Chapter 12 One Bed
ONE BED
It’s been four moons in Noctavara—four nights where I sleep under the stars… and beneath Thane’s perch in the tree he chooses for the eve—and there’s still no sign of Rafe.
On the plus side, we’ve finally reached the end of the Shadowed Woods with only one more challenge from a fellow bandit.
There was another swarm of goldcaps that Thane eliminated, two more trolls, and a kelpie that would’ve attempted to drown me in one of the mirrored lakes if Binx didn’t nip at my heels warning away from the creature before Thane sent it away with a command in the old Faerie language.
Now, I don’t think I would’ve died, but spending the rest of eternity as the captive of a creature that was a mix between a mortal horse and fish didn’t seem like a good time to me.
Thane warns that the dangers don’t end just because the dark Shadowed Woods give way to a forest that gleams with gold.
From the gold-tinged leaves fluttering on bronx branches, the sky a mix of magenta and burnished gold swirls, and a sun that actually looks like the human sun instead of the constant silver moon that shone over the Shadowed Woods…
it’s exactly what I imagined a fae forest to look like, especially since the monarch butterflies seem more at home here when they inevitably reappear.
They don’t stay long, and whenever Thane edges out of the woods, finding the main road that’s designated for the traders and other caravans, they disappear completely.
I almost think that he does that on purpose, as though he’s trying to avoid the butterflies.
Since the golden forest means that we’re one step closer to reaching the Gilded Court, that’s fine with me.
At the same time, he’s careful to guide us back into the thick trees where we’re out of sight of any travelers.
He still puts the glamour over my horns whenever he senses someone—or something—coming too close, but more often than not, it’s just a fae bandit, a travelworn halfling, and Binx, who is having the time of his life bounding around the golden forest, sniffing the plants, and trying to eat the strange fruit growing on the trees no matter how many times I have to warn him that he’ll be trapped in Noctavara forever if he does.
Only once my ungez understands that he’ll be trapped here without me does he scamper up Thane’s leg, nosing the pouch that stores his dried meat so that he can have a snack.
It’s only been four moons, but it feels like forever. Like I’ve known Thane forever. Even Binx has decided he’s not so bad, though I can’t tell if my matebond with Thane is affecting the soulbond I have with my soul-pet. It’s possible, but damn if it isn’t sweet, seeing Binx get along with Thane.
I want to flag down travelers and ask if they’ve heard anything about slavers visiting demon realms and returning with outsiders.
Considering they had been in Brille Rouge, prepared to bring Katrin and her kin back with them only to settle for Rafe when his barrier saved the demonesses, it seems like a very common occurrence.
Of course, Thane points out that, if I accept that demons and demonesses fetch a high price in Noctavara, all it would take is a more powerful fae seeing through his glamour for me to be snagged next.
So far, he considers me his; after the amount of gold coin he earned by other marauders challenging him, I am worth a lot.
I asked him pointblank if he was going to sell me to earn more now that we’ve left the Shadowed Woods behind us.
He laughed, said ‘why would I do that’, and surged forward to check out a concerning sound long before I realized that he didn’t answer me.
That’s what he does. When he doesn’t want to answer a question—and he can’t lie—he gives me a non-answer.
Like when I asked him how old he was after Morgane’s comment had me wondering.
Dad was more than centuries old when he mated Mom, and I’ve always known that once a spawn matures—and that happens at about two decades for halflings versus two centuries for demons—a mate of any age is appropriate so long as they’re immortal.
To my surprise, Thane revealed he was not even that old. A hundred-and-fifty fae years, with the last two decades spent as a fae bandit staking out his corner of the Shadowed Woods and earning as much gold as possible.
I didn’t bother asking about his fixation with the metal. He changes the subject every time, and I knew it wasn’t worth it.
However, I did ask, “What did you do before that?,” because I… I want to know everything about my mate that I can before the essence exchange ruins all the fun.
He’d smiled and just said, “Nothing half as interesting.”
I still don’t know what that means.
I’m not the only one who asks questions.
He seeds them into normal conversation, but I finally notice that he’s interested in my relationship with Rafe, what it’s like in Sombra, and how exactly my shadow magic works.
