Chapter 9
SPARROW
Kissing Elowin was the most impulsive thing I’d ever done in my life, and for a moment I was worried I’d made a terrible mistake. But then, after only the space of a few heartbeats, he cupped the back of my head and kissed me back with a surprising amount of enthusiasm.
I didn’t know anything about kissing at all, but Elowin was clearly very good at it.
My heart fluttered in my chest, and when his tongue teased at the seam of my lips, I let him in.
My eyes fell closed as I soaked up the scrape of his stubble and the taste and feel of him.
But he pulled away too soon and I stared at him in confusion, my lips still tingling.
Why were we stopping? A terrible thought struck me.
Perhaps he hadn’t wanted to kiss me, and it had been instinct when he’d responded?
“I’m sorry,” I said.
His brow creased. “Why are you sorry?” He reached out and ran the tip of his thumb over my lips and gave me a crooked grin. “I only stopped so we could sit down. I plan to kiss you quite a lot, and it can’t be comfortable for you, standing on tiptoe like that.”
My breath caught, and my cheeks heated at the thought of quite a lot of kissing. “Yes, please! To more kissing, I mean. If you don’t mind.”
His grin widened. “Oh, trust me, I don’t mind at all.” He led me over to a nearby bench seat that was tucked under the curtain of a weeping willow that offered at least the illusion of privacy, and we sat down.
But it soon became clear that sitting side by side, he had to crane his neck to kiss me, and I hated the thought of him being uncomfortable. So I did the only sensible thing and climbed onto his lap, straddling him. He drew in a sharp breath.
“Is this all right?” I asked.
“It’s perfect,” he said, his voice strained. Then he put his hands on my hips and kissed me again, long and slow this time. The feel of Elowin’s hands, strong and sure, made this kiss even more wonderful than the last. I leaned in and, feeling very daring, tangled my tongue with his.
He responded with a soft moan, and one kiss became another, and another, until it all melted into one long kiss that had me tingling all over.
Even my cock was standing to attention! A flood of new and startling sensations washed over me when Elowin ran one hand up my spine, and it felt like I might burst out of my very skin—which was when a breeze started blowing, there was a soft rushing sound all around us, and the atmosphere changed and grew rich with the stirrings of magic.
I pulled back, heart racing, and let out a gasp.
“Elowin! Look!”
We were surrounded by butterflies, in all the colors of the rainbow.
There weren’t many of them—perhaps a dozen—but it was still one of the most glorious things I’d ever seen.
I stared, transfixed, as they fluttered lazily around us before alighting on Elowin’s braid, his dark hair a startling contrast to their rich blues and purples.
There were even some with bright orange wings, and I let out a delighted laugh when one landed on my sleeve. “Where did they come from?”
As I spoke, the butterflies flew upward and dissolved into a cloud of dust that glittered and made pretty patterns in the air before vanishing completely.
Elowin blinked at the dazzling display, and then his face split in a wide smile. “I think perhaps it was your magic, Sparrow.”
“Oh, no,” I started to say automatically, but then stopped short.
I had felt very strange while kissing Elowin, like a storm was building within and would burst out of me any minute.
Maybe this was connected to that. And we were very close to the shrine, the very heart of our people’s existence.
Was it possible that my magic was stronger here? Or was it kissing that was the key?
There was one way to find out.
I closed my eyes, leaned in, and kissed Elowin deeply, letting all the affection I felt for him come to the fore. As I lost myself in the feel of Elowin’s mouth on mine, there was a soft rustling and a whispered breeze, there and gone again. I broke the kiss and pulled away.
There, resting on Elowin’s shoulder, were two new butterflies, both a stunning green.
They matched the color of his eyes perfectly.
“It is my magic,” I said, excitement rising in me. “Elowin, my magic got stronger! Do you think it’s the shrine or the kissing?”
Elowin’s eyes sparkled. “I think we should kiss some more and see what happens.”
My insides fluttered at the thought of more time spent in Elowin’s lap, and I couldn’t be sure if it was my magic causing my belly to swoop pleasantly or another feeling, one that was altogether new. Regardless, I nodded eagerly.
He laughed softly, then he wrapped his arms around me, and we proceeded to kiss my magic awake.
The butterflies in the air had all disappeared by the time Elowin and I got back to looking at the market stalls, but the ones in my belly, fluttering pleasantly every time Elowin smiled at me or squeezed my hand, remained.
