“You sure you want to be here for this?” Kai asked his guard.

They stood outside Kestrel’s door in the early morning.

The two elves responsible for watching him today exchanged looks. They knew very well Kestrel was not a morning person after celebrations, and Kai was likely about to get his head ripped off.

“You can find me in half an hour,” Kai told them.

Half an hour should be plenty of time to go over the plan for the council meeting.

He waited for the guards to leave before he rapped his knuckles on the door.

Inside, there was a thump followed by a curse, and then a disheveled Kestrel stuck her head out.

“What?”

“Are you alone?”

Kestrel scowled. “Of course I’m alone. Who else would be here?”

“Well, when I saw you last night—”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Kestrel said, cutting him off. “Now, what do you want?”

“We need to talk.”

Kestrel looked him up and down and then stepped aside. “Did something happen?” she asked as he entered her room.

“You tell me. Where did you go last night?”

Kestrel picked up a mug of tea and settled into one of the two overstuffed chairs, taking up a corner of her room.

Kai took a seat in the one across from her.

“Let’s see. I believe I attended the boring court Eostre celebration where Seraiah met Gavaran, and then once that torture was over, we went to the real celebration on the beach.”

“And you let her drink too much nectar.”

Kestrel took a sip of her tea, eyeing him over the rim of her cup. “Eryx was there watching us. Did you know it was Seraiah’s birthday? She told me while we were dancing, so of course we had to celebrate that, too.”

He hadn’t known because Seraiah hadn’t said a word about it to him.

“Anyway, Eryx made sure we made it back, and then . . .” She trailed off, giving him a look again. “And then you showed up,” she smirked, “and that’s when something happened.”

“Nothing happened,” Kai said, “except the two of you had too much to drink.”

“Liar. You wouldn’t have come to speak to me at this ungodly hour if nothing happened.”

He’d known Kestrel was going to be difficult, but he hadn’t expected her to figure it out so fast. “We have the council meeting today,” he said, attempting to steer her away from asking more questions. “We need to discuss what we are going to say.”

“That’s not why you’re really here. This is about Seraiah. What happened? She made it to bed safely, didn’t she?”

Kai stared at her, keeping his face as blank as possible.

Kestrel saw right through him. “I knew it,” she crowed, nearly spilling her tea. “Now tell me what happened after I left.”

“Nothing. I carried Seraiah upstairs to her room, since she couldn’t walk on her own. Then she told me I’m not awful and kissed me,” he mumbled.

Kestrel cackled. “Oh, this is too good. You should see your face right now.” She leaned forward. “And then what happened?”

“Nothing. I got her to bed.” He realized a second after the words were out how they sounded.

“Kai! I am shocked,” Kestrel said while looking absolutely delighted.

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He gripped the arms of the chair, ready to bolt from the room. “I did not mean it like that. She went to bed alone.”

“Hmm,” was all Kestrel said, before taking another sip of her tea.

“What?”

“So how was it?”

“I do not know what you mean,” he said stonily. Kestrel was enjoying this entirely too much.

“The kiss. How was the kiss?” She tilted her head. “Or perhaps I should ask Seraiah that.”

“Don’t even think about it.”

Kestrel blinked at him, all innocence. “Why not?”

“Because I doubt she remembers, and you will not remind her.”

“But what if she does? Then what are you going to do?”

He had absolutely no idea. There were other, more pressing matters he needed to concern himself with right now. Like the council meeting they were supposed to be preparing for. He had no time to be thinking about the way Seraiah had felt when she pressed up against him. Or the softness and heat of her mouth sliding over his.

Or the way she tasted.

Kestrel was smirking at him again, a knowing look in her eyes.

“Don’t test me,” he said.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were thinking it. Promise you won’t say anything about this to Seraiah and don’t ever let her drink that much again.”

Kestrel rolled her eyes. “I promise I won’t get Seraiah drunk again even if it was her birthday, and she had fun.”

“Kestrel.”

“And I won’t say anything.”

It was the best he was likely to get out of her. “Good,” he said. “Now let’s talk strategy for this meeting.”

----------------------------------------

“Seraiah,” someone called her name softly. When she didn’t respond, they tried again, louder.

