I spot the subject of her joke as he approaches Hector and stands next to my solemn husband. Cenric still wears armor, weapons, and a permanent frown. All the other men wear gray surcoats with their coat of arms, but not him.
Everly would have better success getting a pig to dance with her.
“Now, Quinn on the other hand…” Everly says as the red-haired woman approaches Luc—
who’s standing next to Adelaide, “…says warriors make the best dancers. She’s probably trying to get Luc to go out there with her.”
“What do you know of her past?” I ask as I remember the night Quinn brought me wine.
I wish we had paid attention to how much we were drinking. Maybe then she would have kept better track of the time and not missed the beginning of her night watch shift. Though drinking before her shift was not a smart idea either.
She paid the price, and I regret my part in it.
The next day, she received five lashes as punishment. Each strike against her scarred back broke my heart. She bore it well, though, as if she was used to such punishment. She never cried out or begged for mercy.
“Her father gave her, her younger brother, and her sister to the Kyanites.”
“That’s awful.”
Everly nods. “Apparently that was his sick idea of paying a debt.”
Poor Quinn. My father pales in comparison to Quinn’s father.
“Did you know Luc found her after she escaped the Kyanites?” Everly asks. “Well, he found Quinn and her sister, Ana.”
“Ana?” I say, trying to remember if I have heard her name before.
Everly nods. “Ana died a little more than a summer ago.”
I press my hands to the sudden pain in my stomach. Why does life have to be cruel? Quinn and Ana escaped slavery only to later be separated by death.
“Ana was Luc’s wife. Adelaide’s mother,” Everly informs me.
I press my hands to the sudden pain in my stomach. There’s the tragic story behind his haunted eyes. It consumes him even now as he says something to Quinn and disappears into the night. She stares after him, her face pale in the torchlight.
A gasp comes from our left as a woman stumbles and falls against a tree. Everly moves to help the woman, who has clearly had too much wine.
A gentle breeze plays with the hem of my surcoat as I shift enough to stare at the man I wed myself to. I take in his stern jaw, his tight lips, his tense posture. He gives the illusion of calm, but I imagine he is coiled tightly inside, ready for anything.
Has he ever known true joy? True happiness? Maybe for a little while before his mother was executed.
I long to see light shining in his eyes. To know he’s happy.
Kissing him would probably make him happy. I lift my goblet and take a quick drink. Later, when we’re all alone, I will kiss him.
* * *
The moon shines like a prism in the night sky before Hector takes me to our bedchamber inside the palace.
After I change and settle on the bed, Hector turns to the door and speaks over his shoulder. “Goodnight.”
“Where are you going?” I ask with a frown as I think about my desire to kiss him.
“To speak to Luc. I’ll be back.” He nods and leaves the room.
Knowing I will not be able to sleep until Hector returns, I try to keep my hands busy. I move around the room, fixing the shutters, and straightening the sheer canopy and pillows. After I finish, I stand back and place my hands against my hips. It already looks better than it did.
The bed creaks as I plop on the mattress and sigh. The dance still teases my thoughts. The need that has followed me over the last few days still burns between my thighs.
