Chương 116: Chapter 114: A Night Off (part 1)

Tobias's eyes were going to drop out of his head at this rate. He knew the fell had a thing for his littlest sister, vaguely, but assumed it was a respectful, one-sided crush. Yet an hour after stealing away Kenna, they returned to the den to see her clearly snuggled, barely visible through the furs and tendrils, her hands embracing Zhadin's true form with a gentle yet firm hold. And the shadows with the furs shifted and moved, hundreds of other tendrils touching her all over in the darkness.

Frankly, it was a little disconcerting. Keeping their voices down to a bare whisper, Kenna said, "I've learned a lot, the last week or so. She would have grown up sleeping in a pile of fey." Tobias nodded, somewhat relieved by the simpler explanation than his own fears of her past.

"Makes sense, thinking about it." They continued to set up a simple spread of cheese, meats, and sweets, along with a board game and some generously gifted mead. Just as Tobias started tapping his foot impatiently, debating on making good on his threat, Bartos finally came through the door. He merely nodded to the two of them, his gaze lingering briefly on Squirt's only partially visible sleeping face.

The trio sat themselves down for the light meal, exchanging quiet conversation as Bartos slowly relaxed, easing out of the role he'd been playing for months. Judging the right moment, Tobias turned to Zhadin and said quietly, "Would you mind if we kick you out for a bit?" Zhadin's voice came as a rasp from the shadows.

"I am surprised you waited this long." Tobias shrugged.

"Eh. Not gonna yuck her yum, and if Kenna and Bartos both vouch for you…" He leaned closer, stage whispering, "Qzi, on the other hand…" Zhadin nodded sagely.

"They are a project. I will check on them and watch over the redcaps tonight." From the mass of writhing tendrils in their lower half, they produced a teacup.

"Flip this, and I will know to return." Tobias rubbed the back of his neck.

"Right…" They melted away and Tobias muttered, "Not my first choice in suitor, but strangely not my last, either." Bartos chuckled.

"Zhadin has always been a rather serious fey. They are as good of a schemer as I am, though their schemes are always self-serving in nature."

"You two knew each other before Annabelle, right?"

"Almost as long as you, friend."

"I'll drink to that." Bartos chuckled.

"Intending to get me drunk tonight?"

"I'm certainly going to try." Bartos raised a brow at the mischievous sparks in the eyes of his pack mates, wondering what their angle was. They both sat down, and he teetered, hesitating. Wondering once more if the ache in his chest was his, or theirs. Then he pushed those thoughts to the side, taking a seat across from Tobias. His packmates wanted him to relax, and it had been too long since he had done so. Even he knew that occasional nights of relaxation were important to ruling fairly.

Already in the corner, he could see they had set up a board for his favorite strategy game. He took a measured sip of his drink, his eyes flickering to the board before raising an inquiring brow at Tobias. Tobias grinned.

"You're on."

Squirt's eyes fluttered open as the two men got up and shifted to opposite sides of the board. She was comfortable, but something felt odd. Out of place. It took her a couple of minutes to realize she was missing Zhadin's tendrils. Zhadin wasn't there.

"Dick move, man," came the playful tone from Tobias, the only thing that kept her panic at bay. Adrenaline finished waking her up, and she glared at the shadow in this little cave of furs. Gods damnit, she had almost panicked because it was the first time she had woken without the shadowfell's tendril holding her hand since she was last kidnapped. Lord Everwinter chuckled, teasing Tobias back, "It's well within the rules."

"Ruthless, seriously, I thought we were friends."

"We are," came the chuckled-out response.

"I'll drink to that!" Tobias cheered and took a healthy sip of his drink. The lord heaved an indulgent sigh before taking a sip of his own.

"Do you concede?"

"Concede? Concede? Lumin, come on, give me a moment —" She was pretty sure there was a twinge of malicious tease in the lord's chuckle, drawing Squirt's eye. Her heartbeat settled, her eyes drawn down to the board of the game the two men were playing, intrigued. It was some kind of strategy game, that much she could tell. Several minutes passed as she watched them trade more moves, each one increasing Tobias's tension and Lord Everwinter's smug confidence.

