glass of Scotch,”—he held up three fingers—“and your best red for the lady.”
Lorietta threw him a sharp warning glance. “You know Meriam doesn’t approve of us drinking here. You work here, remember?”
He licked his lips and repaid it with a saccharine grin. “It’s my off time. She can bite me.”
At this, the barkeep shot him a look before sighing resignedly. “Whatever. I’ll bring it over. Anything to eat? Keep in mind we don’t have very much to offer,” she directed curtly at Lilac.
It never occurred to the princess that the inn would serve anything to eat; it did double as a tavern after all. The news immediately perked her up. She chewed on her lip, hoping to God they served human food. Or anything palatable. Frowning, she realized there didn’t seem to be a menu up anywhere.
“Erm… Toast? Eggs?” The words came out like questions.
“Toast. Eggs. Anything else?” Lorietta repeated with a nod.
“Ham?”
“No ham this week. Only thing we have is partridge, I’m afraid.”
Lilac smoothed out a grimace with a clear of her throat. A common peasantry dish. “Is that… roasted?”
“One roasted partridge. Anything else?”
Lilac bit her lip. She could see Garin’s jaw hanging in shrewd shock within her peripheral, but she ignored him determinedly. “Pastries?”
“Sorry, dear. Sweets were all cleared out by this afternoon. We’ve had quite a large group of faeries here tonight.”
“The tragedy,” Garin said quietly.
“That’ll be all for me,” Lilac murmured, ignoring him. Plus, her mood had substantially lifted after learning she’d soon have something to eat.
She smirked and turned to Garin. “You know, it would really be kind of you to paint Lorietta a nice menu board or something. You know, on your off time.”
“And I’m not hungry,” he added annoyedly, sliding Lorietta a handful of gros.
With that, the witch disappeared through the kitchen door suppressing a smile. Garin wordlessly led Lilac to a cramped stone alcove on the northern wall, right next to the stairwell. Lilac slid into the end of the wooden bench closest to the bar, giving her a better view of the tavern’s open floor. She knew better than to turn her back on a roomful of Darklings.
By then, the crowd had cleared most of the tables and chairs out from the middle of the room. They surrounded around the trio of korrigan bards, who’d somehow procured fiddles and used one of the wooden chairs as a drum. The group of faeries were the true center of attention, writhing their torsos to the beat. The dresses they wore were enchanting, crafted intricately from precious metals and jewels strung through mesh. The material clung to their voluptuous curves like a scintillating second skin as the korrigan sang in mesmerizing harmony.
“Lurking faerie in the tree
Turned his guiling face at me
He put aside his mirth and minx
And sang about a stubborn prince
Who, on a midnight like tonight,
Gave the Fair King quite the fright
An arcane weapon was amiss
Though his dastardly deed repaid with
the midnight monster’s troubling kiss…”
It must’ve been a Darkling bard song; she’d never heard it before. Lilac pretended not to understand, blinking and refocusing on Garin.
He, who sat across from her on the alcove bench, was still fixated on the gyrating faeries. One hand tousled in his hair with his other arm leaning on the table, his gaze was distant. He didn’t seem to be looking at anything in particular.
“Are you all right?” Lilac asked. When he didn’t respond, she grunted and reached across the table to tap his arm.
He started, then threw her a sinful grin. “Thanks.” Then seeing Lilac’s glare, he added, “Their… aura tends to give off a powerful magnetism. One gets lost in their presence if he or she watches too long. I got carried away. My apologies.”
Lilac pursed her lips, miffed. “Oh, I don’t care,” she replied coldly, purposefully sounding as ungenerous as possible.
"I overheard the tail end of your and Lori’s conversation, and gathered that you were new to the woods. I don’t mind explaining,” he offered. His smile turned sincere. “You would be at risk too, say, if there were a male fae present—”
“Assumptions,” Lilac snapped, growing more annoyed by the second.
This seemed to catch him off guard. He cleared his throat. “Oh, erm. Is it the women, that would do it for you, then?” He shifted in his seat, unable to help himself as his upper lip curled into a wolfish grin.
“That was not what I meant,” she replied, turning scarlet. She wasn’t here losing sleep to entertain his perverse fantasies. Not in the slightest.
“I’m