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Heat bloomed on my cheeks, and Eisley scoffed.
“Can I see your ears?” Uron asked, leaning closer to me.
I wasn’t sure that I should be encouraging him after his last comment, but it wasn’t like my ears were sacred. They were just ears. So, I pulled part of my hair up to let him see one of them.
The look in his eyes morphed to fascination as he reached toward it. My toes curled in anticipation…
But a massive hand grabbed his wrist out of the air, halting the fingers a breath from my ear. I recognized the fabric wrapped around that giant hand just as a low, masculine voice growled, “I didn’t bring this little human here for you to bed her, Uron.”
“We’re a long way from any bed,” Uron replied without missing a beat. His grin was back. “And I wasn’t doing anything she didn’t want.”
A long, tense moment passed before Kierden finally forced himself to release Uron’s hand. He didn’t even look at me before saying flatly, “We’re leaving.”
I knew he was talking to me based on the complete and utter lack of respect in his voice.
Something inside me wanted to fight back against that lack of respect. To show him that I wasn’t a damn object—that he couldn’t order me around like I didn’t matter.
“Careful, Nissa,”Bright murmured into my mind. My intentions must’ve shown on my face.
“Why don’t you guys have sex outside of the eclipse?” I asked Uron, remaining in my chair.
“To make procreating an impossibility,” Eisley answered for him as she stood smoothly.
I leaned over the table a little, my fingers splayed wide. “There are herbs to prevent that, though. Humans have them, so I’m sure you do too.”
Uron set his hand on mine and opened his mouth to answer.
Kierden ripped the man’s hand away from mine, cutting him off with a sharp answer to my question. “We’ve been at war as long as any of us can remember. Sex was a risk because of the emotions it could inspire. It might create attachments with someone that could be snatched away at any moment.”
“But you’re not at war now.”
The king jerked his head in a nod. “When our peace has been solidified, we’ll reconsider our stance against protected sex outside of the eclipse.”
“When?” a woman across the room asked.
His gaze lifted to her, and mine did too. We both wanted to hear the answer.
“What day, exactly? A lot of us would like to know,” the woman clarified.
Damn, I was impressed with her for standing up to him.
And impressed with him for not seeming surprised or annoyed by her question. If anything, he became slightly less angry after she asked it.
Some of the fae in the shop weren’t even from Kierden’s city, but they looked curious about his answer too.
“As soon as the other cities have cleared out. I understand the importance of that freedom, and I appreciate the sacrifice all of us have made to prevent distractions and focus on the war. We lost far less fae than we could have.”
The mood in the shop grew solemn with his words, and I saw a few of the fae nodding.
“Thank you,” the woman said, bowing her head toward him slightly.
Others followed her, until most of the fae in the shop had bowed their heads toward him.
I didn’t bow, of course.
The man didn’t need any kind of confirmation that he was bigger, better, or more powerful than me. He already acted like I was nothing more than an annoyance.
“Let’s go,” the king said.
