Official Reckoning Read online

  I did it as well as I could. Norel had tried to teach me the intricacies of palace etiquette. It had never been my favorite subject, and I wasn’t a quick study on that topic.

  Still, as I straightened, there was no look of horrified shock on Faye’s features. If any offense was offered by my actions, it seemed that none had been taken.

  “Can I offer you a drink, then?” Faye asked. She moved over to the table and poured herself a goblet from a carafe on the far left. “I’ve spent too much of my life in the Southern Isles, and forgot how cold it gets in these parts. I find that a bit of mulled wine in the evening helps offset the effects of the cold.”

  “I am a native of these parts, Madame Official,” I replied with a gentle nod. “I think that some water might be best for me. Or maybe some tea, sweetened with honey. You might want to try it as well. It works wonders for calming oneself down after a long day.”

  Small talk was the art extracting information from someone you didn’t care about by pretending otherwise, Norel had told me once. I wasn’t sure when, exactly, but I did remember that she’d been naked on that occasion, giving some context as to how she’d gotten to that topic.

  Faye smiled and poured a deep green liquid from another pitcher into a silver chalice and handed it to me. “I thought you might feel that way, and had some prepared. The servants here in the palace have taken note of your preferences during your stay.”

  A smile touched my lips as I bowed my head gently in thanks. While small talk had its uses in these sorts of situations, I was well aware that she hadn’t called me here to share a meal and talk about our drink preferences.

  “Tell me, Grant,” Faye said as we seated ourselves across from each other, and a couple of servants stepped in to serve the food. “How did a man like you end up in the company of three of the most powerful elven mages in history?”

  I should have known that people here weren’t actually expected to serve their own food. We had done so back on Norel’s estate, but then we had needed as much privacy as possible, even from the servants. I waited until some stew was ladled into a bowl to my left and a few strips of pheasant, bread, and cheese were laid out for me to eat. Next, they would tell me that all I had to do was open my mouth and the servants would feed me.

  No such luck, I realized as the servants beat a hasty retreat out of sight where they would wait until they were needed again.

  I weighed my words carefully as I toyed with my food.

  “Well, I suppose that depends on what kind of man you think I am, Madame Official,” I replied, and kept my tone as respectful as possible as I eyed her over the edge of my chalice.

  She smiled in response. “I suppose I always thought that three powerful elves might seek out the company of those who are of similar magical disposition. That isn’t to say that you don’t have a talent for it, of course, from what I have been told of your efforts during the battle to defend this city. Then again, I was told that most of your training came from their hands to start with.”

  I shrugged and used the excuse of chewing on some of the exquisitely roasted pheasant, dipped in something that tasted like mint jelly, to think about what I could say. I didn’t want to share any information that I didn’t need to, after all.

  “Well, I’m sure you are already aware of the history of how I met them,” I finally got out, at a loss for what to say.

  “Why don’t you give me your version of events?” Faye asked, calmly cutting her food and not taking a bite of it herself.

  “Is this an interrogation?” I asked, leaning forward.

  “Do you feel like you’re being interrogated, Grant?” she asked quickly, like she’d expected the question, even waited for it.

  “Not particularly,” I answered. “I just wonder why you want me to tell you about events that I’m sure someone as in touch with the facts as yourself already knows.”

  “Are you so concerned with giving me your version of events that you would rather I rely on the hearsay of people who weren’t there to see the events?” Faye asked. Her habit of answering everything I said with a question was starting to annoy me, but I needed to make sure that it didn’t touch me, or if it did, that I didn’t let it show.

  I finally shrugged while chewing on a chunk of juicy lamb, and swallowed before I answered. “I was used as a familiar by the traitor Vis to try and steal of a piece of parchment. At the time, I had no idea what it was, and ended up trying to read the runes on it, which, I have been told, guided me toward the ring which held Aliana, bound as she was to it. Therefore, I think our alliance was more a matter of convenience for her than choice. As time passed, we grew to like each other more and more, so when she was released from her bindings she chose to stay. She was able to track Norel down, hidden in the local gentry, and with their help, we were able to find Braire in the underworld. Does that answer your questions?”

  Faye smiled and finally took a bite of her food. She looked away from me for what felt like the first time since she’d first looked my way. “I find it interesting that she remained by your side even when no longer bound to do so. No offense, of course, your skills and magical abilities are impressive as such, but hardly something above the average.”

  “Some offense taken,” I chuckled. “But, I honestly couldn’t tell you. All I know is that I was given a path. Something to fight for, and I fought to the best of my ability.”

  Faye leaned forward in her seat. “Is it love, do you think?”

  “What is your definition of love?” I matched her question. It wasn’t something I had thought about. Love had always been something of an abstract to my mind. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the concept.

  “Dedication to someone that extends beyond one’s instinct for self-preservation,” Faye replied. Her quick answer told me that this was something that she had put some thought into before. I was curious, but not curious enough to actually ask.

  “By that definition… yes, I think it’s love,” I replied. “I would give my life to save any of theirs. I would give up anything to make them happier.”

