The Goblin King's Lovers (2 page)

“
Yes, child.”

Eva took her apron off and wiped her
hands on a clean towel before turning to Lorne. She tried to remain
composed, but he obviously saw how nervous she was.

Lorne held out his arm to escort her.
“Come along, Eva. I’m not going to drag you into a dark corner and
eat you.”

Nika snorted as Eva took Lorne’s arm,
and Eva wondered what was so funny. Nika seemed to like Lorne a
lot, which baffled Eva. They walked in silence for a while. Lorne’s
skin felt hot against hers where their arms touched and her fingers
rested on his wrist.

“
Your pronunciation is
improving,” Lorne said.

“
Thank you. I’m working
hard.”

“
You should start going to
school with the other children. I could tutor you. I help Davin
with his studies, and you’re about his age.”

Eva gazed up at him a moment. “I
thought he was older.”

Lorne shook his head. “No. He’s just
tall for his age. He’s barely thirteen summers, like
you.”

“
How old are you?” she
asked. This conversation was the first they’d ever had that wasn’t
entirely unpleasant, plus talking helped her to feel less
embarrassed about his nearness.

“
Fifteen
winters.”

Eva thought she might have heard
wrong. “Uh … is that different?”

Lorne gave her an odd look, but then
his expression cleared. “Oh, I see what you mean. Elari favor the
summer, while goblins favor the winter, so we express our ages
differently.”

Eva stiffened. It embarrassed her, but
she couldn’t help it. “You’re a goblin?”

He shifted and straightened his spine.
Had she offended him? Would be hate her even more now?

Glancing at her for a few seconds, he
said, “Half-goblin, half-Elari. I take after my father so much in
my looks that most think I’m full Elari. In dim light, you can see
the blue in my skin though.”

Eva looked at his arm. His skin was
incredibly pale, but she had thought the blue tinge only a trick of
the light, as his translucent skin made his veins stand
out.

Lorne sighed. “Are you going to be
even more afraid of me now?”

“
I’m not afraid,” Eva
murmured.

Lorne stopped outside the door to the
king’s anteroom and gazed down at her. “You are. It’s
obvious.”

Eva gripped her skirt with her free
hand, no idea what to say as his gaze weighed down upon
her.

Lorne turned and knocked. “I’m sorry
you don’t like me,” he whispered as the door opened.

Eva looked up at him, but soon they
were moving forward. She felt dazed as he escorted her to a chair
and made her sit down. He gave her an expressionless glance and
then moved away. She sat looking at her hands as Lorne spoke to
someone. Once again, she felt bad for the way she judged him, but
he didn’t exactly make it easy for anyone. Truth be told, she
didn’t like him. He scared her and constantly corrected her. She
hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings though. As he walked back by, she
tried to catch his eye, but he left the room without even glancing
at her.

* * * *

Lorne had fetched Davin and brought
him to his father’s anteroom, as instructed. As they entered, Lorne
made every effort not to look at Eva. He and Davin moved to a table
near the window and sat down. The king wanted Davin to see him
fulfilling his duties as much as possible without making it a
formal matter. Lorne set down the books he’d brought and examined
the spines. When Lorne looked up, he saw Davin smiling and nodding
to Eva. Unable to resist, Lorne gazed across the room to see her
reaction. Eva smiled at the prince, but her expression changed when
she glanced at Lorne. Her mouth turned down, and she focused her
eyes on her folded hands.

Frustrated, Lorne opened one of the
books and asked, “Where were we, Davin? Do you
remember?”

Davin took up another book and flipped
through it. “Here. Just after the princess has asked the wise woman
to bring her friend back from the dead.” The prince laid the book
open between them and looked up at Lorne expectantly.

