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and
indignation.
    No lust, no prideful desire. None of
that existed in her, just a sense of need he wondered if she
understood. She was a true innocent, not some wagtail in one of the
taverns he frequented. Neither did she look at him as a conquest to
be bragged about over her cups. She’d probably never even been in a
tavern.
    As flattered as he was with her
reaction, guilt racked him. Life in the Legions had brought few
true innocents his way. He resolved to treat her more gently and
provoke her less.
    But the rogue in him found it nigh
impossible to look at her and not imagine her beneath him, her
moonlight skin glistening with sweat, her heat drawing him deeper,
her honeyed scent rising around him, her voice ragged with need as
she whispered his name. He shook his head free of the image too
late to keep his body from responding. No wonder she thought him a
beast.
    His thoughts turned to the remainder
of her father’s money. He would keep one bag of silver for payment
and give the rest to her. If she were truly going to Shaldar City
to find the king’s magewoman, she’d need it. Weighing a bag of gold
in his hand, he growled. Freedom would have to wait.
    * * *
    Jessalyne attacked the mess in her
scullery, trying to scrub his image out of her head at the same
time. What it would feel like to be in his arms? Or any man’s arms
for that matter? Maybe he would kiss her. Heat swept through her
hidden parts. She cleaned with renewed vigor. She could never let
him get that close. Tyber said dark elves were known for their
temper. Burning Ertemis would be a quick way to see if Tyber were
right.
    In short order, she restored the
room and checked her remaining supplies for something to turn into
breakfast. She settled on oatcakes and blackberries fresh from the
thicket outside her kitchen door. Batter sizzled as she poured
thick puddles onto the oiled stone griddle. She cleaned the berries
while the cakes cooked. It didn’t take long for Ertemis to appear
in the kitchen.
    He was dressed, but her mind knew
too well what hid beneath. “You cannot possibly be hungry after
eating the larder bare last night.” She busied herself with
flipping oatcakes.
    “Aye, but I am.” He stayed near the
door, giving her space. “May I have some after I feed and water
Dragon and Petal?”
    That he asked almost felled her. He
was being oddly civil. She glanced at him. “Yes. Thank you. I am
not used to having a beast to look after.”
    He exhaled softly. “It has been ages
since anyone felt I needed looking after.”
    Jessalyne scooped the last oatcake
off the griddle. “I didn’t mean you were a beast.” She turned when
he didn’t reply. He was gone. For a man of such size, he moved with
unnatural silence.
    Not long after breakfast, Lord Tyber
showed up with Ertemis’s weapons. As Jessalyne had asked, Lady
Dauphine accompanied him as well. Corah tagged behind.
    “Good morning.” Jessalyne ushered
them in. Tyber nodded at Ertemis leaning against the wall near the
kitchen. Ertemis nodded in reply. Both men eyeing the other
warily.
    She took a deep breath before she
began. “As you know, I was very curious about how Petal came to
lead Ertemis here. As it turns out, my father hired Ertemis to
protect him while he traveled. The fever that incapacitated Ertemis
was my father’s undoing. Before he died, he charged Ertemis with
delivering a key to me. That key unlocked a box holding a letter
from my lady mother. In the letter, she revealed I am to apprentice
with Lord King Maelthorn’s magewoman, Sryka. And I plan on leaving
today.”
    Corah looked stricken. Lady Dauphine
covered her mouth with her hand and shimmered as if she might shift
right then and there. “But we need you. What if Orit falls
again?”
    “I’ll leave my mother’s books behind
for Corah, and I am certain Orit will be more careful from now
on.”
    Lord Tyber, ever practical, spoke
next. “If your mind is made up, I’ll send two of my guards