Kenna placed a small plate down for Squirt already piled high with cheeses and meats for her to snack on. She scowled but dutifully crawled out of the pile of furs to join Kenna, finding her eyes drifting back to the game. Reaching forward, she took up the plate, studying it before making her first selection. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Kenna leaned forward, catching Squirt's eye with a knowing gleam.

"Tobias says your pest has taken a pause on courting?" Squirt, still groggy, dropped her eyes back down to the plate. She stared blankly for several long seconds before selecting a combination. Some form of soft cheese and a sweet red berry. She missed the way Bartos was watching her reaction to the question. The other two didn't. After chewing and swallowing, Squirt finally answered.

"That is… something."

"Something?" Squirt dropped her head with a sigh. Running her fingers through her hair, she tried again to answer the question he'd asked her earlier. … am I… still allowed to court, or…? Was he? If she believed his admission in the infirmary, he was innocent of why she'd been angry to begin with.

"Did you know he made a vow to the Hunt?" From their expressions, none of them had. Bartos shifted, drawing Squirt's eye as he moved a piece, his attention back on the game. Tobias sucked in a sharp breath as his attention also returned to board. Swearing quietly, he started pointing and mumbling to himself about his options while Bartos took a casual sip of his drink. They were listening. Squirt knew it. They knew it. But she appreciated the illusion of their inattention all the same.

Turning her own attention back to her food, Squirt picked a new combo while she spoke.

"He won't tell me what it was beyond apparently guaranteeing my freedom, even from himself. That when he did swear, the white stag appeared and led him to the dungeon door." There was something else, too. Squirt stared down at the combination of meats she had picked next, the carefully wrapped concoction waiting in her fingers.

"… it was because of that oath that the Hunt led the Sia-bitch to him. It had to be. The timing is too perfect otherwise." She'd known that the Hunt must have had a hand in that bitch's demise. This just added a new layer of complexity. Passing the meat and cheese between her fingers as a fidget, she said, "He traveled all this way. This man everyone describes as selfish came all the way here just to work. For free. For me." She plopped the food in her mouth, chewing to distract herself from her thoughts.

Kenna considered Squirt quietly, allowing the moment to hang. Then, she leaned forward, placing her hands on the furs to hold herself up and catch Squirt's eye. With a grin and a wink, Kenna said, "Of course he did. He's groveling. Let him grovel. It looks cute on him." Despite herself, when Squirt glanced away, a small smirk tugged up her lips.

"That much is true." Though truthfully, the man was unreasonably attractive and made anything he did look good. It wasn't the same blessing of the Sia-bitch, the blessing of ultimate beauty and charisma that Cirn suffered from, he just… was. He drew her eye. Made her breath catch unexpectedly. Someone she could admire for pure aesthetic beauty and the smile he put on her face. She continued to her next selection, wrapping up the cube of cheese in a thin cut of cured meat.

"And I'm not dumping Qzi." Kenna carefully inspected her fingernails.

"I never said you had to dump him."

"He's the only one who's kind of normal."

"He's a redcap."

"And?"

"You do know what their mating ceremony entails, yes?" Squirt snorted as she chewed on more bites.

"I'm not mating the guy." She just occasionally thought about him in ways she pretended she didn't.

"But I'm not chasing him away, either. So back off." Kenna sighed reluctantly.

"Fine." Squirt narrowed her eyes at the woman suspiciously. Kenna twisted her lips, leaning back with a sigh.

"No, I'm not gonna push you on it. It is your choice. I just think you should have standards."

"Standards."

"Yeah. Standards."

"And what standards should I have?" Kenna studied Squirt more seriously.

"Redcaps aren't known for kindness. That's all."

"That's all?"

"That's all." Squirt snorted.

"No type of fey is better than any other. They're all equally shitty."

"I don't want you to settle for a shitty one."

"Qzi isn't shitty."

