But she couldn’t shake the feeling of sadness that her quest—and her time with Roke—was almost over.
Thirty-Seven
“Well, you handled that situation well,” Roke remarked as they got settled in a lounge in the cavernous Supper room. “In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if you might not be a Royal Entrancer as well as a Zorel Entrancer.”
“Hush!” Elli murmured. “I just told him what he wanted to hear—that’s all. It doesn’t take any special skill—after living with a father and four brothers all my life, I know how to deal with males, that’s all.”
“He’s not just any male—he’s a fatuous idiot,” Roke growled, glaring up at the Crown Prince, who was getting settled on the golden dais in the center of the Supper room with the noblewoman he had chosen as his “Bride of the Night.”
“Roke!” Elli hissed uneasily. “Keep it down, will you?”
But the big warrior was clearly incensed.
“I can’t believe he has the nerve to ask you to lead Demon in the parade tomorrow and pretend he’s conferring some great honor on you when he’s actually just scared shitless to ride without you near!” he muttered.
“Hush!” Elli begged him. “Please, Roke!”
“We ought to leave tonight,” he went on. “Let him see if he can handle Demon on his own without your help. He’ll probably end up as crispy as that groom we saw fried our second day here!”
“I can’t leave until I get that Lattice,” Elli hissed back at him. “And until I’m sure that Demon is safe from the Crown Prince.”
Roke snorted and raised an eyebrow at her.
“Don’t you have that backwards? Isn’t it His Majesty who’s in danger from Demon?”
“When he’s riding Demon, yes of course,” Elli said impatiently. “But you know how petulant he can be! If he has a less than stellar performance in the Grand Parade tomorrow, he’ll have Demon put to death and I couldn’t bear that!” She looked at Roke seriously. “So you see, I have to stay and see this through. Not just for the Healing Lattice—although that’s why I came in the first place. But to make sure that Demon is safely put out to stud. It would just kill me if something happened to him now!”
Roke looked at her speculatively.
“You really care for Demon, don’t you?”
“I’m his person,” Elli said simply. “I can’t abandon him—I need to know he’s safe and taken care of before we go.”
“Of course you do.” Roke sighed and nodded. He cupped her cheek. “My loyal little priestess. Once you give your heart, you can’t take it back, can you?”
The look he was giving her was so searching and serious that Elli felt her heart start to pound and she had to drop her eyes.
“I…I guess not,” she whispered. “But, Roke, I—”
“And now, tonight, I have a special treat for you all.” The Crown Prince’s voice rang out, interrupting her.
Elli looked up quickly to the raised dais and its golden lounge. Roke looked up as well, frowning.
“As you all know, I have declared a Grand Parade for tomorrow, in honor of the anniversary of our Court coming to Pok,” the Crown Prince continued.
“Here, here!”
“The Grand Parade!”
“Jolly good!” the nobles called from their lounges.
“Yes, yes, of course!” The Prince nodded. “I myself will be heading the Grand Parade, riding upon my formidable mount, Demon. And I have conferred the honor of leading him through the streets of the city upon none other than our Royal Zorel Entrancer—Lady Ellilah!”
He pointed at Elli, who found herself in the uncomfortable position of being the center of attention. She bowed and nodded, trying to smile though she disliked the feeling of everyone looking at her.
“Thank you, Your Highness,” she said, bowing again at the Crown Prince. “I shall treasure the honor forever.”
“Indeed you should, my dear.” The Crown Prince nodded at her. “And so,” he went on, speaking to the entire room again. “In honor of Lady Ellilah, we shall have some special zorel Mirroring tonight—that of a buck and his amorous advances to a doe.”
There were murmurs of surprise from the nobles. The Crown Prince didn’t usually name a theme for his erotic exploits—he simply did what he wanted with whichever noble he had chosen for his pleasure and expected everyone else to follow along. Elli wondered uneasily what tonight’s special Mirroring would involve.
But the next moment her mind was set at ease because the Prince’s first words were, “Now, as males, we bucks must frolic with our lady-does!” And he began to chase his chosen noblewoman playfully around the golden lounge.
Elli met Roke’s eyes and the big warrior shrugged as if to say, “Where’s the harm?” He reached for her and she danced out of the way, giggling as she dodged his long fingers.
Roke grinned and reached for her again, whereupon Elli dodged to the other side of their lounge and pretended to hide. From the corner of her eye, she could see the Duke and Duchess chasing each other around and around and laughing. In fact, everyone in the Supper room seemed to be having a wonderful time Mirroring the Prince tonight.