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"And with him," I said.
"And that," Tavian agreed.
"What about Vayne?" I asked. "Are you two ever…"
"Intimate? No. He's only attracted to women, as far as I know." His cheek twitched against mine.
"But not human women," I said. "He seems to really dislike humans."
"Vayne dislikes pretty much everything, including himself," Tavian said. "He hates most people when he first meets them."
"Including you?" I pulled my face back far enough to look at his.
"The first time we met, he beat the shit out of me," he said. "He claimed he was trying to teach me to stick up for myself. I wasn't very good at it then. I had to learn fast so he didn't do it again."
"Did he?"
"A couple of times," Tavian said lightly. "But then, a couple of times I beat the shit out of him, so we're even."
"It sounds like you have an interesting relationship." I wasn't sure I'd be friendly with anyone who beat me up, regardless of their motives for doing so. Honestly, it sounded like something Zared and his friends would have done to each other. Maybe it was a masculine thing.
He chuckled. "You could say that, yes."
We were silent for a few minutes after that.
I eventually broke it by asking, "Do many of the Fae have magic? You said you don't?"
"I don't. The majority of us don't these days. Those who do are like throwbacks. Or their parents mated specifically to breed children with magic. The High Lords, for example."
"They all have magic?" I asked.
"They do," he agreed. "All connected to their seasonal affinity. The High Lord of Spring, for example, can make plants grow quickly, and can channel the rain, or do interesting things with water."
"That sounds useful." I nestled into the cushions. I could get used to comfort like this. To being surrounded by soft cushions and curtains thick enough to keep the world at bay. Nest was a good word for it. I could nestle here for days.
"It is, when he bothers to share the skill with the other courts." Tavian sounded unimpressed. "If our crops are struggling, sometimes he won't do anything. Sometimes he will."
"Why?"
"Because the Fae are proud and some of them are assholes," he explained. "There's been animosity between the courts since the beginning of time. Once in a while, something will happen to bring them together. Like when we moved out to the west and left the humans to the land in the east. Some of the Fae objected, so the High Lords had to work together to get them to comply. Somehow, it didn't degenerate into full blown war. Fae tend to dislike being told what to do."
"Humans don't like it much either," I said. "It sounds like we're all as stubborn as each other."
"That's the funny thing," he said slowly. "There's been hundreds of years of mistrust and suspicion between Fae and humans, but we're not that different."
"Especially if humans and Fae can be omegas," I agreed.
He shifted beside me. "Right," he said slowly.
"Can humans be alphas?" I asked.
"Just because I've never heard of a human alpha, doesn't mean it's not possible," he said vaguely. "The gods did stranger things than that. I'll take you down to the palace garden and show you the elephant flower."
"Elephant?" I asked. That was a strange word. An unfamiliar one.
"I don't know if they're a myth, but apparently they're a huge animal that lives on a distant continent. They have a nose that looks like a giant tail. Elephant flowers look like that too. They smell amazing though. Not," he sniffed, "as good as you. You smell like honeysuckle and fresh rain. Perfect combination. Did you know only omegas and alphas can smell things like that on other people? Apparently regular people just smell peopleness."
I blinked at him a couple of times. "I've always been able to smell things like that on people. You smell like cinnamon and apples. Dalyth smelled like honey and lemon. Pleasant, but at the same time not."
