Chapter 33
“Do you think he has a fountain in his rooms?”
Danai had asked about a thousand questions on their way to Aryel’s rooms that evening, holding onto Nik’s arm and nearly trembling with excitement.
“He doesn’t,” Corinne said, leading the way toward the breezeway doors.
She’d met her friends in the entrance hall several minutes prior. Once she’d been certain of the Lightguards’ departure from the castle, she had taken advantage of her afternoon off duty to read and then train.
Her magic wasn’t out of her control, but it felt larger, somehow, requiring less effort to use and maneuver. She’d felt abnormally powerful and sure. Perhaps it had built up within her during the weeks she’d spent here.
“You’ve been in Prince Aryel’s rooms?” Iliana asked, raising an eyebrow.
Corinne’s face flushed. “Yes. Madam Orana brought me in there on my first day.”
She’d been in his rooms several times since then, but she didn’t need to tell them that.
Corinne held open the doors to the breezeway, and they stepped through, admiring the view.
Danai and Iliana were still in their guard attire after working all day, and Nik wore his usual plain dark shirt with laces at the front.
He and Danai paused at the railing of the breezeway to point at something in the distance, and Corinne smiled as she passed, entering the alcove to dismiss the guard on duty.
He gave her a nod and greeted Danai and Iliana on his way across.
Aryel’s door opened, and he peeked outside, grinning and waving them over.
“I hope you all are hungry,” he said, stepping aside to allow them through his doorway. The smell of food hit Corinne’s nose immediately, and her mouth watered. “I may have gone a little overboard with my requests from the kitchens.”
When Corinne stepped past the antechamber and into his main room, she nearly burst out laughing.
The dining table was piled with food, not unlike the spread that had been at the ball a week prior.
Two bottles of wine sat by a three-tiered tray of meats and cheeses, and on a large platter to the left, those tiny herb and cheese pies were stacked in neat rows.
Aryel approached Corinne’s left as the others began to retrieve plates of food.
“I don’t think there are fifty of those,” he said, pointing to the pies. “But you can have as many as you like.”
Corinne laughed. “I’ll certainly take you up on that.”
Danai, Nik, and Iliana poured glasses of wine for themselves, and Aryel encouraged them to sit on the couches by the unlit fireplace.
His balcony doors were open to let in the cool evening air.
Corinne carefully placed at least half a dozen of the pies on a plate alongside a selection of fresh fruit.
She balanced it with expert focus as she made her way to the couches and chairs, adjusting the sword at her hip before taking a seat in a chair that sank lower than she was expecting.
If she’d had any wine in her hands, it certainly would have sloshed out of its glass.
Aryel followed them over with his own plate, handing Corinne a cup of water before gingerly taking a seat in the chair across from hers, at the end of a short, narrow table.
“How was the ritual this morning?” Danai asked, placing their wine glass on the table before lounging back with their plate.
“Uneventful,” Corinne said. “Nothing particularly special. But I’m used to them.”
“What did you think, P—Aryel?” Danai asked.
“Certainly different from what I expected,” he said. “I particularly enjoyed the music.”
Corinne’s face heated.
“That’s right, you play pianoforte, don’t you?” Nik asked, and Aryel nodded.
“He plays it beautifully,” Corinne said, and it was Aryel’s turn to blush. She hid a smile. “It brought me to tears the first time I heard it.”
“What a shame there isn’t one in here,” Danai said.
“Thank the goddess,” Aryel muttered, popping a grape into his mouth. They all laughed, and he raised his glass, which also only contained water. “To the Lightguards’ departure. May we all find a bit more peace.”
“To our favorite of the Lightguards,” Iliana said, raising her glass and smiling at Corinne.
The others followed suit, and they all drank.
The same warm contentedness spread throughout Corinne’s body as she sat and dined with her friends and Aryel that had enveloped her at the Mykotas’s house.
This feeling…it was part of Helaera’s Light, part of the Goddess’s goodness.
Aryel’s glances in her direction as the evening wore on still made her pulse quicken, but she felt overwhelmingly at ease with every person in the room.
She’d known them all for just over six weeks, and they had been there for her in ways others never had. In ways Vera never had.
Danai was standing by the table, picking at the remainder of the food, when Corinne stood, shaking her head at the heated debate Iliana, Nik, and Aryel were having over which fruit was best in baked desserts.
