“It doesn’t help that they’re all so damn tall either,” Venko hissed as he slipped up on her other side.
Lessia’s eyes widened, and when she met Ardow’s guarded ones, a giggle burst out of her.
Ardow’s lips lifted as well, and soon, they had to hold on to each other as they shook from quiet laughter.
“Stop it,” Venko grumbled, but the stern tone she assumed he’d tried for gave way to a choked sound, and when he stormed ahead of them, she could swear he bit down a smile himself.
“He seems to have warmed a bit. A tiny, tiny bit.” Lessia hugged Ardow’s arm, the smile from the laughter remaining when Ardow’s eyes softened as he watched Venko take up a spot next to Merrick by the counter.
“What do you want?” Raine asked gruffly as he shoved a gawking Fae out of the way to allow Lessia and Ardow some space, then leaned over the sticky surface.
She observed Merrick pointing toward a golden liquor filling a carafe to the brim and suspected it was the same one he’d drunk that night in Ellow when he told her Rioner was coming soon.
Catching her eye, Merrick raised a brow, and when she nodded, he waved for the barkeep to fill another glass.
“Merrick!” a melodic voice called out.
Lessia stumbled when she was pushed to the side, and only because of Ardow’s tight grip on her arm did she not slam face-first into the wooden floor when a Fae with fiery orange tresses barged past them.
“I can’t believe it! I thought I’d never see you again.” The female wrapped her arms around Merrick’s neck, and Lessia dug her fingers into Ardow’s arm when a surge of rage roiled in her gut as she steadied herself.
“Are you all right?” Ardow mumbled.
“I’m fine,” Lessia grumbled as she straightened the dress, her gaze tracking the female as she stepped back and turned her bright blue eyes in their direction.
“Oh! I’m sorry.” The woman’s hand flew to her chest when her eyes found Lessia’s. “I didn’t mean to push you. I just couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Merrick.”
She moved her gaze to Merrick’s again. “I do hope you’re staying for a while. We haven’t caught up in… what is it, a few centuries?”
“I’m sure you didn’t, Iviry,” Raine scoffed before patting Merrick’s back. “Merrick is only passing through. Unless someone can convince him to stay, that is…”
Rolling his eyes, Merrick pressed a glass of liquor into Lessia’s hands. “This is Iviry. She was a captain in the Rantzier fleet. Iviry, this is Lessia, and the humans are Ardow and Venko.”
Iviry tossed her flaming hair to the side, a smile brightening her beautiful face as she reached out a hand toward Lessia, the other wrapping around Merrick’s waist. “It’s lovely to meet you, Lessia. We don’t get many half-Fae here.” She threw a wink Ardow’s way. “And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a human on these isles. You must be not only handsome but brave as well.”
“I’m part-Fae,” Ardow murmured.
He was rewarded with another blinding smile from Iviry. “I knew your looks were too good to only be human! Although your man there is quite mesmerizing.”
Ardow grinned beside her, and Lessia pinched his arm harder until the stupid simper slipped from his face.
She wasn’t sure what it was about this Fae, but even though the smile on her face seemed sincere, there was something off about her eyes, a slight twitch telling her she was sizing up Lessia the way Lessia was her.
When Lessia only glared at Iviry’s outstretched hand, Raine chuckled. “It’s their first Zehmkell. I did tell them the people here would be friendly, but alas…”
Dropping her hand, her smile never wavering, Iviry nodded. “You’ll enjoy it! There is food and music, and they’re just beginning to tell the tales of the Old World out there.” She gestured toward the terrace where Fae filled almost every single bench, the flames from the fire flickering on their faces. “I’ve heard them a thousand times by now, so I intend to dance.”
As if she’d conjured it, a few Fae in the corner behind them unpacked instruments they must have brought with them, and soon, the soft beat from a drum hummed across the room, joined by a deep voice beginning to sing a song of war and love and loss.
Fae all around them paired up, brushing past Lessia as they took to the makeshift dance floor forming before the musicians and singer and started swaying from side to side, some spinning slowly in rhythm with the song.
Watching them, Lessia jerked when the memory of her and Loche dancing on that final night of the election ambushed her.
She slammed her eyes shut, trying to push away the feeling of his arms around her, the sound of his strong heartbeat thumping when she leaned her cheek against his chest, the fingers that caressed her neck tingling over her skin.
She couldn’t think of this.
Not now.
