Red Heir - Lisa Henry Page 0,73
trouble coming to terms with the fact that we’re not.”
“How about I convince you?” Loth asked, before pressing a very messy, very dirty kiss to Quinn’s mouth. Quinn was unresponsive, and Loth drew back. “What?”
Quinn wrinkled his nose. “I mean, we’re standing right over the corpse of my uncle. I don’t think I’m a squeamish kind of person, but that’s a little weird.”
Loth looked down at Doom’s corpse and hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose it is.”
“Like, he’s right there,” Quinn said, gesturing.
“We could throw the tapestry over him,” Loth suggested.
“Hmm.” Quinn patted Loth on the arm. “Or you could keep your tongue out of my mouth for a little while until we’re not sharing our personal space with my dead uncle.”
“I mean, I’m not a fan of that plan so much,” Loth said magnanimously, “but if it’s what you’d prefer, then I unhappily concede.”
“Unhappily?” Quinn’s mouth twitched in a smile.
“My tongue loves being in your mouth,” Loth said. “So do many of my other parts.”
Quinn flushed, his cheeks taking on a bright pink tinge that clashed terribly with his hair. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
“Do you want me to explain it to you?” Loth asked with a wink. “Or perhaps offer a practical demonstration?”
“Please don’t.” But Quinn was fighting a smile again, so Loth figured he was going to count that as a win.
He pulled Quinn into another hug and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. It was perfectly chaste and perfectly respectable, and it earned him a perfectly pleased smile in return.
“I guess the ballads are right about one thing,” Loth said, loosening his grip on Quinn at last. “It turns out that dragons do defeat evil. Even tiny ones.”
Pie trilled proudly, puffed out a little spark, and fluttered over to Doom’s corpse. Loth laughed aloud when Pie shit on the dead body from a great height, and it landed with a splat on the back of Doom’s purple robe.
The sound caught the attention of Scott, who was sitting in a corner, watching the goings-on. He took it as a cue to get to his feet and scurry over, giving a sweeping bow to Loth. “You’re alibe, my pridce! By band of berry ben sabed you!”
Loth personally thought that Scott’s use of my was something of a stretch since they’d stopped listening to him somewhere around Torlere. Since he was feeling vaguely charitable by virtue of not being dead, he said, “They certainly did.”
Scott straightened and shuffled closer, lowering his voice. “I’b sorry I wad working for the billain. I didn’t know Lord Doob wab by benefabtor,” he admitted, shamefaced. “Maybe I’b not a hero. I bight not be cud out for adbenturing abter all.”
“Maybe not,” Loth agreed. “Perhaps you’d do better going back to farming.”
“Probably,” Scott sighed. “Ad now I hab a broken node and I’m not eben handsob adybore.”
Before Loth could offer his opinion that Scott hadn’t ever been handsome, Quinn chimed in. “If you go and get your nose looked at, someone can probably straighten it. Why don’t you clean up and go find one of the maids to see to it for you?” He handed a grateful Scott a handkerchief to clean himself with because Quinn was a far better person than Loth would ever be. Maybe Loth would have to reconsider his ‘all royals are bastards’ stance after all, he reflected. But he’d think about that later. Right now, he had more pressing things to take care of.
Like holding Quinn tight and not letting go.
Loth and Quinn sat together on one of the daybeds, hands entwined and shoulders pressed together. They watched Dave drag the unconscious soldiers over to Calarian, who was tying them up with the efficiency befitting a Junior Wood Scout before they came to. The odd soldier would open his eyes and try to speak, but Dave soon took care of them with a thump of his fist. He was clearly enjoying himself, hovering and looking for signs of movement, almost like it was a game. Whack-a-guard, maybe.
Another soldier was standing in the doorway, looking quite faint as Dave bopped a bunch of skulls, but Ser Greylord was talking to him in a low voice, and the man was listening and nodding. Greylord seemed to be doing a lot of talking to people generally. He’d already had a long, animated discussion with Ada, who'd seemed thrilled with whatever he was saying. Well, she almost smiled at one stage, which was practically the same thing.
At one point