Later in the afternoon, as the light grew golden and the shadows lengthened, Elowin suggested that we go to the inn, and we left the market.
I was sorry to leave but also looking forward to sitting and resting my sore feet.
There were more inns and pubs and cabins on the northwest border of the Everend Market than there were buildings in all of Hillstowe.
The place that Elowin led us to was called The Three Cats, even though the animals painted on the sign looked more like hares to me.
I’d thought the inside would be as lively as The White Swan had been, but when Elowin pushed the door open, it was quiet and empty.
There was nobody sitting at the tables and nobody behind the counter.
Elowin didn’t seem perturbed. “Thanafern!”
A moment later a portly elf with a cheerful smile bustled out from a doorway that opened into the main room. “Ah! Elowin! The prince won’t be here until tomorrow at earliest, Teon tells me, but your rooms are ready whenever you are. Please, allow me to take your packs while you take a seat!”
Thanafern whisked our packs away, along with my lute, and Elowin and I took a seat at one of the tables. It wasn’t a rough trestle table with a bench seat but a proper dining table polished to a rich shine, and the individual chairs were upholstered in fine fabric.
“Aldian hires out the whole place when he comes here,” Elowin said. “For tonight it’s probably just Teon and Rowan and us.”
Of course the prince would make provisions for his guards, who had to be close to him at all times, but I wondered why Rowan was included in the party.
Her clothing was very fine, and perhaps Aldian liked to have a seamstress at hand just in case he needed something mended or altered.
Or perhaps, and I hoped it was true, he was a generous prince and extended his hospitality even to his guard’s sister.
It seemed like the sort of thing my parents wouldn’t necessarily approve of—they felt the nobility ought to be kind to the lower classes but not overly familiar with them—but I was starting to realize there were a lot of things my parents didn’t approve of that everybody else did.
And the more I saw of the world outside Hillstowe, the more I was beginning to think that everybody else had a point.
Thanafern returned to our table and stood with his fingers steepled over his round belly. “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?” he asked, his eyes alight with curiosity.
“This is Sparrow. He’s the Fyreham Lathian,” Elowin said.
Thanafern’s gaze raked over me and he said, “Well, I hope Elowin’s taking good care of you.”
“He is,” I said and tried not to think of butterflies and kisses lest my expression give me away.
“Tell me, have you heard the latest gossip?” he asked Elowin.
“We’ve only just arrived, but I’m sure you’ll fill us in.” Elowin gestured to the empty seat next to him.
Thanafern sat down and leaned forward, a gleam in his eye. “I’ve heard that there’s a new romance.”
Elowin laughed. “That’s hardly news. This is the Marriage Market.”
“But this is between an elf of high standing and a commoner,” he said, “which makes it unusual.”
“Is it?” I asked. Maybe not everything my parents had told me was incorrect after all.
Thanafern nodded. “Usually the noble-born elves stick together, so when they’re seen holding hands and kissing in public, people take notice.”
I thought of the kisses Elowin and I had shared, and my stomach churned with anxiety.
What would Thanafern say if he knew about us?
And then I had a terrifying thought. What if he did know about us, and we were the source of the rumor?
It wasn’t impossible. We’d bathed naked in a stream together and shared a bedroll. One of the elves we’d traveled with could easily have misconstrued those things, and I’d already seen how quickly news traveled in Everend.
Oh goddess.
I was the noble elf romancing a commoner.
It wasn’t strictly true, of course—I was of genteel birth rather than noble—but what rumors didn’t grow in the telling?
Elowin wasn’t a shepherdess either, and that was the version Teon had heard.
And it wasn’t that inaccuracy that bothered me.
My first reaction was to be vaguely offended on Elowin’s behalf, because he was anything but common.
Just because he wasn’t of noble birth, that didn’t make him any less kind or handsome or capable.
Besides, he was a royal guard. Surely that gave him some social standing?
My need to defend him made me brave, and I determined that I had to tell the truth. But my voice still shook a little when I said, “I’m afraid we might be the source of your rumor, Thanafern, but it’s quite untrue.”
Thanafern raised his eyebrows, looking between us. “Really?”
I cleared my throat. “Yes. But it’s a misunderstanding. We’re traveling companions, that’s all. And although it’s true I am of genteel birth, Elowin is hardly a commoner!”
“Of course not,” Thanafern said. “He’s—”