CHAPTER XV #6
“And the humans at the entry of the city?” I look at my neck in the mirror, hiding the small grin that wants to claim my lips, “what’s going on with them? They look hardened, like they’re waiting for something to happen.”
My eyes land on the small pink marks at the back of both sides of my neck, spotting the flush of my skin from Keane’s fingers that held onto me so strongly.
I move my hands behind my hair and draw it forward with a soft smile, hiding the blemishes and the pure feeling of lust that wants to consume me just from looking at them.
Ancients, I did take him well.
I hadn’t even noticed that he gripped me that hard, was just so captured by the full, masculine presence of him in the moment.
I loved that unyielding control he took over my body, ached for the way he pulled me so easily with his Discerni strength to meet his thrusts, joining our bodies together in a rough embrace.
Keane walks behind me, eyes catching mine with a heated smile before they dart down to my bare back. He lifts a hand to the middle of my shoulders and then trails his fingers slowly down my skin, watching the shiver that follows.
“I still need to bend you over in this dress, Alexis,” he says quietly, eyes dipping low to the curve of my rear.
I grin at the man behind me and shake my head. “I won’t be able to walk tomorrow if you do.”
“Hmm,” Keane reaches up for the side of my hair and pulls it behind my shoulders, eyeing the black and gold Shadow Oak jewel that rests at my ear. “But you’ll be able to sit pretty in your chair, yes?”
“Keane,” I swat his hand away, “we have to get going.”
He chuckles before his brown gaze finds his marks at the back of my neck, eyes turning intense as he lifts a gentle hand to them. He leans down just slightly and lets his lips graze carefully over the pink blemishes, kissing them with a softness that makes me fall back into his chest.
“I liked it,” I whisper.
Keane wraps his arms strong around my waist.
“I know it, Alexis,” he kisses me softly, “and there’s nothing wrong with liking it. What you let me do to you can only take place between two people who trust eachother…”
I look up to him quietly in question. “How far did we go over that line?”
The King grins, brown eyes sparkling. “I’d say almost half a boot.”
I tilt my head and kiss his full red lips, feeling his hand squeeze my hip as a realization hits me.
“You were testing me,” I step away and eye him in surprise.
Keane brought his hand to my neck after my first release. I thought he was feeling my heartbeat, perhaps he was, but he was also testing me, looking for my reaction to his claiming grip.
“Yes,” he nods, “the first time I had my fingers around your neck, yes. But you took it without hesitation, Alexis,” he reaches around and slaps my ass playfully. “You always take it.”
I roll my eyes and push against his chest.
“I take you, Keane,” I remind him, “most of what you do to my body is still new to me.”
“Oh I know, Alexis,” his eyes narrow on mine with a hidden smirk. I jump away from his hand reaching for my ass again and quickly walk towards Storm.
“Let’s get going, old man,” I tease the Bird of Ash, “before this one keeps us here for the rest of the night.”
I don’t even take affront to that, Stormfall replies, ignoring my outstretched hand to fly gracefully to Keane’s shoulder.
“I take it he didn’t care for you calling him an old man?” Keane chuckles and brings a hand up to Storm’s chest.
Tell him I’ll stay with him tonight, Alexis. I’m interested in this Lord.
“Stormfall is curious of Lord Sandam,” I reply, hearing Golem’s padded footsteps move through our room, “he wants to listen in on your conversation tonight.”
Keane nods in understanding before we both turn towards our magical friend waiting at the door.
“We’re in Dankworth, Golem,” I smile at his clay face, “about to head down to dinner with the Lord and Lady if you will join us?”
Golem nods and opens the door.
“The humans,” I look at Keane in reminder as we step into a large circular staircase that leads down the tower, “what’s going on there?”
He takes my hand in his as we bound down the steps, hiding a small frown.
“About six years ago the humans rioted at the Discerni border. Three Discerni teens had taken to bullying two human children out of sight from their parents. I don’t know all the details,” he shakes his head, “I was in Varon when it happened. But an older human mother went looking for her child. She tried to protect the kids when she found them but wasn’t strong enough to take on the Discerni teens.
Her leg was broken when another couple found her holding the two boys in her arms. She had heavy swelling and bruises all over her back and face… ”
Keane grimaces. “The mob that followed in retaliation destroyed a good portion of the border before they were overpowered by a large group of Merrick’s soldiers.
