Chapter 5 #2
I nearly choked on my drink. “I thought your brother was at sea,” I said, wiping mead from my lips with my sleeve. “Wasn’t he commandeering that big merchant ship?”
“He was… I mean, he is, but they’re docked at Moonsport for a few days while they load up for their next voyage. He asked about you.”
“Did he?” I said begrudgingly, taking another gulp of my drink.
“Would it help if I told you that he hated how things ended between you two? He’s missed you, Syl.”
My gaze drifted to hers, the spiced mead already making my belly feel warm. Gods, the two of them could be twins, and it made my chest tighten, remembering the smoldering beauty of her brother.
Sadly, nothing had truly ended between Leoric and me because nothing had ever started.
And that was the problem. His life belonged at sea, and mine was rooted here, serving my kingdom.
When I’d finally allowed him to charm me into thinking we could be more, he dropped the bomb of his departure.
He urged me to join him on his ship—to abandon my life, my dreams—and explore the world at his side.
I hadn’t been able to make that choice. And a part of me wondered if the reason I’d refused him had truly been because of my duty to my kingdom, or because, deep down, I couldn’t imagine my life away from…
Solstice be damned. Even when I tried not to think of the damn Frost Prince, he always managed to worm himself back into my mind. I refilled my mug. “Water under the bridge, Cora.”
“He’s not given up on you.”
“He should.”
“Well, you try convincing him of that,” she said, nodding toward the back staircase that led to The Stag’s inn rooms upstairs.
When I pivoted on my stool, my breath stilled.
Leoric descended the stairs, coming into full view as he entered the main floor.
Tall and commanding, his very presence pulled the air in the room toward him like the tide bending to the moon.
But he was anything but pale. The male was all fire and sunlight.
Golden-brown skin glowing, his honey-colored eyes scanned the room with the confidence of a man who had braved a thousand tempests.
His features were sharp yet elegant, his strong jaw softened only by the full curve of his lips—the kind that made females lean in just a little closer when he spoke.
Where Jack was ice and shadow, Leoric was the hot embers of a roaring fire, a beacon to the warmth of his flames.
He was a lion that commanded attention with nothing but the slow, sure way he moved.
He carried himself like a king of his own domain, and in many ways, he was—a merchant lord of the sea, captain of a ship that had seen more of the world than I ever would.
In one lazy gaze, my eyes skimmed over his entire body.
His coat was finely tailored, made of deep blue velvet and trimmed with gold that accentuated his broad shoulders, a white shirt unlaced at the collar poked from beneath the tunic revealing the smooth column of his neck, and his long muscular legs ended with boots that were polished to a blinding gleam.
Everything about him spoke of wealth earned through toil, of battles fought and won, of a man who knew his worth.
I swallowed hard, unable to look away. And when his eyes landed on me, his lips curled into that knowing smile that had almost charmed me into leaving my world behind and joining him at sea.
Friends who hadn’t seen him in as long as I hadn’t tried to wave him down, but he only offered them quick handshakes, his attention locked entirely on me.
He moved swiftly, as if his muscles danced to the music weaving through the air like a spell, casting its thrall over the tavern’s occupants.
A flutist, perched on a stool near the hearth, played a lively tune that had a few people tapping their boots against the wooden floor.
Beside him, a bard with a well-worn fiddle strummed along, his deep voice weaving the tale of a sailor lost at sea, yearning for the lover he’d left behind.
The melody was rich, its rise and fall like the waves of the northern seas, both sorrowful and filled with longing.
Laughter and the clinking of mugs occasionally interrupted the song, but the music never truly faded, binding the room together with its lingering enchantment and carrying Leoric straight to me.
Though I sat on a high stool, the male still towered over me. He leaned against the bar, his brilliant eyes twinkling as he flashed me his most perfect white teeth. The scent of the ocean’s salty mist swathed me, and I couldn’t help but picture him at the helm of his ship.
“Sylvanna. I hear congratulations are in order. Captain, is it?”
Coralyn winked at me. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
“I’ll have what she’s having,” Leoric said to his sister as she walked away.
“Leo,” I said, taking a sip of my mead. “It is good to see you.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” he said, that deep, drawling voice of his inviting me to forget the reason I’d come to The Stag in the first place. “I didn’t think I’d find you here. I was planning to look for you at the palace tomorrow.”
