The look of deference on Elias’ face for the customer vanished instantly to be replaced by a mischievous glint in his eyes. “He’s trying to woo a princess from a neighbouring kingdom. I convinced him that three different pairs of uniquely designed shoes would be the most effective way to display his wealth and style. He is not a bright man, but he is a rich one.” Elias stacked the coins and grinned at the pile gleefully.
“And people think you’re the sweet innocent one,” Henrik said fondly.
“What do you think, Johan? Do you think I look sweet and innocent?” Elias peered up at Johan through pale-white lashes, a playful look in those amber eyes.
Johan appreciated that Elias had made a habit of including him in conversations with yes and no questions, but he found himself wanting to try to reply anyway.
He took a gulp of air and pointed at Elias, blurting out, “You’re trouble.”
Henrik burst out laughing, holding his stomach as he cackled while Elias clutched his chest in mock offence.
As though the sun was beaming down on him alone, Johan’s chest filled with so much warmth and happiness he could hardly contain it. A giggle bubbled out of him, and he slapped a hand over his mouth at the shock of a sound he couldn’t recall falling from his lips since he was a child. Thisthing, this forever unattainable thing for Johan, was finally in his grasp, and it flooded him with joy. He had actual friends, people who laughed and joked with him, not just in front of him.
It was like taking off an invisibility cloak he’d never meant to wear in the first place.
J
ohan studied Elias where he was perched atop the workbench, his chin resting on one knee with his other leg tucked under him. He looked like a ball of yarn to Johan, who couldn’t fathom how it was a comfortable way to sit, yet Elias had been contorted that way for some time.
It was more fascinating to Johan than it ought to be when Elias’ tongue peeked out from between his lips as he concentrated on the parchment in front of him. Elias wrote with his left hand, which Johan had been taught was a sign of thedevil, but as he deftly twiddled some graphite in his devil hand, Johan decided that heaven might be overrated after all.
Despite being the thinner of the two elves, Elias was softer looking. The way he kept his slightly waved hair tied up loosely atop his head so strands would escape and frame his face made Elias look more approachable somehow.
Elias must have felt Johan’s obtrusive gaze because he glanced up and smiled.
“Would you like to look at my designs for Mr Von Baden?” Elias asked.
I would like to look atyoumore,Johan thought.
Johan was caught in a distressing dilemma where if he found himself showing too much interest in Elias, he was overcome with guilt because Elias’ heart belonged to Henrik. And then he would catch himself thinking of Henrik’s beautiful naked body and be overwhelmed with remorse because it was Elias who Henrik chose to give his naked body to.
The whole thing left Johan in a terrible loop of arousal, shame, guilt, and lust. But like a moth to a flame, Johan stepped closer and peered over Elias’ shoulder to look at his designs.
“I am having some trouble with this,” Elias pointed to his measurements.
The mathematics was questionable, to say the least. Johan held out his hand, and Elias passed him the piece of graphite. Their fingers brushed, and Johan had to fight the shudder that travelled along his spine. It wasn’t only that the feel of another person’s skin touching his was rare; it was that it was Elias’ skin. Perfect, soft, and warm, it left Johan with what he could only describe as a slightly sick feeling in his stomach. It was agoodsick feeling, though.
Johan made quick work of correcting the errors in the measurements before returning the graphite to Elias so he could continue with the design.
The impish elf grinned at Johan. “We make a good team, kjære.”
Johan had no idea what kjære meant and didn’t have the words to ask, but Elias had said it kindly, so he was fairly certain it was a good thing.
Elias may not have been skilled in mathematics, but his designs were mesmerising. They were unlike anything Johan could have even imagined, let alone put onto parchment. The most incredible part, though, was how at peace Elias looked in his element. It made Johan want to carve out a corner of the earth where Elias could safely design beautiful things and nobody could ever hurt him again. And for the first time, Johan thought that maybe hecould.
Nine
Elias
T
he following day, after Elias had finished designing the three pairs of shoes for Mr Von Baden, he decided to clean the shop while he waited.
Henrik and Johan had left for the market to buy material while Elias minded the shop. Johan hadn’t been able to fully explain, but Elias suspected he worried about him and Henrik being spotted in public and someone attempting to take them, so he didn’t like them to go out unaccompanied.
In the shop, however, Elias felt surprisingly safe. He liked it here a lot and was grateful to discover that his experiences in the mills hadn’t killed all the joy he found in creating beautiful things.
Turning the old clothes that Elias assumed once belonged to some of Johan’s family into garments for him and Henrik to wear proudly had reignited Elias’ passion. Because Elias loved beautiful things. He loved the journey of an idea to a design, to a tangible thing he could behold.
