CHAPTER XV #6
“Yes,” she turns to her brother, “with my brother, Tripler.”
Tripler leans forward on the table, his deep blue eyes still not leaving mine. His hair is darker than his sister’s and styled immaculately in a side part, the full of it trimmed and short. His features are hard, sharper than Sutton’s, but his smile is genuine in greeting.
“Very nice seeing you again, Lady Alexis.”
“Likewise,” I return his smile, “glad to have friendly faces sitting next to me tonight.”
The brother and sister grin just as a young boy moves behind us and places a few drinks on the table. I look at the golden ale in front of me with a small frown, silently wishing it was another color.
Keane’s hand press against my back, his body leaning into mine. “It’s no amber,” he whispers, “but we can down your favorite drink and try to pretend it is after.”
I bite my lip and take a deep breath before turning back around.
Ancients, I don’t know how I’m going to get through tonight with this man sitting next to me.
His brown eyes are playful on mine, prompting my body to respond to his call, and his fingers on my back have already started their claim and are caressing my skin in a way that is smug and entitled. It reminds me a bit of the night I spied on him in Agnor, when he did the same thing to Alanna.
I sigh.
Perhaps that is what this is, then. A finishing to all of our heavy banter and the sexual tension from the past fortnight.
Perhaps he just wants to have me and move on, especially after hearing about Troy.
He’s certainly acting like the Prince I first remembered meeting, being forward with his touches and arrogant with the reactions that they bring.
The thought tears at my heart.
“It’s no amber,” I admit, leaning away from him to grab the toddy, “but there is no use in pretending, Your Highness.”
I down the drink straight and give the Prince my back, leaving him well alone.
“Tell me more about the quarries,” I smile at the duo again, “in Bardot we have the Greenstone Mountain, so all of our fixtures are a mix of that stone and wood.”
Tripler leans forward in his seat, grinning at my interest.
Or, perhaps he’s grinning at my rebuff of the Prince, I can’t tell.
“You’ve certainly ridden past them in your travels, yes?”
“Yes,” I nod earnestly, grabbing the ale in front of me, “though it was a pass from afar. I’m afraid I’m completely ignorant to how a quarry actually works.”
“As were we,” Sutton laughs, grabbing her toddy, “but one day we felt the rock beneath us when we rode through the Valley. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Tripler as well. We had to confirm with eachother that we weren’t crazy.”
“I certainly knew we weren’t crazy,” her brother rolls his eyes with a chuckle, “but the method had never been tried before. We felt the granite under us and knew that it sat beneath the earth. So we had to learn how to pull it from the ground. Our summoning, mixed with a few others, as well as a lot of hard, manual labor, saw the quarries finally created.”
“Hence the gaping holes there,” Sutton laughs again, looking at the Prince behind my shoulder with an apology.
“You have provided and produced hundreds of livelihoods for the people of my Court,” he leans in with a nod, “continue to cut into the ground as much as you’d like.”
The brother and sister both grin at the Prince, lifting their drinks in salute.
“But what of the greenstone, Lady Alexis,” Sutton looks at me curiously, “the mountain rests behind the capitol of Bardot, yes? Is your home built into the mountain or do the people there mine it?”
I feel Keane shift in his seat as I reply, “a little of both, actually. The castle itself is built of greenstone but it sits separate from the mountain at the bottom. We do have a few rooms within the castle that rest inside the mountain, but mainly the stone is mined for the construction of new buildings in the Palisades up top.”
“We’ve heard of the Palisades,” Tripler smiles, “the way it’s described, unlike anything in Disce.”
“It is,” I nod vigorously, “one of my favorite cities to visit.”
“We must make the travel, Tripler,” Sutton turns to her brother as Keane leans back in his chair, his fingers inching towards my back again.
“The city is built on top of the mountain or within the top?” her brother asks, gaze holding mine.
“A little of both again. There are multi-leveled homes built into the mountain with only their verandas that jut out. But the top of the mountain is where the city really lives. The shops and homes are built using the greenstone and rise high to the sky above. The view at night is unlike any other.”
“We will visit,” Tripler nods to his sister without any hesitation.
“Call on me when you do,” I smile at the two of them, “I’ll show you around.”
Tripler’s grin is wide as he tips his drink in my direction. I grin and do the same, glancing down to check on Stormfall as he remains staring out to the court in front of him. I reach out a hand and stroke the back of his head, smiling when his body leans into the touch.
