Storm Born Page 0,36

recovering.

True to my word, I didn't eat any of the food set out before us, but I confess, it looked pretty good. Stuffed Cornish game hens. Fresh bread with steam still rising from it. Desserts I would have committed murder for.

But I didn't give in. One of the first rules of the game was to never eat outside your own world. Stories and myths abounded about those foolish enough to ignore that precaution.

The other diners tried hard to pretend I didn't exist, but Dorian was fascinated by me. Worse, he flirted with me. At least he wasn't as crass as every other gentry I seemed to encounter, but I didn't rise to any of it - even if it was charming at times. I took it all in with a stoic face, which seemed to delight him that much more. The other women at the table were less resistant. Any look, any word, and they practically melted with lust.

In fact, many other people in the room also seemed to melt with lust. Very explicitly so. During and after dinner, I watched as people - couples usually, but sometimes more - touched each other brazenly. It was like being in junior high again. Some of it was just kissing. Some of it was heavy groping - a hand fondling the breast or sliding up the thigh. And some of it was...more. Across the room, I saw one woman climb on top of a man and straddle him, moving up and down. I was pretty sure they had nothing on beneath the voluminous folds of her skirt. At a table nearby, one woman was on her knees in front of a man, and she was -

I hastily averted my eyes, turning back to my own table. I found Dorian's gaze on me and knew he scrutinized my every reaction. Through some unspoken command, a blond slip of a woman slid into the empty seat beside him, the one I had refused. She draped a leg over his lap and wrapped her arms around him, kissing his neck. He moved one hand up her leg, pushing up the skirt to reveal smooth flesh, but he otherwise seemed oblivious to her as he regarded me and the other guests.

Aside from the free love and utterly medieval setting, there was almost something, well, normal about this place. The gentry I'd run into were always causing trouble in my world. Luring humans. Using magic indiscriminately. But this was like any other social occasion or party. People knew each other and regarded their friends with warmth. They discussed love and children and politics. True, they were still foreign and other to me, but I could also almost see them as human. Almost.

Needing to do more than sit there and stare, I reached into my coat and pulled out one of the two Milky Way bars I'd brought along. It was also a utilitarian move, seeing as how I was so hungry from watching all the feasting around me. Dorian immediately became intrigued.

"What is that?"

I held it up. "It's a Milky Way. It's...candy." I didn't really know what else to say about it. I wasn't even sure what was in it. Nougat? I had no idea what the hell that foamy stuff was, save that it was delicious.

He eyed it curiously, and I broke off a piece, tossing it over to him. He caught it deftly.

"Your majesty," exclaimed one of the men, "don't eat it. It's not safe."

"It won't hurt me here," rebuked Dorian in annoyance. "And don't even start in about poison or I'll let Bertha the cook have her way with you again."

The man promptly shut up.

Dorian popped the piece into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Watching the expressions his face went through was almost hilarious. It took him awhile to work through all that gooey scrumptiousness, and I fostered a compelling image of him with saltwater taffy.

"Entertaining," he declared when he'd finished. "What's in it?"

"I don't know. Some chocolate and caramel. A bunch of stuff sort of fused into other stuff."

One woman, her hair curly and brown, fixed me with a combative look. "That's so typical of them. They twist nature and the elements for the sake of their perverted creations until they no longer know what it is they do. They are an offense to the divine, bringing forth monstrosities and abominations they cannot control."

A snappy retort rose to my lips, but I bit it off. Volusian had warned me to be nice. In