Ainsworth knew he was then expected to elaborate. “Ah, yes, the funding council seemed to be excited at the prospect. It was Lyria who—”
“Yes, you ought to watch that one. She seems very protective ofthis project, Ainsworth. Like she might snatch credit.” A slither of Ainsworth seemed to jerk awake at those words—a sudden need to scoff, to point out the irony of that considering what Enach had done with their joint project! But the rest of him knew better than to react that way, and he swiftly smothered the instinct. “Would you believe I was not informed of the meeting she held with the funding council to discuss the Transportation Circle allocation here? Such decisions do require the input of all senior members of the department, you recall? And I was newly qualified, to boot!”
“Of course,” Ainsworth said weakly. Enach reached behind him for wine, and he placed a goblet in Ainsworth’s hands. As Ainsworth sipped, he wondered if he was drinking from the one that belonged to Enach or Honey, then wondered why such a thought occurred to him in the first place.
“But thankfully, I am on great terms with the head grant officer, and so I was able to secure a place at the table. When your application was approved, I offered my services to carry out the work at Wenslykirk and the Misnich Inn—I knew I had to do it, Ainsworth,” he said, removing the goblet from Ainsworth’s hands even though he was not finished. “I had to see you immediately. I missed you so, and I needed to make what had happened between us right.” He placed a kiss on Ainsworth’s clasped hands, now held within his own. Enach had slim yet strong hands, his smooth skin silky against Ainsworth’s. Since when had Ainsworth’s own become so rough?
But Enach did not notice. He kept his head down for a few moments longer.
Ainsworth was suddenly bone-weary. The past week was catching up with him, his injury sapping his body’s resources, and now this confrontation with Enach when he was utterly unprepared…
He wished for nothing more than to tip his head back and sleep, but he had to deal with this.
“Enach,” he began. Enach lifted his head and looked at Ainsworth with an intensity that had him blushing. “You…You hurt me. Before I left.”
Enach’s brows furrowed with sorrow. “My love, I know. I know, and I am sorry. I do not deserve you, nor do I deserve your forgiveness. But please, let us end this quarrel. Let me make it up to you and take youhome.Let me look after you. Just what hashappenedto you out here?”
Enach leaned back and made to reach for Ainsworth’s ankle, but Ainsworth retracted his leg under the chair. “Ah, just a mishap with a dark beast out on the mountain range.”
“But whatever were youdoingout there? The innkeeper said you had been gone for a week, and the hauflin boy seemed worried for you. I feared I had come just in time to learn of your demise!” Enach’s eyes were wide as his voice descended into a whisper. “I could not bear it. I had to paint a smile on my face, pretend everything would be fine, because the alternative…?”
“Enach!” Ainsworth gasped. Enach had never made such proclamations before. Had Ainsworth’s recent reflections in solitude only furthered and festered his hurt feelings, bringing him to the wrong conclusions?
Ainsworth reached out a hand and placed it carefully on Enach’s cheek, brushing his thumb to follow one of the markings that reached toward his jaw. “I am fine, really. It is just a small wound.”
“I’ll be the judge of that, actually.”
Ainsworth jumped, and even Enach looked startled. Neither had noticed Honey returning, balancing a tray atop her hip that held linens and a bowl of something that emitted a sharp scent. It seemed to soar through Ainsworth’s nose and up into his head. He swiftly removed his hand from Enach’s cheek.
“Please, let me tend to him,” Honey said, gesturing for Enach to move out of her way. Her face was unreadable, but when Ainsworth tried to catch her eye to say something, she looked quickly away.
“Very well,” Enach said, standing. His voice was loaded with the kind of weight that told Ainsworth things were not, in fact, very well at all. “But there is little need for this. If you let me pack swiftly, I can get him through the circle and take him home—to the best healers.”
“H-home?” Ainsworth gasped as Honey placed a warm cloth on his ankle. It stung horribly, and he hissed.
“Sorry, I should have warned you,” she said in a small voice. She seemed very intent on her task; indeed, not looking up once. Dark curls hung over her shoulders, her horns shining in the firelight. She had not been wearing the silver trinkets earlier.
Enach folded his arms. He stood rigid in front of the fire, its light limning him like a halo, demonstrating what a clean-cut elf he was. “Yes,home.The innkeeper told me of your plans, but if you merely need research subjects in the form of adventurers, then you can leave the details here for her to pass along. Surely you need to start writing now? You have dwelled far too long on the fieldwork, Ainsworth.”
“But that— Things have changed!” Ainsworth replied, wincing as Honey now spun clean linens around his leg, tight across the wound. She still did not look up at him. “Enach, I am not sure how much Honey told you, but something is amiss here! Adventurers turning around the very day they intended to achieve their goal? I was out looking for magical interference this week and found none. I wish to remain and perhaps get to the bottom of this, and—”
“And what, produce some sort of wishy-washy history of cowardly adventurers? You need to return and make a decision as to how to proceed, how to getactualadventurers for your account. Without them, without the research documenting actual findings from a journey across the mountain itself…your manuscript will fall short of expectations, Ainsworth. There are other places people depart from to seek Mount Vengeance; adapting the project to an angle like that could work. You could go to the republic, perhaps.”
“But—”
“No buts, Ainsworth. Trust me, this is the best way forward.”
“Pah!” Honey exclaimed.
Enach narrowed his brows. “Did you say something, innkeeper?”
“She didn’t!” Ainsworth quickly replied, but Honey was glaring at Enach. It was a look he had not seen before—and one he wished never to be on the receiving end of. There was something loomingwithin her, he realized, some magic spilling at the seams. Her golden eyes seemed to shimmer, the color spinning like disturbed liquid. Her tail twitched behind her back.
It was mesmerizing.
“You know what is best, do you?” she snapped. Her eyes continued to glow, but the light seemed to flicker in their intensity, coming and going erratically like a candle disturbed by a passing draft. She was trying to hold back something, Ainsworth realized. He thought of Ashe’s words.Do you know how strong Honey is?“But how would you? You have been here all of five minutes and did not truly listen when I tried to talk of Ainsworth’s plans. Which he has sharedextensivelywith me.”
Ainsworth could not speak. His heart was hammering so hard he almost missed Enach’s disparaging laugh.
