A SIMILAR CONVERSATION WAS TAKING place in Daron and Sian's quarters, but with a little less heat. Sian smiled at the clever layout of the room. 'Just two beds?' she said teasingly to Daron. 'I thought you'd want three at least.'With warm eyes that seemed to laugh at her, Daron stooped and seized the discreet handle on the base of the lower 'step' bed. With a tug, he pulled another full-size bed out.'Oh clever!' Sian said in delight as she surveyed the room again. 'It doesn't even crowd it.''No, but it'll give them more floor space to play on if it's pushed away.' Daron pushed it back in as he said that. The room wasn't small to begin with, but with the bed out of the way children would have plenty of room to tear around. The walls were painted in soft shades, a blue wall around the bed areas with a top nook that you could climb to from the higher bed, making it feel like you cuddled into a tree hollow. A skilled artist had painted leaves and branches that extended over the c
ALEK STEPPED CLOSE TO CAT, grabbing her hands and stared into her bewildered eyes.'It's okay. It's nothing to panic about. Are you all well?'Her jaw ajar Cat stared for an instant before shaking her head in confusion.'What? Of course, we're well.'Realizing that the others also wore bemused expressions he clarified.'The earth move, it's nothing to worry about.''Yes,' Cat said while squinting at him. 'Yes, we know that.'The sense of urgency and panic that he'd rushed here with, along with the other men halted awkwardly.'Errr- you do?' Alek paused to look at them all. Cat, Sian, Kassie, and Loi looked unperturbed. Citaan looked harried but then Rirae screamed and kicked in her arms, ignoring any attempts to soothe her. Turning, Alek spotted Leseach. The Northerner stood with tensed shoulders, her hands in balled fists at her sides as she eyed everyone. Her fast darting gaze and grey toned skin suggested they had felt the earth move.'It did shake here, yes?''Yes,' Cat n
CHATTING TO LESEACH, ENJOYING THE shade from the already hot morning sun, stood Rashid and a cavalry centaur Loi recognized as Patel's assistant. They nodded to Loi when she reached them all, the ardwyr grunting away as Loi bent to scratch around its ears.'I was thinking of going for a ride, did yo'Rashid interrupted. 'Not today, Loi. All the horses are being prepared for the royal hunt tomorrow.''Oh,' Loi twisted her mouth to the side with a huff. 'A walk then?' she suggested to Leseach. 'I want to escape the castle.'Rashid made a slight move as if to include himself but that wasn't part of the plan. Smiling brightly Loi continued a hint louder.'I'd love to just have some girl time, you're always so busy with Cat.'The silence as Leseach regarded her with a bemused expression felt rather uncomfortable, mainly due to Rashid eyeballing her. She inwardly apologized for clearly ruining his day's plans, but she'd wanted to get Leseach aside for a while, somewhere where they coul
IN THE CLEARED, DRESSED, AND opened rooms Alek waited for Cat to round the corner in the ceremony rehearsal. With the walls of the ballrooms, plus the throne room and several other estate rooms all opened they would be able to fit almost twenty thousand guests, slotted in carefully. Elena had considered having it as standing space only, but the three-hour ceremony was too long to expect most of their guests to manage standing. Vesbel and her large team of workers scurried about, winding enormous lengths of flowers up the support pillars in the various rooms, decorating the chairs that lined the path to the altar with fresh boughs in crimson with accents of white and green. Several meadow sprites hovered about, chatting to the blooms, asking them to last the next couple of days.A trumpet rang out.Straightening where he stood at the discreetly marked position near where normally the door to the first ballroom was, Alek shifted restlessly against a growing unpleasantness in his gut. P
THE SHARP RAP ON THE door had the ardwyr's hackles up in an instant. Leseach made a sound in her throat that quietened the snarls to grumbles as she opened the door.'She knows me anywhere,' Rashid commented as he made a short bow to Leseach. 'Ready for the hunt?''Yes,' Leseach replied, stepping past him into the corridor. The ardwyr charged after her, stopping short at another sound from her. 'No. You stay.'Lips pursed as if he might laugh, Rashid shut the door neatly behind her. Leseach regarded him for a moment, indignant for her friend's sake.'What?' Rashid said it in the laughing voice he used sparingly around her.It gave rise to the urge to smile, but she resisted like always. Men forgot their place too easily. She kept her flat expression in place before lifting her eyebrows and looking down the corridor with a nod.They headed off in silence, the noise of those crowded along the second-floor corridor making up for it. With the wedding in just two days an assortment
AROUND THEM THE MASS OF centaurs began to shift. Leseach and Rashid stayed at the head of the group while the lines formed.Turning back in the saddle to stare at the three hundred or so entries to the hunt, a certain sense of satisfaction rose. She may have failed in her duty. But she'd killed the culprit. It caused an unpleasant tipping sensation within. On one hand she'd protected the princess from future violation. But oh, the thoughts of what he might have done. That scent, the memory of that musky male scent, it both turned her stomach and infuriated her.She expelled the swelling agony of emotion in a harsh breath, gripping the handle on the saddle while scowling unseeing at the ground.A sharp trumpet of the horns made her head snap up, recognizing the call for attention. There on the white stone steps of the castle stood Alek and Cat, smiling at them all. Leseach felt her heart ache at the sight. She looked lovely, hair aglow as she and Alek waved at the crowd with wide s
A HORN BLASTED. LESEACH LIFTED in the saddle and tightened her single-handed grip on the handle, the unpleasantly squishy splatterbug cradled close to her stomach.The next blast then the next sounded. Shouts rang out. Her centaur spurred into action, long strides breaking into a swift gallop. Wind rushed past her face, whisking errant hairs back from her forehead. The scent of the khalazyons reached her nostrils and they prickled at the sharp arid smell. Her heart began to race in anticipation, lips spreading in an instinctive bearing of teeth, nose curling as a snarl rolled up her throat.She'd missed the thrill of a hunt.The sounds of horses and centaurs charging toward the field were drowned out by the sudden deep warning bellows from the creatures still hidden in the grasses.Her soldier didn't slow, plunging into the long grasses. With his height she was able to see over the top of the grasses, able to glimpse the massive bodies.'RIGHT!'Her roar turned the centaur in h
'SHE DID IT!'The centaur's shout of excitement took Rashid's focus from the stained animal they'd been tracking. Leaning to peer ahead, he caught sight of the tall blonde Northerner standing alongside a fallen khalazyon, the soldier she'd rode next to her. A horn blast from the soldier he rode rang loud in his ears as he jerked back. Only moments later answering cries rang out as the hunters passed the call on. 'Head back?' his soldier called.'No! Let's go admire the kill.'Reaching the kill site Rashid swung a leg over, landing easily on the ground and grinned widely at Leseach.'Well done! I think you must have found the largest male too!''It was the first we spotted,' the soldier she'd ridden said laughingly. 'Beginners luck!'They chatted as other hunters rode in to admire the kill. Leseach took the congratulations in her stride, a half-smile in place. The scent of the kill grew stronger and the soldier she'd ridden set off with Rashid's soldier to go lead the cart pul