He wants to know about my soulbond with Binx, though he’s careful to never mention mate bonds around me after his admission that the fae are cursed to never have them on their own.
I’m sure he’s wrong. He has to be. He’s on the other end of my bond, but I’m not ready to tell that. Not yet. Instead, I answer his questions, throwing back some of my own, and keep on moving forward until he tells us it’s time to settle down for the night.
Until this eve. Until Thane sees that I’m dragging again, that I flinch a little when he says that we should start searching for a safe place to rest, and pauses.
And then he says five magic words that nearly had me genuflected in front of him the way that Corbin once did to Stever:
“Want to find an inn?”
The inn that Thane leads Binx and me inside is older than it looks at first glance. Makes sense. This is a fae world full of immortals, and like Sombra, you often get the feeling that—with so much time for its inhabitants—it’s almost frozen in it.
Its timbers lean inward, the dark wood polished smooth by centuries of travelers who came through Noctavara.
A low fire burns in the hearth, casting warm light over rough tables filled with wary faces.
Most of them are covered in cloaks like the one Thane wears.
Others have softly glowing golden skin, but nowhere near the level of beauty and refinement that he has.
In fae realms, there are high fae—the nobles—and low fae—the tradesman, the seamstresses, the farmers, and the slavers.
This inn serves as a tavern for the low fae, and one that Thane has used when he had a coin to spare for a night indoors where the inn keeps rooms on the second story.
The way I see it, his pouch is a lot fuller because of me. He can buy my supper in the kitchen below, plus a soft bed upstairs for me to sleep on, and I won’t even feel like I need to ‘thank you’. If only for the night, I want to pretend I’m back home with all my amenities.
So consumed with looking around, it takes me a moment to notice that all conversation began to falter the moment our trio stepped inside.
Not all at once. Not so dramatically that it’s undeniable. But I feel it: the subtle shift, the pause between words, the flicker of curious attention that hits us before bounding away again before they’re caught.
Thane feels it, too.
As our guide, he’d walked in first to make sure it was safe. Now? He moves to my side, taking a step back. His hand finds the small of my back, firm and deliberate, fingers pressing through fabric. He’s making it clear that, no matter what, I’m with him.
Kind of like he’s claiming me…
With Binx on my shoulder and Thane keeping his hand there, he jerks his chin to the end of the room.
There’s a counter with a gorgeous fae female leaning forward, showing off her bosom.
She has the Noctavaran coloring, from her amber eyes to her golden skin, though her hair is the color of honey.
It falls in loose curls around her pointed ears, making me all the more aware that my hair’s been a tangled mess since I arrived.
She’s stunning, and I tighten up as Thane makes a beeline right for her. Does he know her? Does he thinks she’s pretty? What is he—
“Innkeeper,” he says, warm voice friendly enough without being too friend. “We need two rooms for the night.”
The innkeeper’s eyes dart to me, though she never loses her welcoming smile.
Then she’s glancing where my horns usually are; they’re glamoured, barely noticeable unless you know what to look for.
Then, lastly, to Binx, who peers out from my shoulder with glowing white eyes and a deceptively innocent expression.
“I’m afraid there’s only one room left for the night,” the innkeeper says after a moment. “With one bed.”
One bed… for the three of us?
I open my mouth, ready to argue, but Thane speaks first.
“That’s even better.”
Up close, the bed the innkeeper led us to upstairs looks even smaller.
It’s too narrow. Too intimate. The walls seem to press in, the single window shuttered tight against the golden woods beyond it.
The innkeeper murmurs that there’s fresh basked bread and gnome stew for supper if we’d like some sent up before pointing out the facilities down the hall in case we want to freshen up.
It irks me that her gaze shoots my way when she adds that part, but Thane quickly confirms that we’ll head down ourselves to try the cook’s famed stew before we turn in for the eve. Then, making it clear that that was a dismissal, he waits until she leaves to close the door behind her.
Now it’s just us, and though we’ve been traveling in close quarters for our fifth moon now, I’ve never been so intimately aware of Thane Aurex before.
“I can take the floor,” I blurt out, because I am not weak and I am not helpless and I am definitely not swooning just because he’s removed his cloak and is currently rolling his shoulders like he can’t wait to lie down on that bed.