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“That bad?” Essie winced and tried to say it a third time.
He could not help it. He full-on grimaced that time.
Essie snorted, then burst into laughter. “The look on your face…”
Strange how fast she could make his grimace turn into a smile. What was it about Essie that just made him want to smile?
Through her laughter, she said the word yet again, this time with a twinkle in her eyes.
He eyed her, trying to appear put out. “Now you are doing that on purpose.”
“Maybe.” She grinned, then pointed at her food. “What’s the elvish word for this?”
Breakfast took a long time as he told her the elvish words for each of the parts of the food, for the plate, the fork, the chair, the table, and pretty much everything else she could point at while they ate.
When they finished, Farrendel washed the dishes while Essie dried them. As she dried her hands after the last dish, she turned to him. “What do you normally do all day? Yesterday I finished all my letters for my family and got those sent off. So I don’t have anything else to do today.”
Right. Farrendel winced and looked at the floor rather than Essie. He did not want to admit that he usually did very little each day. He practiced with his swords. He read. He went to court functions when he could not avoid it.
But other than that, he did not do much. He was too mentally weary between battles to force himself to accomplish anything.
“I read.” Farrendel still could not bring himself to look at her. “We can see if we can find a book in Escarlish for you in the library.”
“I looked when I wandered through there while you were gone, but the library is massive, and I didn’t dare ask anyone for help.” Essie shrugged, the movement visible at the corner of his eye. “Do you have elven stories translated into Escarlish? That doesn’t seem like something you elves would bother with.”
“I do not know.” Farrendel peeked at her. By her posture, she did not seem too thrilled by the prospect. This was Essie. While he was happy hiding away doing nothing, Essie was likely going stir-crazy. “Perhaps…we could meet Illyna and some of the others to discuss your ideas about events to help wounded elf warriors. Perhaps tomorrow?”
He was not up for socializing today. But with a day to prepare and get used to the thought of going out, he would be all right.
She smiled, straightening. “That sounds like a great plan. If we can’t find anything I can read in the library, I can always start brainstorming ideas and organizing them before we discuss them with your friends.”
He nodded. He was not sure how much he would be able to contribute, but she sounded so excited about her idea.
“In that case, let’s sneak to the library.” Essie grinned and held out her hand to him.
“Sneak?” Slowly, he reached out and clasped her first two fingers in the elven manner of holding hands.
“Yes, sneak. You don’t sound too thrilled about seeing people.” Her grin took on a mischievous tilt. “Besides, sneaking is more fun.”
Sneaking was more fun. Especially with her.
Together, they stepped from his rooms. His branch was deserted, but the rest of Ellonahshinel would be bustling at this time of mid-morning. Not the best time for sneaking.
Not that they were truly sneaking from the servants. It was only his family they were truly trying to avoid, at least for now. And pretty much anyone from the elven court. They would sneer at Farrendel for being illegitimate—something he had yet to confess to Essie—and, worse, sneer at her for being human and marrying him.
Yes, sneaking was definitely the better option.
Holding Essie’s hand, he took a winding path through Ellonahshinel to avoid going anywhere near Weylind’s study or the parts of the treetop palace that were busiest at this time of day.
Occasionally, they passed a servant, and they ducked onto different branches or onto nearby porches.
As they neared the section where the library was located, the branches became more crowded with clerks, officials, and servants going about their duties in the quiet, dignified manner of the elves.
Farrendel ducked into the shelter of a leaf-covered branch, peering around it at the branch pathway that would take them to the library. When he spotted Weylind’s clerk, he ducked back out of sight, holding his breath.
As he waited for the official to stroll by, he became aware of how close Essie was beside him, even if only the backs of their hands and their fingers were touching. With anyone else, he would have gotten an itching, crawling sensation at being so close to someone else. Even with his family, he sometimes got that feeling when they clasped his shoulders.
Yet with Essie, he had the urge to pull her closer. He would not. But the thought was there.
