15. Lovesick
"Lovesick"
“ L ovesick, I tell you,” Jezebel crowed to her small audience in the sitting room of Lady Dumbrell’s manor. “Just look at her.”
Mila let the embarrassment she felt show, and it was read incorrectly by all in the room.
“Oh, how depraved!” another woman said with delight. “Whatever shall you do with such a creature?”
“Well, there’s really only two options,” Jezebel said with mock seriousness. “Lock her away until the next Sacrament, which is only a few weeks away now. Or…give her a chance to experience love for the first time in her life. Who knows…maybe the secret to turning a demon back into a human is true love’s kiss!”
The group tittered like excited birds, and Mila fought not to roll her eyes. At least she was out of the palace walls again for the day. In the coming weeks, she would have to take any opportunity she could to seize her freedom. Even if it meant accosting Jezebel herself .
But for now, she enjoyed being back in Jezebel’s good graces, and she wondered what Jahan would make of all this once it reached his ears.
She did not have to wonder for long.
Jezebel had arranged for him to arrive at the manor soon after tea was served, a decadent spread of soft cheese on lavendile-infused biscuits, with ripe fruits and berries on the side to cleanse the palate between each bite. When Jahan arrived, he was escorted to the sitting room by Lady Dumbrell’s staff. He stood in the doorway looking very confused and concerned. His short, warrior’s haircut was fresh, his dark blue shirt neatly pressed and buttoned to his neck, and he was wearing dark brown pants that had a trace of golden thread glinting through them. Evidently, someone had ordered him to dress in his best, and Mila could not have been more mortified to see him looking so handsome. She deliberately ignored the very real flutter she felt in her stomach at the sight of him
“Jahan!” Jezebel’s joyous voice trilled. “How lovely of you to come join us. Please. Come sit. No, not there. Beside the demon will do. Yes.”
Jahan walked with the caution of a man who could smell a trap. He slowly lowered himself onto the seat beside Mila and looked around the room, still trying to predict what might happen next and having no luck.
“Jahan, I’d like you to ask the demon three questions about herself, so that we all might get to know her a little better.” Jezebel’s smile could not have been broader.
Unsurprisingly, Jahan was taken aback by this command, but he did as he was ordered. He cleared his throat and turned to look Mila in the eye. “Uhh… Where were you born? ”
“I grew up just outside the city of Wallatsford, in the region of Prious. My family were barley and oat farmers.”
“I see…”
Mila could both feel and see his anxiety and confusion as he tried to think of another question. Why was he being asked to do this? What was the right or wrong question to ask? Why did this demon keep crossing his path and putting him in such devastatingly precarious situations?
“What do you like most about Jeralusah?” he asked.
“Oooh!” Lady Dumbrell interjected with rapt fascination. “That’s a good one!”
Jezebel shushed her and looked at Mila for her response, her eyes beady and bright.
“I like… I love the palace gardens. They’re beautiful. I’ve never seen such a marvel. The way the glass and light have been designed to play off one another, and the way it has all been weaved into nature. It…it brings me a lot of peace.”
Mila loathed opening up in this way, especially in front of Jezebel, but she also knew that, in order for her ruse to be believed, she had to behave as though she were sincerely trying to share a part of herself with the man, to offer him something he might be drawn to. And in this, it seemed that she’d struck true.
Jahan nodded thoughtfully at her answer and then said, “That is also my favourite part of the city. I love spending time in the gardens.”
“So much in common!” Lady Dumbrell whispered loudly. The older woman, Meredith, could not hide her smile as Jezebel smacked Lady Dumbrell to silence her.
“Another question, Jahan,” she ordered.
“What have you enjoyed most in your time spent alongside our princess? ”
He was giving her an opening here, a chance to flatter Jezebel and put them both in her good graces. Mila knew that her next words would utterly shock him, but that they might also give him some idea of what was going on.
“I most enjoyed the…the night at the dinner party. With you.”
“With me?” he said, flustered.
“When we…kissed.”
Again, Mila blushed, and Jahan’s jaw dropped. He studied her face intently, perhaps looking for signs of madness. Around them, the ladies whooped and clapped in childlike pleasure. Entertained beyond measure at her boldness, and his discomfort.
“Well, go on, Jahan,” Jezebel demanded. “Put her out of her misery. Kiss her again!”
Confused and unhappy, Jahan dared not disobey. He tipped his head forward and gently lifted Mila’s chin to allow his lips to meet hers. The kiss was chaste and short, but his lips were soft. He smelled like soap and faintly of lemon.
When he pulled away, he found the opportunity to discretely whisper, “I can’t help you.”
You already have , Mila thought to herself, but there was no other opportunity for her to explain anything. Every interaction between them was scrutinised and delighted over by Jezebel and her group.
“Okay, your turn, demon. Three questions for the handsome Jahan. Well, perhaps slightly less handsome these days.”
“If I were to cook you a meal, what would you most enjoy eating?” Mila asked.
Jahan’s energy turned from wary to furious when it dawned on him that Mila was a willing participant in whatever scheme this was. Beneath that fury, Mila sensed his fear, and it matched her own. It wouldn’t take much of a misstep for this situation to spiral out of hand, not with a creature such as Jezebel acting as the conductor. But for now, thankfully, she seemed content to watch Mila’s awkward attempts to flirt and Jahan’s horror as he tried to navigate himself through the unprecedented situation he found himself in.
That evening, Mila fell to her pallet, exhausted from all the attention and playacting, but sure it had been worth it. If doing this continued to open up opportunities for her to be outside the palace walls, it would be worth it. And, she considered with a tiny smile just before she fell asleep, it certainly wasn’t hard to pretend to be infatuated with Jahan.