“They’re all wrong,” Danai said, sighing as Corinne approached. “It’s obviously peaches.”
“I’d have to agree with you,” Corinne said seriously, and Danai chuckled.
She wrapped her arms around them, and they froze for a moment before returning her embrace.
“What was that for?” they asked as Corinne released them.
“For bringing me into your life,” she said, trying not to get overly emotional. “I’m so glad you approached me that day on the training grounds, Danai.”
They beamed at her. “I had a feeling about you, Corinne. And I was right.”
“Danai, Corinne! Settle this for us, would you?” Iliana called. “Blueberries or raspberries in baked goods?”
“Peaches,” Corinne and Danai said in unison, and they both laughed.
Iliana shook her head while Nik finished off his wine. Aryel caught Corinne’s eye, his smile soft.
What if he’s just pretending?
A bit of cold crept into the warmth within her, but she didn’t dwell on it. They’re just thoughts.
“As much fun as this has been, I am exhausted,” Iliana said, stretching on the couch before standing. “And Danai and I have early shifts tomorrow.”
“Don’t remind me,” Danai groaned.
“Thank you for inviting us,” Nik said, turning to Aryel.
“I’d be happy to host any time,” he said. “Especially given the extra difficulties in leaving the castle.”
“Then we look forward to the next invitation,” Danai said, walking back to the couch to offer Nik their hand.
Aryel stood as the three of them headed for the door, and Corinne’s heart picked up speed. They’re leaving. Should she stay in here? Take up her post outside his door?
Uncertain, she followed them all toward the antechamber, bidding her friends good night. She was about to walk through the door herself when Aryel placed his arm across the opening.
“You don’t need to stand outside my door, Corinne,” he said.
Her breath froze in her throat as the door closed and his eyes blazed into hers.
“The Lightguards are gone,” he said, dropping his arm.
“Yes.”
“Can we talk freely now?”
Corinne still hadn’t breathed. “Yes.”
He fixed her with that fiery gaze as he moved closer. “You really didn’t feel like you had to kiss me back?”
“No,” she said, her voice barely audible.
“So if I told you that you’ve been all I could think about for weeks,” he said, so close now, one step and she’d collide with him. “That all I’ve wanted to do since the ball is kiss you again…would you tell me not to?”
Corinne’s heart was sure to stop.
“We shouldn’t,” she breathed as he closed that gap further, the desire in his eyes nearly incinerating her.
He brushed her cheek lightly with the back of his fingers. “Then tell me to stop.”
She almost did, the word hovering on the tip of her tongue.
Corinne surged forward, the lingering taste of that word obliterated as she grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him.
Aryel wove his fingers into her hair, his mouth earnest and desperate against hers. Everything was him—his mouth, his hands, his body pressing into hers, sending waves of fiery warmth up her skin. His tongue brushed her upper lip, and it drew a soft whimper from her as her lips parted.
His hands traveled to her waist, pulling her with him into his bedroom, away from the table and lounge areas and toward his bed.
He unfastened her sword belt with deft fingers, his lips still on hers, only stepping away from her for a moment to prop the sheathed blade by the head of his bed.
It was wrong, heretical to allow a man to remove it from her person for this… whatever this was.
But Corinne let him, and he placed it with such care before taking her face in his hands and bringing her lips back to his. Something wild tugged behind her navel as she gripped his shirt and tumbled with him onto the mattress.
Was she really going to do this?
“Told you I’d enjoy you putting me on my back,” he said, biting her lip lightly.
The subtle sharpness shot more desire through her center, and any sliver of doubt vanished.
She leaned back, breathing heavily. “I can’t believe you said that during training.”
“Really? I thought you knew I was a heathen.”
“I know you’re a terrible student.”
“I beg to differ.”
Aryel used one of the maneuvers she’d taught him to flip them over, capturing her lips greedily with his own.
Gripping her waist with one hand, he pinned her wrist to the bed with the other.
Normally she would’ve countered, instinct leading her to gain the upper hand, but…
she liked this, being beneath him, relinquishing a bit of control.
She didn’t know what that said about her, but right now she didn’t care.
Corinne slid her free hand to the neckline of his shirt and tugged him closer before slipping her fingers past the fabric, hungry for more of his skin against her own. Aryel kissed down her jaw to her neck until he reached her ear with a low chuckle.
“You want my shirt off, Sunshine?”