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The stag lowered his head, then simply…vanished.
"Bach?" Fife's beautiful voice prompted. There was a hint of magic lacing his demanding tone, and his expression was a bit strained. As if he had asked the towering fae male at my side a question that he hadn't answered. Repeatedly.
It took me a moment to realize that while I had been staring at the stag, Bach was busy starting down at me with obvious want. Oblivious to his friend. His bright blue eyes glowed faintly, and the short claws at the tips of his fingers dug into my hip.
I sucked in a breath, and the moment was broken. Bach straightened and released me suddenly, as if he'd been in a trance.
"Sorry," he muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. "What did you need?" He strode over to where Mirri and Adder were talking and gesturing at the clearing, obviously with some question about setting up camp.
Fife's bright green eyes met mine, and he frowned. Then he arched one black brow and cast a meaningful look upward, at the patch of sky that was visible above us—where velvety purple darkness was falling, and the wild moon was rising.
"Care to help me gather firewood?" he asked me, his smooth voice casual but his gaze intense. "We should talk about some…things."
I took a deep breath and let it out. Yeah. I was pretty sure Fife knew far more about the wild moon and its effects on highborn fae than I did. Hopefully, he could enlighten me.
"Of course," I said, forcing a cheery smile. "Lead on."
Chapter 31
Tension slowly built along my spine and spread through my shoulders as I cast about on the forest floor, searching out fallen branches and breaking them into manageable pieces. Fife worked nearby, and we each placed our finds on piles that would be easy to scoop up and carry back to the camp. I had a feeling Fife had things to say to me. Things about me and Bach, and the wild moon. He was observant and a bit sly, and there was no way he had missed Bach's fixation on me earlier, or my own blushing, pulse-pounding response.
What would I tell him if he asked me about Bach? Should I keep trying to hide it? Was it really such a terrible secret? Of course, I couldn't tell him I was the Prize in the tournament. I couldn't reveal anything about my role in the game of hearts, thanks to the queen's spell. I had witnessed the power of that magic first-hand when Adder was in danger of figuring out my identity.
And what would that make me then? How would Fife and the others view me if they thought I was just a gossip, making overtures toward the potential mates of her employer’s precious, noble Prize?
My pulse pounded in my temples as darkness continued to fall and my worried thoughts continued to swirl through my brain like a swarm of angry dire-hornets. And all the while, the moon's wild call tugged at my awareness, urging me to find some way to lose myself and forget my worries.
"Have you ever been outside during a wild moon before?" I nearly jumped out of my skin when Fife finally spoke, dropping my most recent armload of kindling in the process.
Twilight had robbed most of the color from the world. But somehow, Fife's bright green eyes were as vivid as always, lit from within by his magic. And they currently regarded me with wry amusement as he spoke. "Apologies. Strung a bit tight, are we, mistress Rina?" He paced over to help me toss my dropped sticks onto the growing pile a few feet away.
I sighed and finished my task before straightening. It was nearing full dark now, but the sky didn't go completely black the way it normally would. I could feel it there, the wild moon creeping up from the horizon to take over the sky.
Fife waved a hand and a trio of fae lights appeared around us, casting a faint, comfortable glow to keep us from tripping over objects on the shadowed ground.
"No," I answered, fighting the urge to wring my hands. I was still feeling on edge, but it was rapidly taking on a strange new sensation, the anxiety tipping more toward anticipation. I was becoming overheated, the way I had been back in the clearing with Bach. "I've never been out during the wild moon. But I'm not…" I sighed, waving a hand to encompass my very not highborn fae figure with all its roundness, my lack of powerful magic, and my blunted ears. "I'm not highborn, obviously. Not full-blooded, anyway. So, it shouldn't bother me as much, right?"
He hummed in consideration as he came closer, hands on his hips as he regarded me. "It does tend to hit us stuck-up highborns a little harder than the rest. But it depends on the person. Your mixed heritage won't necessarily stop the effects. And for some people, having mixed blood seems to make them more sensitive to the moon's whims, not less so." He ran a hand through his silky black curls and stepped closer, and I felt the heat inside me ratchet up another notch.
"That," he said triumphantly. "That right there! I saw you tense. And your aura is fluctuating. It's already affecting you, isn't it?"
I swallowed as I tried to contain the butterflies that had bloomed to life in my stomach at his nearness. "I don't know. I don't have the urge to go hunting with my bare hands or howl at the moon."
He tilted his head, his beautiful bowstring mouth tilting up at the corners. "The urge to hunt and howl aren't the only symptoms of the wild moon, mistress. It calls to our primal urges. Some do find themselves waking the day after a wild moon next to a fresh kill or exhausted and covered in mud from running naked through the forests." He took another step closer, this time pausing close enough to touch. One graceful musician's hand lifted to brush my coarse brown waves out of my face so he could peer more intently into my eyes. "But those aren't our only animal instinct." He paused. Smirked. "Orgies, for example, are just as common."
I huffed at the lusty humor in those sparkling eyes. Eyes that glowed faintly in the low light, simmering with reflected warmth from the fae lights around us. I tried very hard to ignore the quiver in my core that said an orgy sounded fantastic right now.
"Why are we out here alone?" I asked instead. "Why have this conversation away from the others?"
I didn't feel any fear. No hesitation at being alone with this beautiful male. But I wondered all the same.
"Honestly?" He sighed. "The others can be a bit too…serious, sometimes. It is about to be a very long night," he said, trailing his fingertips along my cheek before dropping his hand. "I know you're only here in this forest because of your duties to your employer. You seem to be very devoted to her, and to ensuring that the tournament is safe and fair, and that the mates she chooses for the Prize are honorable and well-suited to the lady."
I nodded silently, my heart aching, wishing I could just tell him the damned truth. That it wasn't all such selfless devotion. That I was doing it all for myself. Because I was the Prize. Because they could be my mates when this all came to an end. But the queen's spell closed up my throat and kept the words from spilling out.
Fife's eyes searched mine, a serious expression on his face. "You and Bach seem to be drawn to one another. I've noticed it from the start. Mirri and Adder are fascinated by you as well, Rina. And I think you're lovely, and amusing, and you clearly possess a beautiful heart and a strong spirit."
I drew in slow, measured sips of air, feeling like I couldn't get enough breath into my lungs at the moment. "What are you saying?"
