The Goblin King's Lovers (5 page)

“
She died?” Eva asked
quietly.

“
Yes,” Lorne said quietly.
“A series of fevers.”

“
My mom died of
cancer.”

“
Cancer?” Davin
asked.

“
Tumors. Cells that ate
away at her. Inside.” Eva reached out and touched Lorne’s arm. “I’m
sorry, Lorne.”

“
Thank you,” Lorne said
softly.

Eva turned to Davin next. “Your mother
died long ago?”

“
Many years ago. I was
six. A horse threw her. My father had already lost his yabito to a
hunting accident the year before. That’s when we became close.
Before that, I was always with my mother and rarely saw
him.”

“
My dad had a car
accident. He was like that. I never saw him much because he worked
a lot. But then mom died, and he spent lots of time with me. But
then he died too.” She reached for Davin’s hand. “It’s nice to talk
to people who understand.”

“
You can always come to
us, Eva,” Lorne said as he pulled on the reins and made the horses
stop. He leapt down and moved to the back of the cart, extending a
hand to each of them. “We’ll always be here for you.”

Eva smiled and thanked Lorne as she
took his hand. Davin smiled at his yabito, sneaking a kiss to his
cheek when Eva looked down to dust her skirts off. Lorne’s eyes
softened a moment, but then he moved away. Davin shook his head
briefly, but then pushed it aside. Lorne disliked public displays
of affection, and Davin would tolerate it. For now. Once they were
older, Lorne would simply have to get used to Davin showing
everyone how in love they were. Davin lifted one of the baskets and
reached for Eva’s hand.

“
Come on,” he said, “I see
a prime spot right up there.”

Eva took his hand and moved up the
hill with him, the gloom of their past losses seeming to evaporate
in the warmth of the brilliant white sun.

* * * *

Lorne did his best to make polite
conversation with his dance partner, but his gaze kept drifting to
other parts of the room to check on Davin. And Eva. Tonight marked
her first ball, and she’d told Davin she was nervous about dancing
with people she didn’t know well. Davin glided past him on the
dance floor a moment later. The prince was taking a turn with yet
another of his admirers. This one had a pretty smile and wave upon
wave of curly red hair. She and Davin seemed to be having a
pleasant conversation, Davin and the girl laughing in
turns.

Eva, however, was not in sight at the
moment. Lorne spotted a group of Davin’s entourage lingering near
the refreshments and waiting for a chance to dance. He smiled
inwardly, as it was very obvious that every female of the right age
was aware of how handsome Davin had become already. A few months
ago, Lorne had felt twinges of jealousy when such thoughts entered
his head, but not anymore. He and Davin loved each other, and they
had a good relationship. Davin slept in Lorne’s bed almost every
night, and a kiss marked most of their meetings and partings. Lorne
adored the way Davin would wake him with a kiss to his shoulder,
just as much as he loved waking first and kissing Davin on the
forehead and being greeted by a sleepy smile.

And in a few years, they would be able
to wake each other in even more intimate ways… Lorne shook himself
and looked to his partner, a human woman of about thirty named
Mary. He knew it was not wrong to desire his prince, given their
relationship, but he was two years older than Davin. Two years made
such a difference at their age, Lorne’s desires growing steadily
while Davin was just becoming aware of his.

“
You love him very much,”
Mary observed. She glanced at Davin and smiled. “I don’t blame you.
He’s beautiful.”

“
Yes, he is.”

“
And kind and
considerate.” She nodded to Davin, who was changing partners. “He
does not single any of them out for more favor. And he changes
partners halfway through each dance. He’s being careful not to give
false hope.”

Lorne beamed with pride upon hearing
someone else enumerate Davin’s good qualities. “He likes to please
others, but he knows in his position he must be
careful.”

“
In the human world, most
royals are useless, just figureheads. I didn’t like the idea of
having a king, but it’s so different here.”

“
What do you mean?” Lorne
asked, thinking it would be good to learn even more about Eva’s
world.

“
Well, here the king cares
for everyone, like a father. Taking on all the responsibilities.
Our kings, at least the ones long ago, lived off the people and
took from them. They used their power to take, not give. And these
days, they just parade around and wave at people. Symbols.
Figureheads, like I said.”

“
Davin will be a good
king. I’m proud I’ll be at his side.”

The dance ended, and they bowed to
each other. Lorne escorted her to a circle of chairs. She sat and
smiled at him.

“
I think so too.” Her eyes
strayed again. “And it looks like he needs you at his side
now.”

Lorne looked over and saw Davin
surrounded. His head moved back and forth quickly as two different
girls tried to keep his attention. Lorne started to move toward
him. “Yes, it seems I’m needed.”

