Chapter Fifteen
I scraped my thigh as we clipped a stone terrace wall. The balloon bounced, yanking us three meters back into the air, before I held the vent flap in full open position, keeping it on the ground.
“You OK?”
“I am undamaged,” said Sephimara.
Several people dove at the rigging and balloon envelope, dragging it to a stop.
“What happened?” asked a student.
“Did the balloon malfunction?” asked another.
“Yeah, you could say that.” I gripped a fistful of manicured grass.
I flopped onto my back, the ground feeling delightfully enticing.
“A malfunction?” The instructor displayed something near to emotion. “I will certainly have a word with whoever certified the maintenance on your balloon.”
Sephimara stood, a leg on either side of me, and extended a hand. “Malfunction? I don’t know if that’s quite the right word for it. To my mind, everything went off like clockwork.”
I smiled at her in the light of scattered lanterns. The aches, cuts, and bruises faded from my mind as I took her hand. We’d done it.
She pulled me easily to my feet, gaze locked a moment with mine before turning to the instructor. “Do you know the whereabouts of Aldyr? We have questions for him.”
“The inn,” she said. “Most of the students are there. It was too late to send out a search party, so we…”
“Thank you.” I clenched and relaxed my fists, trying to loosen the stiffness from holding on to the rigging. “If we hadn’t seen all the lanterns and torches, we might have flown right past.”
“Mister Thistlewood, please accompany me to the inn. There will be some discussions. Rather pointed discussions, I believe.”
We strode briskly up stone staircases, past terraces. The town was built into mountainous coastal terrain, yet somehow lush with foliage.
“This is really a quaint little town. I’m a bit upset that Aldyr’s sabotage ruined my chance to explore it with you.”
“As am I.” She stopped at a tiny plaza with a fountain where glowing crystals illuminated the interior of a miniature grotto scene. “Left fork, the instructor said. So, I’d been given a journal that I didn’t want and didn’t know what to do with.”
“And then the individual who gave it to you rudely got themselves murdered,” I added. “It’s the sort of thing that can really ruin one’s day.”
“Precisely.”
The cobblestone street narrowed, steepened, and finally turned to a stairway.
“And though the count and his son were pleasant at first—” She paused at the top step and bit her lower lip. “Actually, they were never especially pleasant. At any rate, they were the only ones I knew in the city… aside from you of course.”
“Of course.” I offered her my hand, palm up.
She blinked, smiled, and took it firmly in hers.
“But there were coincidences. Far too many coincidences. I hid the journal, but my room was searched time and again. So I finally resorted to having it with me at all times. Then came the subtle threats, then…” She stopped in front of the darkened window of Faexalim’s Puzzles, Toys, and Diversions, spinning me to face her, a hand on my shoulder.
“Mister Thistlewood. You have been patient, true beyond measure, and an exemplary friend.”
I tipped my head. “You left out valiant.”
“I was getting to that part.” Her features were indistinct in the moonlight, though her eyes sparkled.
“Thank you.” I rested a hand on her… oh she has such a nice curve to those hips.
She leaned closer, until our foreheads touched.
“And you, Sephi, are the most charming and fascinating person I’ve ever met.”
Her eyelids fell shut as she uttered a satisfied, low hum. “Perhaps we should interrogate Aldyr before news of our non-demise reaches him.”
We located the inn, a three-story structure with rooms accessible via wide external walkways decorated with flowering potted plants.
She raised a hand as we approached their room.
Elevated voices snapped at each other behind the door.
“The man said he was an agent of the count. Said that if it looked like an accident—”
“An accident to a commoner. Do you realize what the count will do to you if the baroness comes to harm?”
I glanced at her, fist clenched. It should have bothered me, their dismissive attitude.
But the only person whose opinion of me mattered at the moment stood at my side. And her feelings for me were clear.
Sephimara’s eyes flashed with a fury I’d never seen. Her hand dropped to the pommel of her saber.
I gripped my scythe axe. We were a team. We had each other’s backs.
The fire in her eyes dropped to a controlled glow, like the cherry embers of a blacksmith’s furnace. She nodded to me, drew her saber, and kicked in the door. “I would be more concerned with what I will do to you.”
