A Crown of Echoes by Brindi Quinn

Author:Brindi Quinn [Quinn, Brindi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781949222234
Publisher: Never and Ever Publishing
Published: 2020-06-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

A Deep and Dangerous Stare

“Good lord, I was beginning to think the pair of you had run off together.” Windley was lounging with his elbow to his knee and had been boredly poking at the fire with a long stick, making showers of cinders flee the scorched wood.

Rafe said nothing but gave him a look of extreme defeat and dread as he brushed past into the tent, anticipating that Windley would soon see him in a vulnerable state.

“Goodnight to you too, chap,” muttered Windley, turning to me, “What was that about?”

“I saw Rafe’s O-face.”

With a forced smile, Windley blinked at me mechanically. “Come again?”

Careful to keep my voice low, I recounted what Rafe had told me and the events that had ensued.

“How positively erotic of you,” Windley said through his forced smile. “…But you’re not lavishing in it?”

Lo, he was picking up on that uneasy feeling in my stomach.

“No, I’m not lavishing in it. Can you blame me? I feel like I just molested Beau’s boyfriend. She’ll understand, right?”

“How should I know?” he said. “Women are complicated.”

“Not helping. Anyway, have you heard of a disease that causes your chest to freeze from the inside?”

“No. But I don’t know much about his kind. For all we know, it could be common amongst the northern sorcerers.”

“I suppose.” I sat down beside him. “Truth be told, I’m in an uncomfortable position now. Healing him felt wrong, but with such a small guard, I can’t spare any one of you to illness…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“WELL, I was hoping next time you might be present?”

“What, to kill the mood?” he scoffed. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind seeing it. The chap must have been terrified.”

I swatted him. “I’m not that scary.”

“Not to me,” he said, kicking back with his hands behind his head.

Oh, he was baiting me. And when I held my ground, he proceeded anyway.

“You’re his queen,” he said, calculated, “and he respects you, but Rafe’s terrified of you. Always has been. He says you have a ‘deep and dangerous’ stare.”

I inspected him for signs of jest and found none. “You’re serious? What does that even mean?”

If anyone had a ‘deep and dangerous stare’ it was the Spirite himself.

Windley continued, “There are others who have acknowledged it. Saxon, for one. And I’m inclined to agree. When you set your gaze on someone, it commands attention in a way beyond regality. It’s primal.”

It was unlike him to say something so raw. In the cool of the night, my skin pricked. I removed my dangerous stare from his and placed it on the fire. The fire crackled in response.

“Well thanks for telling me. Now I’ll only be self-conscious every time I look at anyone, wondering if I’m frightening them with my penetrating gaze.”

“I suppose it would be difficult to endure for someone like Rafe, whose heart belongs to another. But if you want my opinion, anyone who cowers from it is undeserving of looking into it.” He nudged me with his elbow. “It’s a gift, Merr.

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