She could swear, he made it sound like she’d suggested sleeping on a rack studded with spikes. “And use it for some magic-amplifying rituals that will include intense sex.” Raising a brow, she gave him a dubious look. “Unless you prefer the floor?”
“As a matter of fact, I would.”
“Too bad. The silver bed is made to concentrate your magic. Stop being squeamish about it.”
His jaw flexed with irritation. “You have a knack for dragging out that milquetoast word to describe the truly horrible.”
She rolled her eyes at him, making sure he could see. “Youhave a knack for the dramatic. It will just be a bit of sex magic, not skinning babies and eating them alive or anything like that.”
“I don’t want to know if that’s something Convocation wizards do.”
“Not at all,” she reassured him. “What if the baby could grow up to be a powerful wizard or familiar? It makes no sense to run that risk.”
He eyed her blackly. “You have such a twisted sense of humor I’m not sure if you’re joking or not.”
Giving him a bright smile, she dropped that subject without further comment. “You’re right, it feels like it’s going to rain soon.”
“The surprise is that it held off so long.”
“Are the winters here cool and rainy, plenty of misty weather?”
“As a matter of fact, they are. Why are you wondering?”
“Perfect weather for grapes,” she replied with satisfaction. This would be fun. “Those sandy hills will be ideal for growing them, too.”
“Grapes. You want to plant grapes?”
“I want to plant grape vines,” she clarified. “A vineyard. We’re going to make wine.”
He assimilated that. “I suppose you would know how.”
“I would—and we’re going to give Elal a run for their money with House Phel wines.”
“Elal doesn’t hold the license?”
“Nope. Grapes are grapes; wine is wine. Not magic, but nature. Elal does supply earth elementals to improve soil and what grows from it. Those could be useful here.”
“I’ll think about it,” he said in a tone that meant he’d already decided he didn’t like the idea but didn’t want to argue. “I don’t know where we can buy grape vines. I don’t know much about making wine, but I’m assuming that you can’t use just any old grapes.”
“Not if we want to make good wine. And we do. So we’ll need the very best vines, in several varietals, so we can test which perform best in this climate.”
“Sounds expensive,” he noted with a sigh of resignation.
“Not at all, except that we’ll be forfeiting a bit of income. They’re going to be included in my dowry.”
Gabriel gazed at her thoughtfully. “Is Lord Elal aware of this plan?”
“Not yet.” She tried for a carefree smile but was aware it likely looked more like a baring of teeth. “But he’s going to do it. Just you wait and see.”