Despite his bad mood, Lorne smiled at
Davin. Though the prince was still very innocent, Lorne could tell
the young man’s feeling for him were changing and growing. Lorne
had been pleased to be appointed as Davin’s yabito during Davin’s
tenth summer, but he had wondered if the sweet-natured prince would
take to him. Davin did not have to decide until he turned sixteen,
but even though they had such different personalities, Lorne
believed their differences actually complemented one another. He
couldn’t tell if Davin found him attractive, or if Davin’s thoughts
even tended that way yet, but he knew he would have no difficulty
becoming his prince’s lover if Davin chose him. He loved Davin more
every day.

“
Let’s pick up at the top
of this page then,” Lorne said, turning a couple of pages. “Read
until the end of the canto, and then we’ll discuss it.”

Davin leaned ever so slightly closer
and began reading. Lorne lifted his head and nodded respectfully as
the king entered. Eva jumped to her feet and bowed low. The king
acknowledged Lorne and then moved toward Eva. He greeted her with
soft, gentle words and invited her to sit down. King Urzen liked
children, so he’d been distressed right away when Lorne had
mentioned his concerns for Eva. Lorne turned back to Davin and
watched his friend reading silently, admiring his profile and his
golden hair. The king would likely want Davin to wed as soon as he
reached maturity in his twentieth summer so that grandchildren
would come as soon as possible. Many girls their age already eyed
them with interest everywhere they went, as the prince was much
admired. Lorne’s gaze drifted to Eva again. She seemed to like
Davin very much, even though he was often a bit shy around
girls.

Why doesn’t she like me? I
am always telling her useful things and trying to make things
easier. I haven’t done anything to make her afraid of me.
Davin had told Lorne he bossed people around too
much, but Lorne dismissed the criticism. He had duties and
responsibilities, and caring for the prince was his top priority.
Davin’s eyes drifted over to Lorne briefly, and he blushed under
Lorne’s gaze before turning the page and continuing with his
reading.

Lorne reached out and tucked a strand
of hair behind Davin’s ear. “Just admiring you, my prince,” he
said, unable to resist complimenting him.

Davin looked up and opened
his mouth, but a sound caught their attention. Eva shook with sobs,
her face buried in her hands. The king moved to her side to comfort
her, his gaze catching Lorne’s. He started to rise, but then he
stopped.
I’ll only frighten her.
He settled in his chair again and looked to
Davin.

“
Go sit with her, Davin.
She’s homesick and needs a friend.”

Davin seemed puzzled for a moment, as
if he wondered why Lorne wasn’t coming as well, but then he nodded
and moved over to sit by Eva. He settled on the couch beside her
and reached for one of her hands. Lorne was glad he had not told
Eva that the king and Davin were part goblin as well. Most Elari
had some goblin blood, but it seemed like something she should be
told at a later date, given her lingering fears. Slowly, Davin
pulled her trembling hand down and looked into her face. He spoke
to her so quietly that Lorne could not hear what was being said,
but her reply drifted to him.

“
None of this would’ve
happened if they’d lived. I would’ve been safe at home, not out in
the woods that night.”

Lorne frowned. Nika had told him about
Eva’s parents being dead. She’d been fostered with another family,
but he didn’t understand what that had to do with her getting lost
in the storm and stumbling upon the portal to Elar. He closed the
books and stacked them up. Perhaps Davin would tell him later. The
prince continued to talk to Eva, and her tears gradually stopped.
Lorne felt left out, though as he sat there, he realized he would
not know what to say to Eva. That gave him pause, and he continued
to watch Davin, who spoke with her in an easy manner. Davin looked
much more comfortable around Eva now than he usually did around
girls his age.

Lorne fixed his gaze on Eva, a lump
forming in his throat. He worried about Eva all the time, and
before meeting her, he’d never cared if anyone aside from Davin
liked him or not. Seeing her holding Davin’s hand and smiling at
him made Lorne realize that he didn’t simply like Eva. He cared for
her, which was why her fear and dislike stung so much. He turned
his gaze away, as he knew it would never matter which girls he
liked or didn’t like. Though a prince and his yabito were destined
to share a bride, the choice always fell to the prince. And it
would be years before Davin would be asked to make that choice, so
Lorne knew he had to keep his heart guarded until then. Only on his
prince’s wedding day would it be safe to open his heart to anyone
but Davin.

