His Forsaken Luna-Chapter 45: Guest Pavilion (2)

The guest room was bright, airy, opulent, and much nicer than mine. The hearth crackled with a roaring fire. The heat of the room even melted the snow and ice that usually surrounds the snow, blanketing the windows.

Were they not frozen as soon as they stepped outside of this building?

The large four-poster double bed was placed across from the joined water closet, and to the side was an open space living room and a desk. Paintings and vases added colour to the warm, neutral-coloured walls.

Once I was undressed and my bare feet hit the floor, the usual chill that shocked me into alertness was not there. In fact, the floor was warm, like the heat itself came from it. It wasn’t until I’d warmed up in the bath and returned to the bedroom that I noticed a few glowing red gems.

One was placed in the water closet to the side, another on the bedside table, and another on the ground by the window. Upon closer inspection and tapping one of them, I stared in wonder at the gemstone that had magick imbued in it. Warmth radiated from the smooth surface.

I’d read very little about the gems from the land of Sun and Fury, but I knew they were important to the people. I wondered, after noting the ones in this guest room, if they were used for anything else. If we had gems such as these in the north, the winters wouldn’t feel so harsh—which was almost all year round.

The Kingdom of Ice and Claws had four seasons, but spring, summer, and autumn came only for three months, and the remaining months were long and freezing. I’d grown used to it with the bare minimum of a hearth in my bed chamber to keep me warm. A gemstone like this would have made life so much easier.

They could also help with frostbite on long journeys. Even on a journey in the harshest of weather. A perilous journey that I would not have thought about doing until the summer.

"Lia, are you ready?" Eryx knocked on the door. I was surprised he didn’t just walk in here.

"Almost!" I call back, my heart thumping wildly as I turned away from the gem and looked at the clothes laid out on the bed—they were not what I was expecting.

𓆩:*¨༺✧ ♛ ✧༻¨*:𓆪

Dressed in some breeches, a loose top and a warm leather coat, gloves and a hat, my hair in ringlets from when it had been braided, I descended the stairs, brows furrowing. "I thought we were going on a date?" I ask, looking at Eryx, who wasn’t dressed in any finery.

The Alpha Prince was in leathers and a fur lined cloak, a giant crossbow strapped to his back, and a smaller one hanging on the side of his belt, among other blades and weapons I lost track of counting. "Is this the part where you kill me?" I add, stepping back and reaching for a weapon I do not have.

Kharis snorted from the wall he leaned against, ignoring his Alpha’s glare. "Here, I thought you’d won her over."

"There is no ’winning me over’," I state, then flick my attention back to Eryx.

"I like her," Kharis said to Cohnal who had been twisting his singular piercing in one ear.

I raised an eyebrow at Eryx. "Well?"

Eryx’s gaze roamed over my features and stepped closer, wrapping a small red scarf around my neck instead of replying. I tensed slightly, which made his brows knit together, and his eyes flicked to mine, searching.

He made sure it was tucked beneath the leather. Any irritation at waiting for his answer faded as my eyes widened to the warmth of the scarf. It radiated heat like the gemstones.

I stared in wonder at Eryx as he began playing with the top two buckles at the top of my leather coat, tightening it and ensuring no draft would come to my neck. "How is this scarf so warm?" I ask.

"It is wool," Eryx replies instantly.

"That is a lie," I call him out on it. "Wool does not feel like this."

Eryx doesn’t respond as he turns away from me. "Kharis, you and Cohnal will flank us," he orders the warrior, who I noted now wore a necklace with a small red gemstone on it like the ones in the guest room and some that have been scattered around in the hall.

The Southern Weres have secrets that they guard well. It makes me distrust them more, especially with the recent attacks. I try again. "The gemstones heat this building well. Is magick very common in Sun and Fury?"

Eryx returns to my side, takes me by the arm, and leads me towards the doors. "Yes. To answer your earlier question, we are still going on a date."

