He smiled. “That you are attracted to me.”
Sonea stared at him and felt her heartbeat suddenly increase. Curse him. How did he work that out? She drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and considered all the ways she’d thought of to let him down gently.
“Lord Regin. I—”
“I also know that you have worked out that I am attracted to you,” Regin interrupted. “You took your time with that one, though I supposed you first had to forgive me for being a malicious, bigoted bastard when I was a novice.”
This was not going to be easy. For either of us, she had to admit. “Regin, I’m not...”
“Attracted to me?” His eyebrows rose. “So you deny it?”
She hesitated, then forced herself to straighten and look him straight in the eyes. “Yes, I do.”
His eyes narrowed. “Liar.”
What am I doing wrong? Uncrossing her arms, she attempted to place her hands on her hips, but it proved too difficult in a moving carriage, so she settled on shaking one finger at him.
“Don’t you call me a liar when...”
He laughed. “Ah, Sonea. If I’d known it was so much fun to tease you, I’d have started sooner.”
The panicky feeling that had been growing in her eased. He’s only having fun with me. He’s not serious. Relief was followed by disappointment. Oh, don’t be silly, she told herself. She sighed, straightened in the seat and leaned against the back.
“You may not be a malicious, bigoted bastard any more, but you are still just as manipulative, Lord Regin.”
Regin shrugged. “Well, that’s not news. I hope you agree, I always do it for a good cause.” He leaned toward her. “But I would like to know what you have against the idea of you and me being a couple.”
She paused before answering. At least he wants to discuss it sensibly. Maybe we should. Get the idea aired and out of our heads.
“It would be... well, a lot of people would object to it. I’m a black magician. You’re... married.”
“Is that all?” He shook his head. “How conventional of you. Sonea, the woman who changed everything – the Guild, Kyralian society, the way we regard black magic – is worried about gossip?”
“Of course. It took years for me to gain people’s trust. I can’t risk losing that.”
“You won’t. They’d be happier seeing you settled with another magician.”
She looked away. “You can’t know that.”
“I know Kyralia’s gossips better than you,” he retorted. “I have the dubious pleasure of knowing them personally.”
He sighed. Glancing at him, she felt her heart twist a little. He looked disappointed. Maybe he’s right. No, he doesn’t know what it was like, these last twenty years. People constantly weighing in on every move I made, every friend or lover I had.
But as she stole another glance, she knew he was right about one thing. She did find him attractive. A lot. Crazy as that may be.
“So,” he said quietly, “would it be acceptable if I was divorced?”
“No!” she protested, though whether at his question or at him continuing to pursue this she wasn’t sure.
“Maybe I should rephrase that. Would it be acceptable to you if I was divorced?” He leaned closer and she turned to face him. “If nobody else’s opinion mattered, would you want me then?”
He was staring right into her eyes. It would not be easy to lie to him. She hesitated, then opened her mouth to try.
But the words never came out because he was suddenly kissing her. As she froze in surprise he slipped his arms around her, drawing her closer, and she found she could not quite get coordinated enough to do anything about it. Her body did what it wanted to: it relaxed against the warmth of him.
It was, she had to admit, a very good kiss. She was disappointed when it ended, though she was a little out of breath. He looked at her, but not with the full confidence he’d had a moment before. He will stop this now, if I tell him to.
I don’t want to tell him to.
She searched for something else to say.
“You’re not divorced yet,” she reminded him.
He smiled. “Oh, but I am. The king granted it before I left.”
“What? You never told me that!”
“Of course not. I know you too well. You might have guessed my intentions, and kept me at arm’s length,” he told her. “Well, more than usual.”
“You planned this all along. You scheming, manipulative—”
“Always for a good cause,” he said. Then he kissed her again.
As Lorkin stepped into Savara’s suite of rooms the queen looked up from the papers she was reading and smiled. Lorkin stopped and put a hand to his heart, but she made a face and waved him past.
“Stop that. Nobody’s watching. And Tyvara’s waiting for you,” she said.
He walked over to the room he and Tyvara had been sleeping in. Tapping lightly on the door, he heard a faint reply, and pushed it open. Tyvara was lying on the narrow bed reading yet more documents, dressed only in a short shift. He closed the door, leaned back on it and hoped he wouldn’t have a reason to move again too soon.
She looked up, then rolled her eyes. “Stop that.”
“Can’t,” he said.
“Very well then. Stay there. You’ll get bored eventually.”
“I doubt it.”
She tried to ignore him, but he could see that her eyes were moving back and forth without actually descending down the page. Eventually she closed them, sighed, and looked up at him again.
“I suppose there is a way to make you stop which would be mutually agreeable to both of us.”
He widened his eyes in mock innocence. “Mutually agreeable?”
“Definitely. Come here and let’s do some experimenting with your new ability. I suspect there are some mutually agreeable ways that skill could be applied.”
Some time later Lorkin found himself on the floor, lying beside her with the bedding serving as a not-entirely-comfortable substitute for a mattress. He had been tired before, and now he was more so, but it was a pleasant sort of weariness and he resisted the temptation to Heal it away.
“We really need a bigger bed,” Tyvara said.
“Yes.”
“How are our Ambassadors?”
Lorkin resisted a smile. Savara had begun to refer to Dannyl and Tayend as “our” Ambassadors the day after she’d met them. “They’re fine. They were in the library, happy as children with new toys. I think they’d just found something for Dannyl’s book.”
“Are those two what I think they are? Are they a couple?”
“They used to be. For a long time, actually. Until Dannyl came here. They’d parted company, but I don’t know why.”
“And now?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. They seem close again. But they seemed that way just before Dannyl came here, so maybe I can’t tell with them.” He frowned. “Though there was a tension between them then that isn’t there now.”
She turned to look at him. “Aren’t you going to ask me what Savara wanted to talk about?”
He rolled onto his side. “What did Savara want to talk about?”
“We talked about her plans for Sachaka.”
“Now there’s a surprise.”
Tyvara poked him in the ribs. “Listen. We figure the country estates will maintain themselves without too much assistance for now. There are a few we still have to liberate. They were too out of the way for us to deal with before moving on Arvice. But once they’re done, the main challenge is to revive the wasteland.