“How did you come by the hawk?” Sutton asks.
Storm looks back at me at the question, his yellow eyes flashing another strong gold that makes me freeze in my seat. Hirovale holds my gaze for a small moment before the yellow returns, the Bird of Ash turning away from my caress as he starts walking towards the Prince.
What in the Ancients?
“Stormfall found Lady Alexis,” Keane replies, hand reaching out to Storm as he looks at the Bird of Ash with affection. I scowl, not sure I’m liking this new duo, trio, and find myself wishing for the sleepy moments in the private room of Pyre when Storm nipped at the Prince from under my hair.
“In Pyre?” Sutton looks over at him with brows raised, “we heard your travels took you beyond our forests.”
“In Pyre,” Keane nods in confirmation as I take a hefty drink.
What are Hirovale and Storm playing at?
“He’s beautiful,” Sutton says in awe.
The Bird of Ash turns his head and gives her a small caw.
“Wait,” the Discerni woman stutters, “can he… can he understand me?”
“At times,” I drop my drink on the table and look back at Stormfall with narrowed eyes, “but then there are other times when you have to remind him that he knows absolutely nothing at all.”
Keane’s smile tightens as we both watch Stormfall’s eyes flash another set of vibrant gold. I hold the bird’s gaze hard.
Yes, Hirovale, I’m talking to you.
My stare is broken by a young serving boy bringing out our plates for dinner. He drops the main course of smoked peppered trout at my front before handing another small plate with raw red meat to Keane.
“Are black hawks common in Pyre?” Tripler asks from down the table.
“He himself isn’t common, though firehawks grace their woods and beyond,” I reply as Keane leans back to the serving boy, his arm still stretched behind my chair, “I’ve been told that Stormfall is distantly related.”
“Truly fascinating,” Tripler murmurs.
I nod and glance down the table, past the Prince and his brother on his right. Mana is seated next to the Master Informer with Holis next him and then Cal. I note that Alanna is seated next to my big friend tonight, her cool grey eyes smiling up at him.
“An unexpected duo,” Keane murmurs, catching the direction of my gaze.
“If it makes them happy.”
“And you?” he leans in closer to me.
“And me, what?” I ask quietly.
“Are you happy?”
“I will be,” I nod, “when I have the chance to talk to your father.”
Keane’s grip on the back of my chair tightens, “tomorrow, Alexis.”
My full body stiffens, “you’re traveling with us?”
The Prince nods, pushing a new glass of toddy towards me, “you forget that my brother and I have conversations of our own that need to take place.”
Desmond turns in his seat at Keane’s comment, his dark eyes finding mine in agreement.
Ancients, I had forgotten.
I grab the toddy and swallow the drink whole, then lean back in my chair to search for Golem in the shadows. Keane’s hand presses into my back, his fingers gently stroking between my shoulders and sending my thoughts into a scatter.
Keane…
In Bardot…
Walking the halls of the castle I’ve called home for so long.
I can only envision his tall and commanding figure bounding past the greenstone walls as the bottled moonslight shines down on him with every step.
What would it be like to see him calling on me at my room, or even walking along the fourth floor that I briefly got to visit in my meeting with the King?
It hits me, then, that the large black bed I saw in the hall on that floor was his. His room. His residence.
Fuck.
I need to pull my mind away from that trail of thought.
But now all I can think about is him standing under the Great Oak, his brown eyes playfully waiting for me as I greet him under the massive tree.
“You’re doing it again,” Keane says softly, hand flattening just under my neck.
I make the mistake of looking back at him, my gut clenching at the kindness creeping behind his brown eyes.
“What are you thinking?” he asks quietly.
I swiftly reach for the mug in front of me and take a deep drink of ale. Keane slowly lifts his hand to the back of my neck, his fingers coaxing me into an honest reply.
“I’m thinking that I should like to see you standing under the Great Oak,” I admit, “that the idea of you waiting there for me is something that tugs at my heart.”
Keane’s brown eyes lift in surprise, clearly not expecting me to be so forthcoming.
The look quickly disappears when his gaze narrows on mine with an intimidating intensity, and almost immediately the ground begins to shake.
The vibrations rattle the glasses and plates along the main table and prompts a few heads to look around in confusion, but all I can do is stare back at Keane and focus on my breath not catching in my chest.
“Keane,” I whisper, my gaze finally noticing the many people who are looking at the Prince.
His eyes never leave mine as the rumbling begins to still.