"Dressed like this?" Damn, he changed the subject so easily. It worked, though. I could always ask him about this ’date’ or try to do my own investigation. "With weapons?"

The guards opened the doors for us, and the cold outside felt three times worse after being in such a cosy and warm atmosphere. The scarf that I assume has some sort of enchantment on it warms my chest, keeping the chill at bay.

"We are going hunting," Eryx explains, and I stop.

Kharis almost bumps into me, and Eryx looks back at me, unconcerned. "We are going hunting?" I repeat in a question. "For a date?"

Kharis snickers behind, and like before, Cohnal smacks the back of his head. "Hey, not in public. We are a united front," he complains back, for some reason speaking in Isa so I can understand.

Cohnal does not speak in my language, however, and replies in a scolding tone.

Eryx watches me and says, "Hunting in the South is customary. It is an old tradition that all potential Were couples partake in."

My lips part. "I’ve never heard of such a custom."

"Of course you haven’t. You have forgotten a lot of traditions, among other things. Glory, status and blood became president to you northerners."

You Northerners. I didn’t like the sound of that, but I was no different. I think of Eryx and his men as Southerners and keep comparing our two kingdoms.

"What makes this date so traditional then?" I ask, ignoring the offence I felt and continue walking by his side.

"It proves to the female in the mateship that the male can provide for her and protect her," he explains as we stop before the stables where stable boys already wait with three horses.

"So... I’m just to watch and wait while you hunt and kill animals?" I ask, not impressed. Although it might be interesting to see them all shift into their wolf forms.

"No. That’s why I have brought you a crossbow." He tapped the side of his leg where the smaller weapon was.

"I do not know how to use it," I say, a little nervous and excited by the possibility of using it.

"I will teach you," Eryx replies simply, like it is no big deal. It might not have been to him, but it was to me. Did he know that?

Instead of thanking him before we have yet to leave for this ’hunting date’, I question him. "Are you not worried I’d shoot you?"

Cohnal and Kharis paused by their horses and glanced in our direction, brows raised, looking somewhat shocked by my statement. They didn’t seem worried at all, like Eryx. Was it because he was their Alpha Prince, and nobody spoke to him like that? Surely not, he was an ass.

Eryx smirks and stalks towards me; I step back until I bump into one of the horse’s sides. It huffs but remains where it is. "You are not silly enough to shoot me, Princess," he leans closer, calloused hand gripping my jaw and shooting sparks along my skin. "I am the King’s esteemed guest."

"Esteemed?" I scoff, trying to hide the heat rising in my cheeks as he crowds my space and intoxicates me with his scent.

Eryx’s thumb caresses my cheek, gaze lowered, watching the rosiness grow redder at his close proximity. "Didn’t I tell you not to speak or act violently with me?"

I inhaled sharply as his face came impossibly close to mine until his lips hovered above mine. "It arouses me, Princess," he whispers darkly.

"You’re a pervert," I hiss back and squeeze my thighs together as my lips brush against his from speaking. It was incredibly teasing and dizzying, and my breathing grew slightly laboured.

Eryx grinned and stepped back, eyes roaming over my body like he could see exactly what he did to me. "Maybe. But you still like to tease me. Now, hop on. I’d like to hunt while the sun is still up."

I turn my back to him so I can recover, take a deep breath, slowly breathe out, and calm my racing heart. After putting the first boot in the stirrup, I mounted the horse, holding the reins and feeling a little nervous. I knew how to ride a horse, but it had been at least 12 years since I was allowed to.

My nerves completely shattered, though, when the Alpha Prince knocked my foot out of the stirrup and hopped up behind me. "What do you think you’re doing?!"

"You seemed nervous riding, and besides, I don’t fancy chasing you through the woods in one of your pathetic attempts at escaping." His hands slide around my waist and take the reins from me.

"Is there a reason I should run?" I ask over my shoulder, trying to shimmy forward so there is space between us.

"I don’t know." Eryx’s lips were beside my ear again, one hand pressed to my stomach, so we were close again. "Is there a reason you should run?"