Page 62 of Songs of Vice

Orman scraped his pinky nail between his teeth before following with his tongue and then shifted back to Ishir. “I’ll say yes.”

Ishir skimmed over the group. “Any of them, but especially these three on the right.”

The guards in question straightened, muscles along their jaws jumping. As they stepped forward into the light of a flickering torch on the wall, their emerald uniforms glistened. The leader of the group gave them a firm look, and the group retreated to their original positions. The leader’s dark mustache twitched as he addressed Orman. “Some advice, elf. If you wish to plead for a lesser sentence, keeping your mouth shut would help you.”

Orman laughed and slapped his leg. “Listen, mate, I can say whatever the hell I want down here and there isn’t shit you can do about it.”

The leader clutched his hand tighter against the pommel of his sword, but Orman was right. The King wanted to use our group as an example which meant the guards couldn’t kill us. I was certain they had orders not to kill me, specifically. Murdering a prince would incite a war and the Seelie weren’t ready to do that…yet. Orman smirked and prepared to speak again. For everyone always saying my magic caused chaos, Orman created it on his own without using any powers at all.

“I’ll change topics, then.” Orman looked around to all of us. “Which one of these guards would you be most likely to fuck?”

I scoffed as Neia wrinkled her nose, and Ishir froze, his eyes widening.

Orman clapped his hands together. “Come on. Theoretically you get to fuck one. Which do you pick?”

The guards rustled, their focus broken, and one whispered to the leader.

“Not a damn one for anything,” Neia said.

“A thousand gold pieces,” Orman countered.

“Not a chance.”

“For the only food you could have in a week.”

Neia rolled her eyes. “I’ve starved for worse reasons.”

Elisa burst into a laugh, and the two of them curled back together as Orman shifted his attention to Ishir. “I already know your answer. You’ll starve with Neia.”

“How do you know his answer?” I asked.

Orman grinned at me. “When we’re at the palace, I spend a fair amount of time with the guard. Ishir and me are mates by now, aren’t we Ishir?”

Ishir shrugged, a gleam of mirth in his eyes though his face remained stoic.

The expressions on the Seelie guards' faces grew increasingly alarmed. A few of their cheeks had reddened, even. Orman turned to me. “Well, Sai?”

“Pfft.” I waved him off. “I’ll join the starving group.”

“Damn.” Orman stretched his feet out in front of him. “I guess it’s up to me then.” He eyed the group of guards. “No offense meant to ya’ fellas. You’re not a bad looking bunch.” He elbowed me in the side. “Look at that one there with the long legs.”

The guard in question hunched down and backed farther into the shadows.

“Imagine having them wrapped around ya’ as you—”

“That’s quite enough,” the leader growled.

Orman licked his lips. “Now you, mate. I don’t think you’d be any fun at all. You have a decidedly unfuckable aura around you. Don’t ya’ agree with me, Sai?”

I rolled my eyes like I couldn’t care less. Orman kept babbling, growing increasingly graphic with his descriptions of positions and bantering with Neia who shifted between disgusted and amused. Finally, the leader gestured for the men to retreat down the hall. Once they’d left, he turned on us and glowered at Orman. “Watch your filthy mouth before you find a rope around your neck.”

Orman gave a rumble of a laugh and grinned at him. “Oh, is that how you like it? I’m not much for bondage, myself really. But I’m open to try anything once.”

The guard showed his teeth, his eyes glimmering like he touched his magic. His zevar wasn’t in view so I couldn’t determine if that was the case. But before I could worry about things going too far, the man turned and stalked away.

“I’ll take that as a ‘you’re considering it,’” Orman yelled after him. “You know where to find me if you change your mind.”

When the echoing footsteps quieted, Neia laughed and looked up at Orman. “You are so full of shit. Have you ever even had sex with a man before?”