Page 6 of Hearts on Fire
After filling every inch of the king’s table with dishes, the servants finally brought some food for us, too.
Tantalizing smells wafted from the platters of grilled vegetables, creamy sauces, and roasted meat. My stomach might be twisting in knots from anguish and disappointment, but my mouth watered.
I’d be damned if I let the gorgeous, stuck-up fae prince deprive me of my appetite, now that I finally had more food in front of me than I could eat.
Grabbing a goblet of wine, I emptied it in three huge gulps. The effervescent warmth of intoxication rose from my empty stomach to my brain quickly. For the time being, it even muffled the pain of rejection.
No longer paying any attention to the men at the “cool table,” I loaded my plate with all the yummy things served to us. The roasted beets with oil and garlic. The pheasants with meat so tender, it slid like butter off their delicate bones. The rice cooked with meat, carrots, and onions in a fragrant sauce that dripped down my fingers as I stuffed my face with it.
No one used utensils. People rolled the rice into chubby delicious balls before putting them into their mouths, using their hands. When the servants lifted one spear of meat out of the fire and placed it on the table in front of us, we were given knives to slice chunks of it straight from the spear.
I ate and drank until my stomach cramped and breathing got difficult.
“Oh, try this,” Zenada moved a plate with dessert my way. “Red plums from the valley with cream custard and lily honey from the Lorsan Wetlands. It’s my favorite.”
I barely found some space in my stomach for the dessert, but it was totally worth it. The lily honey smelled like flowers and tasted like summer. I closed my eyes, savoring every bite.
Until the end of the dinner, I did not look back at the king’s table. Not once. However, every now and then, a rush of hot tingles would scatter through my chest as I felt someone’s stare on me.
Three
AMBER
The king rose from the table, signaling the end of the dinner. All at once, his men stopped eating or drinking, too.
“Sunset is close,” Mother whispered to thesalamandrasas we all got up from our benches.
King Edkhar slid a glance along the row of women.
“Join us for the celebration at noon tomorrow.” This was the king’s only acknowledgement of our presence here tonight.
As soon as the king and his courtiers left, Mother hurried us out as well. “The sun is setting. We don’t have much time. It wouldn’t do for us to spend our first night here in the stairwell or in a hallway somewhere.”
Not pressured by the approaching sunset, I let them all go ahead of me. With my limbs heavy from exhaustion and my stomach full of food, I fell behind. Thankfully, I remembered the way we came and headed along the hallway, then down the winding stairs inside the tower.
The sound of rushed footsteps came behind me. Someone followed me into the tower. Only who could it be? Did I miss one of thesalamandrassomehow? I thought I was the last one.
I stopped on the narrow landing by the window and glanced behind me, then quickly turned away, recognizing the black clothes stitched with gold and the flash of the red cape.
“My little spark,” Elex murmured, stopping right behind me.
The familiar deep voice enveloped me, trapping me in a web that was both sweet and painful. His nickname for me wasn’t just empty words, it carried a meaning. He’d said I’d brought him back to life; I was the spark that had awakened him from thewomorainduced state. It’d made me feel like there was a time, a while back, when I mattered to him.
My heart beat faster, threatening my resolve. It took all I had to stay where I was instead of grabbing him into a hug.
“Do you not want to look at me?” His voice sounded light and playful, as if we were still flying over the Atlantic together. As if the past weeks never happened and there was no distance between us at all.
I closed my eyes, drawing in a long breath of the chilly air blowing through the open window. Bracing myself to face him, I dreaded to see what I might find in his eyes this time.
“Amber.” Elex placed a hand on my shoulder.
My knees nearly buckled at his touch. Slowly, ever so slowly, I turned, then lifted the lace of my hood, meeting his eyes straight on. A warm glow flickered deep inside their darkness. A smile teased in the corners of his mouth.
God, I almost forgot how breathtakingly beautiful he was!
His chest rose and fell with a deep breath, as if seeing me brought him relief. “It’s so nice to see you again, Amber.”
Nice. Like we ran into each other at the movies, back in my world.