He laughed as he bowed his head. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
My growl would have had anyone besides Mylo running for cover. He just kept laughing as he waved at her door. “Let meknow how it goes.”
I looked down my nose at him. “You’re dismissed. I’ll secure her room for the night. Make sure someone is here before I go to the gardens to shift in the morning.”
Once Mylo was gone, I knocked on Callista’s door.
Her eyes widened when she saw me, but then they settled onto my plate of lemons, and her whole face exploded in a smile. Her hands flew to her mouth, and she smiled through her fingers. And I…
I felt her happiness. It bubbled through the mistek bond like a light and airy mist, an emotion so strong it bled into the cursed magic that tied us together. Fear and pain had been the only emotions I’d felt through the bond until now. Why hadn’t I felt her happiness before?
Because she hadn’t been so happy since she came here. The realization hit me like a sledgehammer in the gut, making me want to crumple but also to stand and find something else to give her a little more joy.
I lifted the plate toward her. “I brought you some lemons.”
Her smile was so big, so genuine, and so full that it swept my breath away. What would it be like to smile with your whole face?
She took the plate with one hand and used her other to raise a lemon to her nose and inhale all its tart citrus aroma. I assumed she intended to eat them, but… was she going to bite into it?
“Do you eat the peels?” I asked.
Her nose wrinkled and she laughed. “No. Normally I— Well, honestly, I do a lot of things with them.”
“Like what?”
She rubbed the lemon with a thumb. “In the summer, I’ll put them in rice or cakes or tarts or, my favorite, is in lemonade.”
“Lemonade? Is that a drink?”
“Is that a drink?” Her jaw dropped. “What kind of question is that?”
“I can’t imagine drinking lemons.”
She chuckled. “What do you do with them?”
“We use the oils to make soaps and candles. It smells lovely, but it does not taste good.”
She laughed, stepped away from her room, and closed the door behind herself.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“We’re going to have a cultural experience.” Her laughter turned shy, but she met my eyes. “Will you take me to your kitchens and enjoy some lemonade with me? Please?”
“Of course.” I would do anything she asked. Had she not realized that yet? Jolter had. I offered her an arm, and she tucked her hand inside my elbow.
We’d only gone a few steps when she asked, “Lemons aren’t toxic to elves, or anything like that, are they?”
I chuckled. “No, not that I’m aware of. Why do you ask?”
She blew out a quick burst of air and stepped a little faster. “I don’t want to poison you just because I like lemons. We’re not exactly the same… I mean, there must be some differences in elves and fae and humans… right?”
She looked up at me, and those bright blue eyes lit a fire in my chest. Her words asked me to confirm that we were different, but I could not do it. All I saw was a person I wanted to love. Aperson who made my heart burn. “Firehawk,” I whispered.
She tipped her head, and her smile returned. “What?”
A smile grew on my face. She normally put on such a show of confidence that I found her confusion immensely entertaining. “You’re a firehawk.”
She turned away from me and kept walking. “I don’t think I know that bird.”
