ANOTHER EVENING MEANS ANOTHER UNBEARABLY quiet dinner.
I used to look forward to the silence after spending the whole day shouting and training my soldiers. Dinner was a chance to collect myself, to unwind and relax before getting up to do it all again the next day.
Now, dinner is just half an hour of uncomfortable silence. Sitting in this shared silence unnerves me. Especially since the person sitting across from me is who I spend most of my day thinking about.
Lady Myren reports her movements to me every evening I go to collect her. Beyond being inquisitive and asking the other humans about life here, nothing really stands out. She does her work, keeps to herself, and stays in line.
Kaethe wanting to know the cure to orc’s teeth poison isn’t surprising. It killed the dark elf king’s father. If it were me, I’d want to make it so no one else fell victim to it too. It’s honorable, the king’s desire to avenge his father’s death.
My relationship with my own father isn’t quite so noble.
Kaethe clears her throat, dragging me from that train of thought.
“I met Mornga today.”
I nod, Lady Myren told me she had stopped by, but Kaethe doesn’t need to know that.
“How was she?” I ask, slurping down another spoonful of stew. It’s weak and watery; I need to get more vegetables before the ground freezes over. I have another person to feed for the rest of winter now.
“She was interesting.” Kaethe sets her spoon down. “I’ve never met a half-dark elf before. Never really met anyone beyond dark elves and humans.”
She pauses before continuing.
“Except for Queen Elvie, she’s a light elf, but there are more similarities than differences between the two kinds.”
I grunt at that as I have no experience with either kind beyond Mornga.
“How did you become friends with the queen?”
Kaethe smiles slightly, her full lips tipping upward.
“I had planted riverhearts at the base of this old tree. The king held a ball the night before and some of the party goers stomped right over my seedlings.” She looks genuinely devastated. Perhaps where she’s from humans have strong affection for their herbs? “Elvie found me upset over them and used her magic to help regrow them. She worked with me every day, helping me regrow plants for my experiments. I think she was avoiding the king in the beginning, but they found their way to each other in the end.”
Her cheeks turn the same color as her magenta hair. The reaction confuses me but I don’t ask about it.
“We heard he had taken a bride. I was there that day at the Keep when the western scouts emerged from the tunnel carrying a dark elf male. Proclaiming him a peace offering from your king.”
Kaethe’s eyes widen in shock before she responds. “Wylan was…not a good male. I always steered clear of him. He tried to have King Arkain killed. His treachery almost killed Elvie.” Her dark eyes get a far off look in them before speaking softly. “The king loves Elvie very much. Wylan’s plot had put her in harm’s way, King Arkain wouldn’t stand for someone endangering her like that. They are mates after all.”
Mates. The word clangs through me. The king of the dark elves found his mate, the other half of his soul. Joined with her in a way that is primal and permanent. Kaethe doesn’t say any more and we resume a familiar silence.
Dinner with my mate wouldn’t be held in awkward silence, I tell myself.
The love and lust that thread through the mating bond would be instantaneous, like it was for my parents. Like it was for Zarod and Mornga. It would be world altering and immediate. The primal urge inside me would be freed and I would carry my mate off to fuck her for a week straight.
I should not be thinking of fucking when Kaethe is so close. When the worn wool of her pale dress hugs her breasts so perfectly. It makes me itch to see them naked. Makes me contemplate what color her nipples are and how they would fill my mouth perfectly. Those are things I can’t think about even as my cock hardens under the kitchen table.
Grunting, I point to a bag Myren gave me when I went to collect Kaethe this evening.
“There are fresh clothes from Lady Myren in there. She noticed you’ve been wearing the same dress.” I liked the way her earthy scent deepened the more she wore it. Growing richer and sweeter over time. My cock pushes painfully against the tie to my breeches.
Mother of the Mountain, spare me.
Kaethe smiles, wrinkling her nose as she looks over toward the bag. “I’ll have to thank her tomorrow. Truthfully, I didn’t think she liked me all that much.”
This confuses me. Lady Myren is the kindest human in the village.
Before I can question this, Kaethe rises from the table. She places her used bowl and spoon beside the sink and collects the bag of clothes on the counter.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to bathe.”
I suppress my groan as I watch her head for the ladder, her dress showing the subtle curve of her hips, her backside. Something I shouldn’t be looking at. Something that is only making my hard cock harder. Especially as my advanced hearing picks up the sound of her shuffling around in the washroom upstairs. I can practically hear her wool gown gliding along her soft skin and the sound it makes as it pools at her feet. My ears twitch at the sound of her light footsteps on the floor as she makes her way into the tub and moans softly as she sinks into the warm water.
I don’t even realize I’m biting my lip until my tusks break through the skin, the metallic taste of blood coating my tongue. I need to fuck someone. Badly.
That will surely ease this ache. It has been too long since the last time and living with a female, human or otherwise, is taking a toll on my sanity. But the thought of someone other than Kaethe, with her soft skin and big eyes, underneath me makes my chest hurt. To think it won’t be her full lips I kiss, or her breasts bouncing as I pound into her, or her sweet little pussy on my t—
Enough of this!
A tiny voice screams at me and I shake myself, not even realizing my hand has drifted to my cock. I run my palm up the length of it and suppress a groan. It’s too risky. Not just with her being so close, but if I make myself come while thinking of her, it will change things.
Which can’t happen.
I need to scratch the itch so I can continue viewing Kaethe as a job. A potential spy who has come to infiltrate what I have built here. My hard cock wanes slightly. She is too secretive and no matter how sweet she looks, underneath it all could be a viper ready to poison me.
Kaethe will help Lady Myren through the winter when the Frost Cough comes and then she will be gone.
Why does the thought of her leaving make my heart race faster?
A soft splash from above catches my attention. A few minutes later light footsteps pat over to the bed before the lantern upstairs grows dim. I listen to her deep breathing from my seat in the kitchen. I look over to the thin bedroll I’ve been sleeping on and groan.
This is going to be a very long winter.
