Chapter 4
915 Words
"I won't lose," I replied archly. "I might be on the losing team, but my personal performance won't be at fault..."
"Haha," he sneered with enjoyment. "Only because you cheat, mage."
"I am completely honourable with my magic," I retorted and tugged some strands of his hair free as I stood.
"Ow," he complained, his hand coming to his head, scowling. "What was that for?"
"Royal harlot's hair is a very useful spell component," I replied.
"I am not a harlot," he grumbled, following me from the table.
"I'm on the other side of the wall from your bedchamber," I reminded him. "Oh, Akyran, oh, oh. Oh."
He flushed. "There is no way you can hear through the stone, Ecaeris."
"Oh, Akyran," I replied, my voice rising hitching, breathy. "Do that thing... What thing exactly?"
"Ecaeris," the colour patched on his cheeks. "s**t," he muttered under his breath.
"Maybe close your windows," I suggested. "Lady Beria in particular..."
"Ecaeris," his voice held a warning. "That is..."
"Mmhmm." I waited a breath. "Akyran, like a stallion...!"
"F-k Ecaeris," he groaned, the flush on his cheeks brilliant. I giggled. For a moment we walked in companionable silence and then: "You aren't really going to use my hair..." he added.
I held up my hand, showing that I still clutched the dark strands.
"Ecaeris," he protested, "give me that."
I snatched up my skirts and ran through the hallways, with him in pursuit, sending pages and servants scattering in our wake as we careened around corners and dashed up staircases. I managed to keep just beyond his grasp as we began the sprint along the long hallway to our bedchambers, but he caught me along the wall between our chambers, about where his bed was positioned, and we wrestled until he pinned my wrists against the wall above my head as he retrieved the stolen strands from my grip.
"These are going into the fire," he said, severely, breathless from the pursuit. His eyes darkened as he looked down at me, and for a moment, I thought there was a flash of heat... and then he pulled back, and it was gone, leaving me wondering if it were ever there in the first place or just wishful thinking on my behalf.
"An hour," he said to me over his shoulder.
"That should give me long enough to find some jewellery," I replied.
Fiena and Tillie had converted my chambers into chaos, with chests overflowing with clothing and the bed strewn with undergarments and accessories, the floor lined with shoes. I had not even known I owned so many.
"It's just a night or two," I protested, knowing I argued fruitlessly. "Not those shoes," I nudged a pair with my toes. "They were agony to wear. One of you can have them, if they fit. Or sell them, donate them, whatever you do with such things."
If I had said I was going hunting with Akyran for a week, there would be less fuss. I would throw a couple of changes of trousers and shirts into a bag and be done, but two or so nights at the Court of Light, and, apparently, I needed to take every item I owned with me.
I slid back out the door and went to Akyran's room. Things were less chaotic there – neat piles of shirts, tunics and trousers folded already in a chest, formal wear laid out across the bed, and no shoes or accessories in sight. Akyran raised his eyebrows at me as Ithyles buttoned his shirt sleeves.
I sat on his bed. "Fiena has turned my chambers upside down," I complained. "You would think I were leaving them forever from what she's packing. I should get Ithyles to pack for me in future."
Akyran and Ithyles exchanged a long-suffering look.
"Hopefully, she'll pack some jewels," Akyran muttered.
"What is your sudden obsession with my adornments?" I complained.
"Rivyn has a pregnant wife," he replied, irritably. "It means my parents look for me to do the same. If I can distract them with you covered in baubles, Ecaeris, I will do so, gladly, even if I have to put the baubles on you, myself."
I muttered under my breath.
"What was that?" he asked as Ithyles held his jacket up for him to shrug into.
"Nothing," I replied, sulkily. I had said that I would much rather he showed me what a stallion did that made Lady Beria shriek in such a way, than hang a king's ransom of jewels around my neck, but it wasn't something I could repeat audibly.
As he finished dressing, there was a knock at the door, and Ithyles opened it to admit a rather flustered looking Fiena.
"We are ready, my lady," she told me, unsurprised to find me lounging on Akyran's bed waiting. "Your chests have been transferred."
"Oh, good," Akyran said drolly. "Let's go."
In the main hall, near the front door, the overlarge, elaborately framed mirror-portal allowed perpetual transition from one court to the other. It had been a wedding gift from King Treyvin to Queen Leamoira, a symbolic linking of the two courts as their marriage had done in reality for the first time in thousands of years. I could cast Akyran and I a portal, but it would be a waste of spell components when the way lay so readily available.
He offered me his arm, and I placed my hand upon it before we stepped through together.
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