long as this Cass loves our son the way he should be loved.” She paused to watch the object of their discussion patiently allow her much smaller friend Priti to bully her in and out of a mélange of dresses in a shop dressing room. “I think she will. And I know my boy is capable of our kind of love,” she said, her lovely voice just the slightest bit arrogant. Carlow grinned. His Queen was nothing if not confident of her brood’s many fine qualities. “I think she will be just what he needs.”
“I think you’re right,” said the King , before he waved the seer dark and turned his attention to a seduction of his own.
Chapter six
“How is he?” Priti asked. She and Cass were in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Boyd was off running errands, and Lee was still asleep, or so they thought.
He’d awakened the moment Cass had rolled out of their bed. He was quite put out that he’d actually slept through his first night with her. But he felt great. In his sleep his body’s healing ability had surged merrily ahead without a care for human timetables, and when he slid from the bed, the mirror showed him a visage awash in multicolored bruises that should have taken days to surface. Most of his cuts were completely closed, though he left the bandages on to disguise it. He was also plagued by an unnatural stiffness in his limbs. He stretched to relieve it as he listened to the conversation going on in the kitchen.
“He was exhausted last night. But he said he felt alright. The doctor gave me a list of warning signs to watch out for as long as my arm, but I memorized it and he hasn’t shown any signs of complications. But,” she paused, and he watched in his mind’s eye as she cracked eggs into a bowl.
“What?”
She shrugged as she began to beat the eggs. “He acts different. Talks different. Even the timber of his voice sounds different.”
“Well, he did get knocked crazy by a taxi. His noodle’s probably still scrambled from hitting the damn street.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Cass said, but she didn’t sound so sure.
“She is smarter than we anticipated, sire,” Rierdane said. He’d been listening to the conversation too.
No, he corrected his servant. I’ve always known she was smart. Though I had hoped for more time to get to know her before I told her the truth.
Rierdane snorted. “I don’t think you’re going to get it. She may well figure things out before you have a chance to tell her.”
Eyoen doubted that. The truth was too outlandish, but he would have to work fast to gain her trust and her love. Otherwise her confusion might drive a wedge between them.
He heard her coming down the hall and got ba ck in the bed to wait for her. It wouldn’t do to appear too healthy too soon. Besides, he liked having her take care of him, and in bed he’d have a better chance of stealing a few kisses.
She opened the door quietly and smiled when she saw that he was awake.
“Hey, doll. How you feelin’?”
“Good,” he rasped.
“You look like a Technicolor bruise,” she laughed. “That’s a good sign, but we’ll have to hide you from Paulette. She sees that pretty mug of yours banged up like this she may have an episode.”
Paulette. He remembered the name from his hospital room. He searched his memories and came up with a tiny woman with a cloud of frizzy brown curls. She worked for him as s ome kind of broker.
“I gotta photo shoot today. You comin’?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss the chance to see you work.”
She looked at him strangely again, and he silently cursed the limitations of the human body. Were he in his right state, he could simply read her mind and understand exactly what those looks she kept giving him actually meant. But encased as he was in his host, his powers were muted.
“You sure you feel up to it? It’s gonna be pretty boring. A lot of sitting around, as you know. Though there will be places for you to rest comfortably.”
“I
“I think you’re right,” said the King , before he waved the seer dark and turned his attention to a seduction of his own.
Chapter six
“How is he?” Priti asked. She and Cass were in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Boyd was off running errands, and Lee was still asleep, or so they thought.
He’d awakened the moment Cass had rolled out of their bed. He was quite put out that he’d actually slept through his first night with her. But he felt great. In his sleep his body’s healing ability had surged merrily ahead without a care for human timetables, and when he slid from the bed, the mirror showed him a visage awash in multicolored bruises that should have taken days to surface. Most of his cuts were completely closed, though he left the bandages on to disguise it. He was also plagued by an unnatural stiffness in his limbs. He stretched to relieve it as he listened to the conversation going on in the kitchen.
“He was exhausted last night. But he said he felt alright. The doctor gave me a list of warning signs to watch out for as long as my arm, but I memorized it and he hasn’t shown any signs of complications. But,” she paused, and he watched in his mind’s eye as she cracked eggs into a bowl.
“What?”
She shrugged as she began to beat the eggs. “He acts different. Talks different. Even the timber of his voice sounds different.”
“Well, he did get knocked crazy by a taxi. His noodle’s probably still scrambled from hitting the damn street.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Cass said, but she didn’t sound so sure.
“She is smarter than we anticipated, sire,” Rierdane said. He’d been listening to the conversation too.
No, he corrected his servant. I’ve always known she was smart. Though I had hoped for more time to get to know her before I told her the truth.
Rierdane snorted. “I don’t think you’re going to get it. She may well figure things out before you have a chance to tell her.”
Eyoen doubted that. The truth was too outlandish, but he would have to work fast to gain her trust and her love. Otherwise her confusion might drive a wedge between them.
He heard her coming down the hall and got ba ck in the bed to wait for her. It wouldn’t do to appear too healthy too soon. Besides, he liked having her take care of him, and in bed he’d have a better chance of stealing a few kisses.
She opened the door quietly and smiled when she saw that he was awake.
“Hey, doll. How you feelin’?”
“Good,” he rasped.
“You look like a Technicolor bruise,” she laughed. “That’s a good sign, but we’ll have to hide you from Paulette. She sees that pretty mug of yours banged up like this she may have an episode.”
Paulette. He remembered the name from his hospital room. He searched his memories and came up with a tiny woman with a cloud of frizzy brown curls. She worked for him as s ome kind of broker.
“I gotta photo shoot today. You comin’?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss the chance to see you work.”
She looked at him strangely again, and he silently cursed the limitations of the human body. Were he in his right state, he could simply read her mind and understand exactly what those looks she kept giving him actually meant. But encased as he was in his host, his powers were muted.
“You sure you feel up to it? It’s gonna be pretty boring. A lot of sitting around, as you know. Though there will be places for you to rest comfortably.”
“I
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