"If you say so."

"I do."

"Athi, I'm not arguing. As long as he makes you happy—""I said I'm not mating him!" Kenna, realizing she wasn't going to win, tried and failed to hold back the smile at Squirt's adorable rage. Groaning, Squirt wiped her hand down her face.

"Whatever. And of course, now Jezalin is here." Bartos choked on his sip of wine, coughing lightly. All eyes turned to him, Tobias's frown of concentration traded for one of concern.

"You good, Lumin?" Bartos raised his hand, waving them off, taking another sip of wine to steady himself. Squirt dropped dryly, "You do know that she has casually flirted with me multiple times now, right?" Bartos froze. Tobias winced.

"Ah, yeah, that. She did mention that." Clocking the lord's reaction, Squirt narrowed her eyes at him, snacking on more meats and cheeses while she thought it over.

"What's your deal with her, then?" Bartos answered, diplomatically.

"She's an old friend." Tobias snorted, then turned back to Squirt with a gleam of gossip in his eye.

"They met as kids and have been rivals for a long time."

"Rivals?"

"Rivals." Bartos's hand covered his face awkwardly. Squirt's eyes flickered between the two. Kenna added, "Wasn't it more one-sided than that?"

"I mean when they were kids, yeah. Jezalin used to just waltz into the room and announce a challenge of some kind to Bartos, and then Bartos would best her, and she'd leave in a huff." Squirt found herself asking, "What kind of challenges?"

"Anything and everything, from who could collect the most caterpillars to who could hold a note for the longest." Squirt snorted at the oddly innocent games.

"My parents used to work for her parents, and then when our parents died, Jezalin's family offered to take us in. Low and behold, we met Bartos at the funeral, and our wolves connected. His Family took us in, instead. Well, a branch Family, of course—" Bartos cleared his throat, and Tobias awkwardly changed the subject.

"Right. Well. So we have updates on Qzi, Feldan, and Jezalin who've declared some kind of intention, huh? Always knew you'd be popular. At this rate, you'll have someone for every day of the week." Annoyed, she tossed a piece of cheese at his head. He caught it with a grin, tossing it up and catching it in his mouth with a wink. Squirt huffed, pretending she wasn't on the verge of smiling as she returned to wrapping meats around cheeses.

"Jezalin has only said she's flirting so far."

"So far," said both Kenna and Tobias simultaneously.

"She called me eye-candy, which was… a thing." Kenna took a sip of her own wine.

"I'm more surprised Tobias didn't clock it sooner."

"What can I say, Kenna, I never know what anyone sees in women. You're all just so… squishy." Squirt threw another piece of cheese at his head in Kenna's defense, only the fucker caught the projectile between his teeth with another damn wink. Chewing, he said, "Thanks, Braveheart," around the cheese in his mouth. Kenna had a playful, sultry smile as she said, "Oh Tobias. It's the squishy bits that are the fun bits." Squirt held up her cheese.

"Hear hear." Plopping it into her mouth, she noted an odd look on Bartos' face. It took her several chews to realize he was, of all things, blushing slightly. With his dark skin tone and short, thick, blue beard, it was hard to tell. Her eyes flickered to Kenna appraisingly. Kenna carefully took a sip of her drink while Tobias said, "The only squishy bits I like are the ones that get harder when you stroke them."

Squirt's eyes flickered back to the lord as she responded, "Clearly, you've never gone down on a woman." The lord took a careful sip of his drink, his eyes fixed on the game board. Tobias cheered and said, "Thank the gods for that," and took a healthy swig of his drink. Squirt couldn't believe this. Bartos had fucked Kenna. And Tobias didn't know. Gods, these wolves were a mess. Deciding it wasn't her damn business to air their dirty laundry, she finished eating the food off her plate and glanced over at the board.

"What's that?" Tobias said despondently, "Warlords, and Bartos is kicking my ass right now." Squirt barely registered that Tobias had dropped Lord Everwinter's title, instead scooting closer to take a closer look at the game.

"What're the rules?"