  “Well, you love them. I feel no surprise with that revelation,” Faye said. She tasted the stew and softly grunted her appreciation before she looked at me. “My question was whether they love you?”

  “Honestly? I don’t care. They could use me for something and discard me as quickly as they found me, and I would continue to love them. I don’t expect beings that will outlive me to the tune of centuries to feel anything quite so mundane as what you call love. You can love a sunset, or the moon and stars, while never expecting any of them to return the feeling.”

  For the first time, the smile on Faye’s lips looked like it was more than simple politeness. “Well, I appreciate your candor, Grant. I’ve never heard it explained quite that way, but I imagine that it is quite accurate.”

  “Is that why you called me here?” I asked, toying with a piece of bread and cheese on my plate. “To discuss my relationship with them? Is this in some official capacity, or just to satisfy your personal curiosity?”

  “Would you believe me if I told you that it was a combination of the two?” Faye asked.

  “I don’t care for your propensity to never answer any of my questions directly,” I replied, leaning forward. “I’m honest and open, unlike most others you will find here in the palace. I don’t play games. If you want to know something, ask. Until then, I think I will return to our quarters.”

  Faye raised her hand. Something like thin ropes wrapped around my forearms and tied me to the table. “We aren’t finished with this conversation yet,” she said, and took another bite of pheasant.

  I looked down at the bindings that kept me glued to the table. I could see them, barely, like she’d just formed runes out of thin air and used them to keep me in place. Anyone else would be impressed by the sheer skill required to pull off something like that, quickly followed by the panic that came with wondering just how they’d get out of it.

  For me, things we
re different. Norel told me that there was something different about rogue mages. There were suggestions that it was in the blood. It was observed to pass from parents to children. I didn’t know how, since I knew that my parents weren’t rogue mages. Not that I could remember, anyway, which was a fairly interesting gap in my knowledge. Even so, if it was in my blood, there was something about me that would have made me special to begin with, though special wasn’t quite the word I would have used. It came with just as many troubles as benefits but at the moment, one far outweighed the other.

  Her expression of calm control faltered as she watched me slip away from her grip like I’d shrugged off poorly-tied ropes. It was one of the more satisfying feelings I had felt all night.

  “How?” the Official asked as she scanned me, trying to find some sort of reason behind it. I assumed that her incompetence would be rather low on the list of her considerations.

  But I wouldn’t give her the time to study me and find out my secrets. I extended my left hand. The runes there started to singe the skin around them as I launched a blast of air back at her. Nothing too powerful, but a warning shot after she’d tried to tie me down without my consent.

  She raised a quick shield just in time and sent the blast up into the rafters, knocking a few tiles loose as she extended her hand. I saw the runes in her fingers glow and closed my extended left hand to form a shield as she launched a similarly weak, testing shot at me. My deflection sent me stumbling a step back. The blast itself landed on the table instead, knocking most everything off of it and leaving a dent in the wood.

  Silence fell as the both of us studied the other, cautiously making sure that no more probing attacks would be sent before we lowered our guards a tad. She smiled and tilted her head as I straightened and brushed off some of the bread crumbs that had landed on my clothes.

  “You are a good deal more than you appear to be, aren’t you, Grant?” Faye asked rhetorically as she gestured with her right hand, calling the servants to clean up the mess.

  I drew a deep breath and forced a smile. “Aren’t we all?”

  “Indeed,” she replied smoothly. “This has been a most interesting evening. I look forward to travelling with the four of you.”

  I bowed since I felt like I’d just been dismissed. While I didn’t want to do something that she’d told me to do, it was something that I wanted as well.

  I turned and headed back the way I’d come. I could find my way back to our rooms without any help, I thought. I had some unfinished business to attend to.

  9

  More time had passed since I had left than I realized. My return to the garden revealed that the sun had already set. I paused to take in the cool, fresh air, and closed my eyes. Braire had taught me some calming techniques, using breathing as a method to release any tensions that built in my body. At the moment, I needed them. I’d worked on my control, but it took everything I had to keep from attacking the Official outright in the middle of dinner.

  No matter where anyone came from, doing that would make me a poor guest. I didn’t need that to be how people saw me.

  A smile came over my lips as I realized that I was already calmer. Breathing in and out and trying to find some humor in any situation that caused tension was the way that Braire thought was most effective to keep myself from exploding. My eyes opened and I started walking, heading through the halls to our quarters.

  I knew the three sisters weren’t sleeping. That much, I could tell through our bond, but there were a lot of conflicting sensations being shared, which made it difficult for me to tell me what each one was. All three were concerned for me, though. At one point, Braire was on the tipping point of charging through the palace in a fury of angry animals and razor-sharp blades to attack the Official. The other two had some difficulty restraining her.

  She had tried to bind me with some runes that she’d conjured out of thin air. She’d been very curious about the three of them and wondered about me. The latter, of course, hadn’t been helped by our little game of cat-and-mouse.

  More importantly, I was still hungry. There wasn’t much eating during the dinner. I was famished before, and the tension only made it worse, now.

