She has her hand on Moe’s lower back. That is an intimate gesture...
The rules say I can challenge her for touching Moe without permission. But that would only end in my defeat and by default, Moe’s too.
Damn it!
My fist slams into the stone wall beside me before I fully register moving. A crack splinters through the surface. Nearby pedestrians stare at my uncouth behavior.
I ignore them.
This Lis is becoming bolder. Far too bold.
Is it because she’s so powerful, so high-ranked that she thinks she can steal anyone’s girl?
This entire situation is progressing too rapidly. Have they been alone together more than I realized? Has this been developing behind my back?
No. Impossible.
Moe would not hide such a thing from me. She’s with me at all times. I would have noticed if there was anything amiss. And she told me she loved me, didn’t she. She wouldn’t lie about that.
Would she?
A cold unease settles in my chest.
No. There is no point in suspecting Moe. She’s just an unwitting participant in this farce. With how little experience she has of the world, I have no doubt she does not recognize the signs—that Lis’s regard for her is nowhere near platonic.
Granted, I may not have much more experience than her, but I do have experience in lusting after her so I can recognize the signs in other people.
Especially since Lis is doing what Ialsohave been doing for far longer! She’s slowly grooming Moe’s affection under the guise of friendship.
Yes. Of course I would recognize the signs when I invented this method in the first place!
And Moe is so pure, so kind and soft-hearted she would never realize those hidden intentions. She’s the perfect target for a schemer.
They stop before a jewelry stall. Lis picks up a necklace—a seeminglyveryexpensive necklace.
I stare at it in mute disbelief.
Absolutely not. This can’t be happening!
She lifts the chain toward Moe’s throat, holding it against her skin while studying her.
My breath catches.
By the Seven, I feel faint again!
She wants to buy her a necklace. The intimacy of it makes my blood run hot.
Then Lis smiles. It’s small one—soft, private.
My heart begins pounding harder.
That is not the smile of someone admiring jewelry.
That is the smile of someone imagining wicked things. As she smiles, she’s probably picturing their future—a future where she drapes Moe in expensive gifts and steals her away to whatever lavish residence warriors of her rank inhabit.
She’s plying her with riches so she will abandon me and my lousy abode.
Oh, fuck!