* * * *

Davin rubbed his forehead as he went
into Lorne’s bedchamber. Lorne lay on his stomach reading, but he
rose as soon as Davin approached the bed. “My prince?”

“
My headache has returned.
I can’t sleep.” He pressed his fingers to his temples, taking a
deep breath.

Lorne put his book aside and moved to
the middle of the bed. “Come lie down.”

Davin stretched out on the bed and
rested his head in Lorne’s lap. Lorne began to massage his temples
and hum a light, airy tune. Davin had been burdened with severe
headaches every since he was three, and his mother had done this
for him when she’d been alive. Lorne’s touch soothed him in the
same way, much to his surprise.

“
Even though Eva was sad
before, without her parents, she would still prefer to be in her
world,” Davin said, closing his eyes.

“
It was her home. It’s
understandable,” Lorne said.

“
I wish I could send her
home. It would make her happy. And I wish I could find a wise
woman, like the princess in the poem did. I’d bring back my mother.
And your mother. I’d bring back Eva’s parents.”

“
And the world would soon
be overrun if everyone could be brought back,” Lorne said with
little emotion.

Davin opened his eyes and looked up at
Lorne. His yabito’s dark eyes revealed so little. “I know, but I
miss her.”

Lorne stopped massaging the right
temple and stroked Davin’s cheek with two fingers. “Of course you
do. Just as I miss my mother.” He resumed, moving his fingers in
slow circles on Davin’s skin. Lorne cared for him so much, and
Davin didn’t understand why he was so cold and emotionless with
others. No, Davin corrected himself, not emotionless. Lorne had an
amazing talent for expressing anger and annoyance. To Lorne, it
seemed, only Davin and his father were above reproach. Even when
Davin did do something wrong, Lorne corrected him gently and showed
great patience, something he never did with others.

Despite Lorne’s flaws, Davin felt
better simply being in his presence. “May I sleep in here tonight?”
Davin asked.

“
You know you don’t have
to ask,” Lorne said, changing his movements to caress Davin’s
forehead.

Davin sighed. “But I don’t want to
order you. It means more when I ask and you say yes.”

“
I’ll always say yes.”
Lorne’s hands fell away after a final, lingering caress, and then
he pulled back. “I’ll make some tea to help you sleep.” Lorne
stood, but then he leaned over and kissed Davin’s forehead before
leaving the room.

Davin rubbed his temples and stared up
at the ceiling. After a few moments, he gave up and rolled to his
stomach and pressed his face into the blankets. The sheets smelled
like Lorne, and the darkness helped a little as well. After Davin
had walked Eva home, he and his father had taken a walk in the
gardens and talked. His father had asked about Lorne, which had
embarrassed Davin, at first. Then his father had told Davin about
his own yabito, Bas, who had died a year before Davin’s mother.
Davin remembered the quiet man, but only vaguely. His father had
explained how much he’d loved both Bas and Davin’s mother,
Malina.

That’s why he never took a
new queen or a new yabito.
For the first
few years, people had talked of little else but whom the king might
pick, yet by the time Lorne had been picked for Davin, the talk had
died away. Davin turned to his side and studied the pattern of the
blanket beside him. He’d had a hard time answering his father’s
questions, but he hoped he had made it clear that Lorne made him
happy. His father had smiled and seemed especially pleased when
Davin had said he found Lorne handsome. He’d longed to ask his
father when he and his yabito had become lovers, but even thinking
about it had made his face grow hot.

I’m still too young. Lorne
probably doesn’t even see me that way yet.
Lorne certainly seemed to admire him, but Davin doubted Lorne
had any desire to touch someone as skinny and awkward as he was.
Lorne was so strong and muscular, so masculine, especially for
someone his age. Davin had grown taller, but it had only made him
ganglier. He also had more delicate features and had often been
mistaken for a girl until recently. Lorne loved him—Davin could
feel it more every day—but it was not that kind of love. To Lorne,
Davin was someone to look after and care for.