Damn! The lady has style.
“Baroness, how delightful to see that you are well.”
“No thanks to you and your compatriots.”
“You were not supposed to—”
Aldyr shushed the man with a wave of the hand.
“I will know the count’s scheme, I will know his son’s involvement and yours. Now.”
“The count wished to enlighten you as to the benefits of—”
“Stop.” Aldyr again shushed his companion. “He and his son have your best interests at heart.”
“And those thugs waiting outside her new apartment?” I asked.
“They were simply a reminder of—”
“Quiet!” Aldyr’s tone had reached an un-elflike ragged yell.
Sephimara stepped forward, her stance, posture, the way she held her blade more than enough to obviate a formal preamble.
“You, all of you, fawn over customs and traditions you know nothing about. You think you know the workings of Drach-Principalis. It is all so exotic, with you at the top of everything, exercising some sort of divine right as puppet master. This is supposed to be an educational excursion, so let me educate you on three points. First, Melandrach elves are renowned for loyalty to their allies. Allies such as Mister Thistlewood: an attack on him is an attack on me. Second. House Arazniros never backs down from a challenge. And lastly… I have never lost a duel.” As the air around us crackled with charge, her saber glowed blue. “Draw. Your. Blade.”
Aldyr’s eyes bloomed wide in horror.
The other two backed up, casting off sword belts as if they’d transformed into venomous serpents.
Sephi’s saber burst into blue and purple flame.
The three of them bolted out the back door.
Which was actually a window.
On the second floor.
They may have peed themselves too, but I chose not to investigate.
I put a hand on her shoulder. “You OK?”
The flames subsided. “I am. And I thank you for letting me handle that.”
“I had your back if you needed it. Which you didn’t.”
She sheathed her saber.
“Next time you might want to go easier on the illusory flames.”
She turned to me, a severe look in her eyes. “What makes you think they were illusory?”
I took her hand in mine. “Flames went all the way to the hilt. Your hand isn’t burnt.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “You are most observant, Mister Thistlewood.”
I took her other hand. “May I remind you that we are not in public?”
She bit her lip. “On that matter, you are correct. Theo.”
I stepped closer, head tipped back to gaze into her eyes. “May I also remind you that thanks to our little excursion, you missed dance practice.”
She bit the fingertips of her glove and tugged it off, baring her teeth in a most unladylike fashion. “I have a partner who will make it up to me.”
“Will he?” I removed my own gloves with far less flair than she had shown and glided my palms around the swell of her hips.
She was so hot in leather pants.
She kneaded the back of my neck and snuck her fingertips under my collar, teasing for many long seconds before pulling me into a firm embrace.
With us both in armor, it may not have been as physically intimate as with scant house clothes, but… the way she moved, the things she said, the way she said them… I’d never been this close to anyone before.
I stood on tiptoes and nuzzled my cheek against hers.
As she glided her cheek along mine, I felt her head turn to brush her lips against me. Hot breaths caressed my skin. She kneaded the small of my back with a firm hand.
And pressed her lips to mine, lips as soft and warm as I had dreamed.
Many, many dreams.
The kiss was subtle, gentle, yet the parting of those thick, plush lips made her intentions fully clear.
Like the depths lurking behind her subtle banter, a burning passion hid behind this gentle kiss.
She tapped my tongue with the tip of hers, holding the kiss a second or two before pulling her head back to speak, hips still nestled tight against mine. “We have much to sort out yet.”
“We most certainly do.” I tipped my head a little.
She lifted an eyebrow.
“We never asked the instructor if we would be able to redo today’s assignment,” I said.
“Agreed. It was quite silly of us to have neglected that most basic query.”
“If we are allowed.” I cupped both hands around her waist, savoring that delightful curve as it transitioned to her hips. “I would like to request a certain lab partner.”
“You, Mister Thistlewood, may request whatever you wish. It will not change the fact that you will ride with me.”
It had been an eventful day. Balloon explosion. Nearly drowning. Evading a lindworm. Confronting Aldyr and his colleagues. Seeing Sephi send them fleeing in terror. And as preludes to a first kiss go…
A smile spread across my face as I gazed into her green eyes.
As preludes to a first kiss, I couldn’t have asked for more.