The humans have been arming themselves since.
Fathers have been taking to the roads in pairs to make sure no Discerni enters their section of the city, and now, with the Decree, they’ve been purchasing the lethal stone in droves. ”
“There was tension the whole ride in,” I nod in thought, “they were eyeing the two soldiers that guided us the whole time.”
We reach the bottom of the stairs and move into an open and quiet hallway, one that has both Holis and Canon waiting for us a few steps ahead.
“But not you,” my eyes find Keane’s in question. “You’re a Discerni, more than half of our traveling crew are Discerni, and yet I didn’t see any of those hateful gazes turn on you.”
“Canon, Holis,” Keane greets them before looking back at me with a small smile, “can you tell Lady Alexis what you heard today from the humans riding in?”
Holis grins at Canon’s side, his blue-green eyes twinkling as his counterpart nods to Keane.
“They called Lady Alexis the King’s ear,” he replies.
My eyes go round.
The King’s Ear?
“They took pride in a human woman at the King’s side,” Canon continues, watching me thoughtfully, “and spoke of deep respect for the King himself, allowing you to end Lady Esme’s life with green agate in front of the village of Etter.
They tribute your presence at his side to the decree that was just passed, holding the King’s ear… ”
Dear Ancients.
“And the Discerni?” Keane asks his First Guard.
“Marvel at the rumors that she can summon the elemental air. They silently watch your hands, look twice at your ears, eye Stormfall from afar. They wait for something to happen, all the while remaining perplexed at your dominant human features.”
“And their thoughts on my killing of Lady Esme?” I frown, suspecting that not everything whispered was good.
“Here and there,” Holis takes a stance at my side as Canon does the same at Keane’s.
The four of us make our way down a sparkling white hall filled with wooden doors and paintings of the woods around us. It’s actually quite lovely, this small portion of the castle, certainly the most inviting that I’ve seen since Elena’s cottage.
“They’ve heard of Lady Esme’s crimes,” Holis continues as we turn a corner, “know that her death was justified. They’re not happy that you rendered the sentence but they still understand that it needed to happen.”
Ancients, it’s times like this I wish I had Discerni hearing.
A single Woodlands soldier stands at the end of the hall in front of a large and curved wooden door. He bows to the King at our arrival, then turns his cool blue eyes on me before he lowers his head once more.
Keane grips my hand in comfort and leads the two of us into the room.
Everyone stands up from a large table in the middle, their eyes finding mine and Keane’s collectively as they dip low into bows and curtseys.
It’s a surreal feeling, one that sets every hair on the back of my neck standing up in response, and one that prompts Stormfall, as usual, to spread his wings wide behind the King’s back.
Keane smiles to the room and releases his hand from mine, placing it at the small of my back as he leads us to two empty chairs next to Lady Tove.
Our full traveling group is here already, taking their seats in a mixture of Warrior black and Knowledge green.
Both Cal and Mana are smiling quietly, their own satin shirts the perfect shade of emerald next to Nathaniel’s dark green.
Everyone from our group is situated at one side of the long table with Lady Tove, the full of them facing the group of six Woodlands Discerni and the three children that greeted us earlier.
That side of the table is all clad in shades of pale green mixed with white and silver, and although we’re all separated, there’s no discounting the full mixture of all three courts.
“Your Grace,” Lord Sandam directs Keane to his side while Lady Tove catches my eye.
The King continues to walk me to the empty chair next to her, fingers running against the back of my shoulders sensually when I sit down and he pushes me in.
I have to hide the shake of my head, grinning before Holis takes the second empty chair next to me.
Canon continues in his own walk down the other side of the table to sit next to one of the twin boys with a smile, facing the Knowledge soldiers at the end.
Keane returns to the seat at Lord Sandam’s left just as Golem takes a quiet stance by the door. He moves into the chair casually as a heavy silence greets the room.
“I’ll keep this as brief as possible,” Sandam chuckles, tilting his head to the first Lord at Keane’s left. “Sir Merrick, who commands the soldiers of Disce’s army that you have stationed here and his wife Lady Evelyn.”
These two are easily the oldest of the six, looking about the same age as Lord Kaven and Lady Esme. I think I remember seeing them at the coronation.
“Sir Anders and his wife Lady Dame, personal friends of ours and two that have recently taken to starting a small council with the human leaders of Dankworth following the news that traveled from Etter.”