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“It probably will be. Word is Lord Falcon has called for a formal lunch to be prepared.”
“Charming. And here I haven’t even had breakfast.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll bring you and Lord Rogue a romantic breakfast in bed.”
“No! Don’t do that. I—” I caught her impish grin and realized she was teasing me. “Wench.”
She simpered, the picture of innocence. But she also patted my shoulder reassuringly. “I know nothing happened. Lord Rogue looks far too irritated. Good for you for holding out.”
“He looks irritated?” That pleased me. I pulled on a pair of heels. Not as high as my come-fuck-me heels, but still power-sexy. Starling held back the tent flap for me and I stepped out into the bright sunshine to find Rogue lounging in a chair under a giant pink silk parasol, being hand-fed fruit by a cluster of dragonfly girls.
Chapter 5
In Which I Negotiate aSabbatical
‡
It seems that the fae do not, or cannot, lie directly. There is, however, plenty of room for omission, obfuscation and all forms ofequivocation.
~Big Book of Fairyland, “Rules ofBargaining”
Really, I wasn’tsure what else to call them. Poor Dragonfly had been this type of fae—a sort of petite adolescent girl with a bouncy personality and not a great deal of intelligence. I hadn’t observed much variation in them. They seemed given to giggles and flirtation. None of them had the stiff, dragonfly-type wings—hence my name for her, since she seemed to have no other—but otherwise they were much like my erstwhile servant. All shades of hair, from golden to lilac tinsel, like a bouquet of frivolous flowers.
And they all just seemed to love Rogue.
My irritation was boiling up into a snide remark when Rogue glanced up, scooted the one who’d been perched on his lap off to the ground and stood, sweeping me a gallant bow.
“Good Titania—you look gorgeous, Gwynn.”
I looked like a 1950s prom date, I thought, but the glowing admiration in his cobalt eyes gave me a certain flutter. Plus, it didn’t hurt my ego to see him nearly toss the darling dragonfly girl aside for me without a second glance.
“You need something more.” He held out a closed hand, and opened it to show glittering earrings perfectly arranged on his palm. They were dangling lilies, upside-down trumpet-shaped flowers, shimmering as blue as the live indigo Stargazer lilies he’d once tried to give me. Like those, these looked as alive as flesh. Probably with the same drowningly sweet scent.
I put my hands behind my back. “No. No gifts. You know that.”
“But this isn’t a gift. It’s important that you go before Falcon with something of me on you. Proof.”
“Of what?”
He trailed a finger along the upper curve of my breast. “Don’t be coy.” Then his gaze caught, held. His face whitened.
I sighed and batted the finger away. “I mean, what exactly does it prove? If I’m making some kind of public declaration, I want to know what it is.”
But he was frowning, gaze still on my cleavage. “You were hurt yesterday. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What’s to tell? You mess with the Black Dog, you get a little torn up.” I meant it as a joke, but he had paled and now clenched his hands, as if he was stopping himself from grabbing me by sheer force of will. Even though I couldn’t accept those lovely earrings, I hoped he hadn’t crushed them. “Really it was mostly the rocks. A minor bite, maybe. I might be mortal, but I’ll heal. Don’t look so stricken.”
“I believed that the Dog would not harm you.” Rogue’s voice was deadly quiet, nearly strained.
“Are you kidding me? The Dog nearly tore my throat out the second I set foot on your sacred lawns.”
“That was before. And it was necessary.”
“That’s debatable, but these are just some bruises and scratches. Hardly a big deal. I just haven’t worked on them yet.”
He still looked profoundly perturbed. Off balance in a way I never saw him.
“Hey.” I put my palm on his cheek. The dragonfly girls watched us with avid interest, but I tried to ignore their whispers and giggles. “You didn’t do it on purpose. It’s no big deal.”
