The Dragon's Daughter and the Winter Mage by Jeffe Kennedy

Author:Jeffe Kennedy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Brightlynx Publishing
Published: 2022-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

~ 14 ~

That got his attention. “What?”

“Your brother, Wilhelm. Wim.”

“I know who my brother is,” he snapped, irritation rising at the image of his Briar Rose swooning in Wim’s bandy arms. Though he’d likely filled out since Isyn last saw the brat. “Is there a reason you’re telling me this?” Now. While I’m incapacitated, lying like a helpless turtle on my back and wishing for this humiliation to end.

“I was going to have sex with him,” she confided thoughtfully.

He groaned and let go of her hand, slapping his over his eyes as if that would help him unsee that image. “Please don’t tell me anything else about this,” he begged her.

“I think it’s important for you to know.” She tugged his hand from his eyes, waiting until he opened them. “I was going to have sex with him, and he was kissing me, but my head wasn’t in it. I kept trying to enjoy it, but—and I know this is terrible to say—I was sort of bored. And I think he sensed that because he started kissing my neck and then my breasts and—”

Isyn’s pained groan came out like a snarl, and Gendra gave him a curious glance but didn’t relent. “I was making an effort to go with it and all, figuring I’d catch up and start feeling the passion I was supposed to at some point. And then this painting across the room attracted my eye. A misty island shoreline and ocean, a forest filled with animal shapes.”

“I painted that.” The words burst out of him with the shock of recognition. He’d left that painting, and so much else, far behind in the dim past, and it was disorienting to think of her looking at it only days ago.

“Ah.” The sound came out like a dreamy sigh, and her soft gaze fastened on him admiringly. “I wondered if you had. I loved that painting, Isyn.”

“I can’t believe Wim put it in his rooms,” he admitted, faintly pleased. Wim had never seemed to care much about his art.

“Um, I think we were in your rooms.”

The pleasure swiftly drained into rising irritation. “Do tell.”

“Well, I know we were. Your former rooms,” she corrected. “Wim said that he and Marjie wagered for who would get them, he won, and he hadn’t redecorated because it annoyed her so much.”

Despite himself, he laughed. He had no reason to disbelieve her, but that sounded exactly like the terrible twins. And to be fair, he’d left Erie with only vague ideas of returning. Castle Marcellum wasn’t so big that they could simply let the rooms sit empty.

Gendra smiled widely. “A real laugh. That’s lovely to hear from you.”

“Can I get up now?”

Her fingers dug into him lightly, almost like the pinprick of claws from an affectionate feline holding your hand in place for additional petting. “Would you indulge me and listen to my story?”

“Do I have to be on my back on the floor?”

“No,” she conceded. “Not if it hurts you. I know you don’t want me to ask about that.

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