“Were you?”
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, making sure to trace my jaw with gentle fingers.
A part of me shivered deliciously at the touch, but another part of me recoiled with guilt at the tantalizing sensation.
Until recently, only Jack had ever touched me so intimately.
“I’m in the capital for a few days,” he went on.
“Why wouldn’t I come see one of my dearest friends? ”
I lowered my gaze. “Given our last conversation, I doubted you’d ever want to speak to me again.”
Coralyn returned with a second mug and another full pitcher of mead.
She filled both our cups, then winked at her brother before joining Aldric behind the bar.
“Thank you, sister,” he said to her, picking up his mug and taking two hearty gulps.
Setting the mug back on the counter, he leaned in so close, his breath brushed against my lips, the sweet aroma of the mead an intoxicating scent that drew me closer.
“You know me better than that, Sylvanna. You think one heated argument could keep me away from you?”
“I don’t know. I said some pretty nasty things to you that day.”
“You do curse worse than my sailors. But that’s exactly why I know you belong on my ship.”
I smiled widely. “You don’t relent, do you? And I didn’t mean my dirty mouth. I meant—”
“I know what you meant. But let’s not rehash that day. Tonight, we have much to celebrate.”
“We do?”
He lifted his mug and waited for me to raise mine. “I’ve returned home, and you…you are captain of the fucking guard.” He smashed his mug against mine, sending mead sloshing over the rims.
We both burst out laughing, but I had to tell him to keep it down when my brother shot me a look over the bar. “He doesn’t want anyone knowing I’m here,” I said, nodding toward Aldric.
“Your brother thinks no one’s noticed you sitting here by the bar?
My lady, not only are you the most stunning female in this tavern, if not the whole realm, but you can probably kick the shit out of every male in here.
” He brushed a strand of hair from my brow.
“There’s no fucking chance in Hel no one’s not noticed you. ”
“You really think I can kick the shit out of any male in here?”
He sucked in a deep breath. “I wouldn’t lie.”
“Even you?”
He took my hand and placed it over his heart. “Especially me. I’m utterly defenseless against you, Sylvanna.”
Skadi save me. Why was this gorgeous male looking at me with the most dreamy, warm amber-colored eyes in this realm like I was the whole center of his universe, yet the only thing I could see in my mind was Jack’s damn icy blue eyes.
I wanted to melt into Leo’s arms, wanted to accept his promise of love and adventure, but the anchor rooting me to my chair only sank deeper into my core, pulling me into an abyss of frosty waters.
I needed to let go, needed to accept that my future wasn’t with Jack. We’d been childhood best friends, and I loved him more than I wanted to admit, but we were grown people now, on different paths. He was destined to be king one day, and I…
I looked around the tavern, at the musicians by the hearth, at the joyous patrons moving chairs and tables to make room for a makeshift dance floor, at my brother by the bar, laughing, Coralyn tucked under his arm. Gods, when was the last time I’d seen him so happy?
My gaze drifted up to meet Leoric’s. His lips stretched into a smile so brilliant, he could light up the entire continent. This—this moment, these people—this was where I belonged.
The music piped louder, a thunderous beat that pounded in tune with my heart. “Dance with me, Sylvanna,” Leo said.
Perhaps I wasn’t ready to leave my life behind to go sailing the open seas just yet, but this? A dance?
I nodded and lifted my cup, taking another swig and letting the warmth of the mead settle into my limbs as I let him wrap his large fingers around mine.
A new song struck up, the music shifting from the soft strum of the lute to something faster, brighter.
The flutist played a quick, jaunty melody, his fingers dancing over the wooden instrument as the bard accompanied him with a steady, rhythmic strumming of his fiddle.
Laughter bubbled through the tavern as the tempo lifted, and before I could react, Leoric was pulling me onto the floor.
I laughed despite myself, the spiced mead warming my blood as he spun me into the throng of dancers. His strong hands guided me effortlessly, our movements fluid. The tavern came alive around us, boots stomping, hands clapping, bodies twirling in an intoxicating blur of motion.
We came to a sudden stop, swaying a little in place. Leoric grinned down at me, eyes glowing as he brushed hair from my eyes. “You look so beautiful tonight, Sylvi.”
I cocked a brow, my head spinning from the dancing and probably all the mead. “That’s the first time you’ve called me Sylvi.”