  I slipped through the cracked-open door and closed it quietly behind me, then slipped through the curtains that were supposed to isolate the door from the room itself. Norel said that it had something to do with servants, but I hadn’t listened. She’d been naked then, too.

  The moment I stepped through the curtains, Aliana hit me full-body, then wrapped her arms around me and pulled me closer as she passionately kissed my lips.

  After a few, long, delicious seconds, she pulled away.

  “If you greet me like that every time, I will make a point to leave more often,” I joked with a small, whimsical grin as my eyes drifted open. They snapped open a lot quicker when her hand slapped my cheek.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?” she snapped, loudly. “Getting into a fight with the Official? In the middle of the damned palace? Why would you do that? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

  “It wasn’t like I had much choice,” I growled, and rubbed the red handprint she’d left on my face. “She bound my arms to the table with some runes she called out of thin air. She tried to test my abilities, I think, and she was surprised when I slipped out of them so easily. After that… I just followed my instincts. No killing blows were launched. Just a quick test of each other’s power, is all.”

  Aliana sighed and shook her head. “I still think you were stupid.”

  “Well, you’d probably think that of me, anyway,” I said with a scowl.

  She smiled and leaned in to lightly kiss my lips. “True enough. But you still should have shown some caution. She is one of the most powerful humans I’ve ever seen. Not even Cyron could have created runes out of thin air the way you describe. Well, I guess he could have when he was bound to Abarat, but he didn’t know how.”

  “Does it really matter? They didn’t even bind me that well,” I growled.

  “I’m sure she knows about rogue mages,” Aliana said, as she ran her fingers through my hair. “She will have figured it out by now. Binding rogue mages is difficult, but not impossible.”

  I nodded. “And is there a reason you’d want me bound and unable to move?”

  “It would keep you out of trouble, for starters,” Aliana said, then leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I can’t think of a nobler reason.”

  A hint of sensation spread from her to me through our connection. As distracted as I was, my thoughts drifted back to what we’d started before the dinner until she leaned in and pressed her lips to mine, moaning softly.

  The feeling that spread from her to me sent a shiver of pleasure climbing my spine and created chills that were only exacerbated by the soft touches of her lips trailing down from my mouth to my neck, where she gently nibbled at my collarbone until my arousal lapped back at hers through the bond.

  My eyes turned to where Braire and Norel watched us from the bed, their arousal touching me as well. I sucked in a deep breath as Aliana tugged my shirt up. I raised my arms and let her pull it away.

  I stepped out of my boots and roughly pushed my trousers away as she pulled me closer, kissing and nibbling at my chest as her fingers ran down my hips and grabbed my ass. She gave it a firm squeeze as I reached for her, then pushed her own clothes away as I ran my fingers through her hair and toyed with her horns.

  She smiled up at me and licked her lips as her kisses moved down my body. I felt her desire to drop to her knees and pick up where we’d left off. I moaned softly, and shivered as her pleasure started to tangle with mine.

  “Oh fuck,” I gasped, my lips suddenly dry as I reached down to stop her from kneeling in front of me. The feeling of her lips wrapped around my suddenly-growing cock was amazing, yes, but there was another part of her that I wanted to be inside.

  She growled at my resistance to her movements, but as she realized what I wanted, a hint of appro
val spread from her to me. A second passed, and I felt the need in her as I pushed the rest of her clothes away, not bothering to let her do it herself. Yes, she could have done it with a simple flick of her fingers, but I wanted to do it.

  I reached down and gripped her hips and, with a gentle hop from her, I pulled her off the ground. Her thighs wrapped around my hips and pulled me closer as she kissed me again. Her nails raked up my back as I walked us over to the bed, where Norel and Braire had left some room for us. I dropped her onto the bed, keeping her close to me.

  She smiled and used her heels to pull me closer to her as my cock pressed against her pussy. I gripped the shaft and guided it up between her lips once, gently stroking her clit with it before I guided it down to find her warm, wet hole.

  I heard Braire sigh softly. She was enjoying herself, I realized, and looked up just as my hips thrust forward, filling Aliana. She cried out in need, her nails digging into my back as she pulled me closer, her wingtips fluttering gently beside her.

  My eyes found Braire and Norel as I wondered for a moment whether they wanted to join us. A quick look answered that question, though—they had already undressed each other. Norel climbed over Braire and wrapped her lips around the elf’s nipple as her fingers dipped between her thighs, then stroked her clit in slow, circular motions. I knew they’d intentionally left me with a good view of what they were doing, but at the same time their shared fun was something for each of them.

  I drew a deep breath and grinned as Aliana’s fingers moved up my neck then gripped the back of my head and dragged my attention back to her as I started pumping my cock in and out between her thighs. The need in my body built slowly. My heart thudded in my chest as she held me closer to her, the hot touch of her skin pressing into mine as my hands found her breasts, feeling them bounce each time I filled her to the hilt.

  “Fuck me,” Aliana whispered, eyes closed and biting her bottom lip as her fingers ran over my chest and torso before hooking around my hips to find my ass and pull me closer. “Fuck me harder, Grant, please… ple… gods!”