Chapter 21 Erik
ERIK
Ariana already sat at the table when I entered the reading nook of a room where we would share a meal.
It was a small space where I often read.
That seemed like a lifetime ago. Still, it remained one of my favorite places.
Cozy and warm, the room had one wall made entirely of windows, keeping the space from feeling claustrophobic.
Each of the walls bordering the windows was crammed floor to ceiling with books.
All filled with fantastical stories of adventure.
In the center stood a single rectangular table, large enough for four, and it was already fully set. A delicious aroma wafted through the air, causing my mouth to water.
Ariana smiled politely when my gaze met hers.
I nearly returned the smile before noticing that there were only two plates set out.
I turned to Kole. “I told you that you could join us.”
“I’m not hungry.” He shrugged.
“He has already had his one meal for the month,” Ariana commented, earning a cool glance from Kole. To which her lips tipped up.
“I eat more often than that,” he snapped, though it was more friendly than angry.
“Whatever you say. Though, you may be more pleasant to be around if you stop going hungry for so long.” Ariana’s eyes sparkled as she teased him.
“You have been spending too much time with some who are clearly a bad influence on you,” he replied before turning to me. “If it’s alright, I have a couple of things I would like to take care of.”
“It’s fine. I’ll bring Ariana back to her room when we are finished eating.”
Kole dipped his head before excusing himself.
“This smells divine.” Ariana inhaled deeply as I took a seat across from her.
Her unbound hair flowed in soft waves over her shoulders.
She ran her fingers absentmindedly through the bottom section of her hair while her eyes scanned the table before her.
Was she nervous? I worked at keeping my smile hidden at the realization.
Ariana was a peculiar creature. Brave when she had no reason to be. In many ways, she seemed fearless. Yet this, sitting in a room with me when I promised her that no harm would come to her, made her fidget.
“Help yourself.” No sooner had I said the words than she began loading her plate with various meats and vegetables. She seemed relieved to have something to occupy herself with.
Ariana hesitated with a spoonful of cooked mushrooms hovering above her plate. Her eyes were enormous when they met mine, as if just then noticing I had not moved. “Don’t tell me I’m the only one who is going to be eating here.”
I smiled, finding her surprise and concern for eating alone curious. “I will join you. You seem ravenous, so I wanted to grant you free rein at the table.”
Ariana finished placing the serving of mushrooms on her plate and sat.
The barest hint of a flush painted her cheeks.
Had I embarrassed her? That would have meant that she cared how I viewed her, which was vastly different than when we first met.
Her actions always were her own. She never seemed influenced in the slightest by my opinion of her.
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” I commented, wondering if my pointing it out would cause her further to squirm. It was perhaps cruel of me to do it, though I couldn’t help myself.
“You didn’t.” She reached for her water, taking a few large gulps. Did she use the cold fluid to cool her body from within in hopes that the flush would not spread? Smart girl.
“The flush to your cheeks says otherwise.” I shrugged and stood to load my plate with food while Ariana eyed me.
The blush began spreading to her neck though her voice did not waver as she said, “You always so observant?” It was not a denial.
She did not shy away from my gaze when it drifted to her before retaking my seat.
Typically, when others stared in my direction, their gut reaction was to look away when I turned to them, but not hers.
Instead, she held my gaze, breaking contact only after making the point that she refused to be rattled by my company.
A part of me desperately wanted to rattle her.
It was as if we were playing some sort of implied game with unspoken rules.
“When something catches my interest,” I answered honestly.
Tension filled the small room, causing her to shift in her seat. “And how quickly is that interest typically lost?”
I leaned back in my chair, openly observing her, neither of us touching the plates of food before us. “You’re going to hurt my feelings, making it sound like you don’t like my attention.”
Her lips lifted ever so slightly. “You’re making it sound like I caught more than just your interest if it’s that easy for me to hurt your feelings.”
I let out an amused breath. This woman was lethal, and this game, or whatever this was, was dangerous. Despite my best efforts at not continuing, I found myself saying, “And what is it you think I have caught?”
