along his calf, pretending not to notice the dirty looks he shot my way, how he occasionally shifted in his chair, or how he increasingly stiffened.
I didn’t care.
I aimed to break the human king and go through his fragments to reach the elf within him.
And I had to do it before the evening was over.