She groaned and rolled over, trying to get away from the sound.

“Seraiah, you need to wake up,” the voice demanded. “The council meeting is supposed to start in half an hour.”

That penetrated her sluggish brain, and her eyes flew open to find Wisteria at her bedside. The girl held a steaming mug of something in her hands. Seeing Seraiah was awake, Wisteria extended the mug to her.

“Here, this will help with the headache,” Wisteria told her.

As soon as Wisteria said it, Seraiah felt a throb of pain right behind her eyes. When she sat up, the pain intensified. It was like there were little people in her head hammering on the back of her eyeballs.

What happened last night?

She still wore her fancy gown from the night before and there were flowers scattered over her pillow from her hair. She remembered returning from the beach celebration with Kestrel and Eryx, and then . . .

And then Kai had shown up.

“Seraiah?”

“Oh. Uh-thank you,” she said, taking the mug from Wisteria. It seemed to be some kind of herbal tea. Carefully, she took a sip of the hot liquid. The pain behind her eyes eased almost instantly.

“You have a little something.” Wisteria gestured to her cheek.

Seraiah touched her own cheek in the spot Wisteria had indicated and found dried drool crusted on the corner of her mouth. Hastily, she wiped it off.

Wisteria moved to the other side of the room and started rummaging through the wardrobe. When she emerged again, she held up a dress for Seraiah to see. It was a subdued brown, nothing flashy or eye-catching.

“That’s nice,” Seraiah said, after swallowing another mouthful of tea. With every swallow, the pain disappeared a little more. Two drummers down, twenty more to go.

“It’s boring,” Wisteria countered, “but better to blend in, unlike last night. You and Kestrel certainly seemed to be having fun.” Wisteria grinned at Seraiah’s horrified look. “Don’t worry. I didn’t see you do anything too embarrassing, but I only saw you earlier in the night. Who knows what you did after that?”

Seraiah had a terrible feeling about what she had done later in the night.

Wisteria laid the dress on the end of the bed. “What were you two doing there, anyway? I thought you were supposed to be at the court’s celebration.”

“We were,” Seraiah answered, “but Kestrel wanted to sneak out.”

“And took Commander Eryx with you. I saw him lurking around behind the two of you.” Wisteria sighed. “Isn’t he dreamy?”

“Umm,” Seraiah said, unsure how to respond. “I suppose?”

Wisteria laughed. “Too bad he follows Kestrel around like a love-sick puppy. He only has eyes for her, but she doesn’t seem to notice. I would appreciate him.” She ran her hands over the dress, smoothing out non-existent wrinkles.

Seraiah couldn’t help but notice how relaxed Wisteria seemed around her now. She had a feeling it was because she knew Seraiah was human. “Isn’t he a little old for you?” she asked Wisteria.

Wisteria made a face. “Age is just a number,” she responded, waving the question away.

Seraiah snorted, almost choking on her tea.

Her thoughts turned back to the party on the beach. Try as she might, she could only dimly recall the night before. She remembered dancing in the waves, her body feeling almost as though it were floating, but after that, everything was fuzzy. Maybe Kestrel would be able to fill in the blanks for her.

Oh, gods, she hoped she hadn’t said anything stupid. She remembered confessing it was her birthday, but beyond that, she didn’t remember them speaking about much of anything.

Seraiah finished the rest of the tea and let Wisteria help her get dressed. She could still feel grains of sand between her toes as she slipped on a pair of soft shoes, but there wasn’t enough time for another bath.

“Is it afternoon already?” Seraiah asked in surprise when they left the darkened bedchamber. The sun was shining brightly through the windows, and the ocean glittered far below.

Wisteria giggled. “Nectar can do quite a number on you if you aren’t used to it. I’m sure if I had let you, you would’ve slept until nightfall.”

I am never drinking anything Kestrel offers me again, Seraiah vowed silently.

“Why would Kestrel encourage me to drink it?” she wondered aloud. She remembered Eryx warning Kestrel not to let her drink too much, but Kestrel had brushed him off, passing her glass after glass.

Wisteria shrugged. “You had fun, didn’t you?”

“I did.” For the first time in a very long time, she hadn’t worried about anything and simply enjoyed herself. It had been nice.