“You tell me.” Her mouth twisted into a smirk, eyes glittering. “Unless your ego cannot handle the embarrassment of announcing how you are desperate for my favor.” Any hesitation I may have seen within her when we first sat had evaporated.
Her words cause me to genuinely laugh. “My ego is not so easily bruised.” She arched a slender brow in disbelief before I added, “And maybe I am desperate for your favor.”
Her head tilted, brown silky locks spilling over her shoulder. “I must confess, I am surprised you admit it.” A tendril of hair curled against her throat.
“How does one go about winning that favor?” I reached for the glass of water before me, needing a distraction to keep my thoughts from wandering to a dangerous edge.
“Get on your knees and grovel,” she answered with a completely straight face, though she could not hide the shine in her eyes. But something shifted, and the light dimmed from her face as she said, “And free me.”
All brightness vanished from our conversation. The pleasant tension altered into an uncomfortable one.
My gaze dropped to her plate, untouched. “Food is getting cold.”
Both of us took a few bites, neither making a sound other than the forks scraping.
“So,” Ariana broke the silence while pushing some food around her dish. “This time is intended for what? For us to learn more about one another?”
“Ideally,” I replied, leaning back, making myself more comfortable while looking at her.
The chair Ariana sat in rose well above her head and shoulders, making her look so small and delicate. Though I was well aware that things were not always what they appeared.
“Who asks the first question?” She tilted her head, waiting for a response. An air of curiosity surrounded her.
“You can go ahead.”
“What do you fear the most?”
“There is nothing,” I answered nearly immediately with a smirk. I indeed harbored fears, but they would not be shared with anyone, certainly not a Bavadrin woman. The question was ridiculous, and she could not have expected any other answer.
Her eyes narrowed. “That is a lie, but fine. I will ask something that does not make you feel less masculine if you tell the truth.” She tapped a finger against the glass in her hand. “Tell me about the white night.”
That sparked my interest. The white night was tied deeply within my culture. I was not aware that the Bavadrin stories held that information.
“Anything in particular you wish to know?” I asked, surprised that she even knew of it.
Ariana studied me as she considered her words. “I know that we are told to stay inside and far from the Lysian border on that night. Our stories paint the Lysians as going mad by the light of the moon, tearing everything apart. That you become more unhinged than usual.”
A smirk pulled at my lips at that, more unhinged than usual. “And is that what you believe to be true?”
“I think there is some truth to it. There is a reason for the warnings.” She looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to fill in some of the holes to complete or confirm what she already believed she knew.
“On that night, the moon is the closest to us out of the entire year and full enough to cast a white light that is so bright it chases most of the night away. Lysians are linked deeply to the planet and its phases. We do not go mad, but we tend to act more on our instincts. Most of the Lysians who have scars on their bodies got them on the white night. Lysians become more territorial, which certainly could bleed into viciousness and a need to prove superiority through physical means.” I smiled and added, “But it can also be a night of far more pleasure. Whatever one is in the mood for.”
“What do you typically do on the white night?” she asked, her green gaze unwavering, unfazed by what I said.
“I used to have fun.” I shrugged a single shoulder. It was once one of my favorite nights of the year when I could run wild with Kole, Eislyn, my sister, and my brothers. However, that life felt foreign now.
“Used to?” Her brows drew together in question.
“The past few years, I joined my father, who patrolled the border between our lands. I will now continue that tradition on my own.”
“You patrol the border?” she asked, surprise clear in her tone.
“Yes. We wanted to make sure some Lysian drunk off the freedom given by the white night did not feel free to risk the consequences of creating trouble in your lands. And that is still something I feel is true for today.”
She nodded, glancing at the windows and outside in thought. “My people, and the Lysians watching them. Will they be safe?” The white night was nearly two months away, it would be upon us in no time.
“Yes. The guards there are good. They will not create trouble and will do what they are told. Your people will be safe, and you, too, will be safe. The guards will probably be more tense that day but will not unjustly cause harm.”
Ariana reached for her glass again and finished off what water was left.