Luxuros sighed, his outstretched hand folding away from her. “Are you going to dance with me, or do I need to find another partner?”
A deep crimson thrill raced through several of the female elves standing within earshot of them.
The right motivation, as always.
He whisked Astra away the moment her hand fell into his. They floated on the breeze alongside the whisper of a chill—Summer was well and truly gone. Lux spun her, gliding them around the bonfire, the flames throwing their warm reflections on her dress.
“Where were you this morning?” she called out over the sound of the fiddle and feet pounding on the wooden deck.
“I wasn’t in the Midwood, if that’s what you’re asking. I was called back to Mercury,” he replied, twisting her the other direction, his fingertips caught on the golden twigs as she twirled.
“Is everything well?”
Lux shook his head. “It was nothing overly interesting,” he insisted. “Mirquios wanted me to check in on a village not far from the city. Nova connections live there. He hadn’t heard from them in a few weeks and got nervous.”
She arched her eyebrows as he passed her under his arm, twisting their hands so they tangled around each other in an elegant knot. “And?”
“All was fine. The Rift’s communication paths may be compromised, however, so we’ll need to figure out a new system.”
She nodded as if she had any idea what they were facing. She supposed she would soon. Lux spun her again, untangling them and pushing Astra away from him, a buzzing tension stretching between their hands. He pulled her back sharply, chests colliding as he wrapped an arm around her waist and held her other hand away from them.
For a moment, she lost her grip on the heat of him, her lungs catching fire as she stared into his eyes. The smoke and steam and flame overtook her thoughts as she tried to cling to refreshing images. Waterfalls, the first frost of Winter, a plunge into the Empyrean Sea. Unfortunately, that thought only led her right back to the springs in Celene, the steam rising from the pool around Lux’s bare shoulders.
Something knocked against her ribs, that same force from the springs, begging her to move even closer. She inhaled, shaking off the haze. She swallowed. Hard.
“Did Mirquios mention coming home?”
Lux winced. “I believe they will soon. They’ve reached an agreement with the Plutonian Prince, Arcas, but he seemed concerned with some terms still. He’s only writing half of what he means these days, I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
And she was sure that Lux had noticed that they had written little to each other at all after the first few weeks. The thought gnawed at her as they spun, a knot forming in her gut. “Luxuros?—”
“Princess!” A horde of giggling girls rushed them, their little pointed ears pierced with sparkling hoops that bounced up and down as they all spoke at once.
“One at a time,” she called over them as Lux backed toward Ehlaria, reclaiming their space near her throne.
One girl stepped forward, the ringleader of their glittering circus.
“We want to paint you!” She looked at their hands, chubby purple fingers gripped around long wooden brushes. Several jars of golden paint threatened to escape from two overly excited little ones. She stooped to her knees, letting them have at her arms, the wildfire in her mind burning out.
The brushes tickled against her shoulders and hands, glimmering swirls inking across her skin.
“Okay! Okay,” she laughed, pushing a hand away before it threatened to coat half her face. “I think I am sufficiently gilded!”
The girls admired their work before moving on to claim their next victim, disappearing in a whoosh of giggles and bare feet against oak. She reached for her goblet from Lux, who watched in amusement as she wiped paint away from her ear.
“How do I look?” she joked, swigging whatever remained of her wine.
Lux cleared his throat, his eyes drifting over the tangle of branches around her ribs. “Exactly as a Fire Queen should.”
“Why do they call you that?” Ehlaria chirped from behind them, leaning over her throne. The lilt from her throat suggested she was speaking more freely than she otherwise might have. “Don’t they know it’s not fire?”
“What?” She twisted around, Lux mirroring her confusion.
“Well.” She pursed her lavender lips. “I suppose it is fire in the end,” she corrected herself. “But you must know, you must realize, dear girl, that it’s not merely fire.” Ehlaria rose, stepping toward them, bangles ringing against each other.
“Then what is it?” Astra asked.
Ehlaria only looked to Lux, who choked on a breath. “You cannot mean it’s sunlight,” he croaked. Ehlaria watched them both, a soft smile slipping over her delicate features. Lux argued, “That’s not?—”