When he was halfway across the room,
Lorne spotted Eva sitting alone. She looked lovely in a sky blue
gown with her dark hair swept up, but she also seemed nervous.
People stood close to her, but no one looked her way. He considered
turning back and asking Mary to introduce herself and sit with Eva,
but then he dismissed the idea. Mary seemed nice enough, but Lorne
didn’t know her that well. He didn’t want to trust Eva to anyone
else’s care. Mentally, he reprimanded himself for favoring her
publicly, but dozens of people had seen him do it before, so why
stop now? He stopped and poured two glasses of cider and then went
to her. Offering her a glass, he sat beside her.

“
It can be overwhelming.
So many people,” he said, trying to make what he’d heard humans
call
small talk.

Eva held the glass of cider in both
hands and gave him a quick glance. “Yes, it is.” She looked to
Davin. “He’s so popular.”

“
It’s always going to be
that way,” Lorne said. He sipped his cider. “Have you danced with
anyone?”

She shook her head. “No one has
asked.”

Lorne didn’t like that. Yes, she was
only thirteen, but girls began attending balls at the age of
twelve, so he saw no reason for her to sit here alone and watch
others have fun. “Davin will ask, if he can get free, but until
then, would you dance with me?”

Lorne braced himself for a refusal,
but she looked up at him with something like relief. “Yes, I’d like
to.”

Lorne set their glasses aside and led
her out as a new song began. He liked the way she held to him and
didn’t shrink away. “You seem more at ease lately.”

Eva looked up at him, faltering a bit,
but Lorne moved to help her get back into step. “I think so. I
suppose I’m used to being here now.”

“
I’m glad.”

“
I’ve made friends at
school,” she said, glancing around, “but none of them are here
tonight. Perhaps next month, some of them will come.”

“
Will you dance with me
again next month?” Lorne asked without thinking.

“
Of course. You’re my
friend,” Eva said. Her eyes searched around them, and she looked
down quickly.

When they turned, he looked over and
confirmed she’d been looking at Davin. But he couldn’t be jealous
with her either. She’d called him her friend, and that had been his
desire, hadn’t it? To be her friend.

“
I’m glad you consider me
your friend now. I know I’m too sharp at times.”

She looked into his eyes and
hesitated, but then she gave a soft smile. “I thought you
considered me stupid. Nika told me you were trying to help, but I
didn’t get it.”

“
I’ll always try to help
you. I promise. And I don’t think you’re stupid. I like you very
much.”
I like you more than I’ll ever
say.

Eva smiled again but didn’t reply. She
moved more gracefully now, and they danced on in silence, a feeling
of contentment settling over Lorne as they moved.

* * * *

Davin watched Eva dancing with Lorne,
and he grinned. The girls around him grew quiet, but only for a
moment.

“
Do we amuse you, my
prince?” one girl asked.

Davin’s grin faded. He
didn’t like for other people to call him
my prince
. That was what Lorne
called him. But he turned and politely replied, “I’m just happy to
see Lorne dancing tonight. He usually doesn’t, but he’s danced four
times already.”

“
The new human girl’s
pretty,” said Lila, a goblin with radiant green skin. “She and
Lorne could be siblings. Such nice dark hair.”

The other girls murmured halfhearted
agreements, and Davin saw Lila bite the inside of her lip to keep
from laughing. She winked at Davin before turning away and talking
to a boy standing near them. Lorne and Eva did look good together,
their fair skin and dark hair equally beautiful. However, what
struck Davin the most was how happy Lorne looked.

Davin had given some thought to
Lorne’s favoritism before, but now it all seemed clear to him.
Lorne’s constant focus on Davin’s welfare was never interrupted by
anything—except things that concerned Eva.

Eva glanced at him and smiled. Davin
smiled back and excused himself. He moved to a side table and drank
a glass of water, the heat getting to him a bit, and then he made
his way onto the dance floor. Lorne, as usual, anticipated his
desires and twirled Eva into Davin’s arms, briefly touching Davin’s
shoulder and then bowing graciously to Eva before
departing.

“
I’ve been neglecting
you,” Davin said. “I’m sorry.”

“
You’re a prince. You have
duties.”

“
And you’re my friend.” He
led her through the steps as the music changed. “Are you having
fun?”

“
Yes,” she said with a
quick nod.

“
Good.” He considered his
next words and finally said, “I’m happy you and Lorne are getting
along. He spends so much time worrying about me. He needs friends
the same way you did when you first came here.”

Eva looked surprised, but then she
nodded. “He works hard. Always rushing around.” She leaned in and
whispered, “He makes me a little nervous still, but I like him,
really I do.”

“
And we like you, very
much.” Davin finished the dance and excused himself with an
apology.

“
It’s all right,” Eva
said. “I understand.”

He kissed her hand and moved away, his
eyes searching for Lorne. He wanted to tell his yabito to go back
to Eva, but he couldn’t find Lorne. He sighed, thinking it might be
for the best. It would be years before he chose a bride, and Davin
knew he couldn’t spend those years shoving Lorne and various women
together to see how they got along. Lorne liked Eva, and Eva seemed
to like both of them.

And who do you
like?

Davin tried to answer his own question
but found he couldn’t. He liked Eva a lot, but he also liked Lila,
especially her sense of humor, though she was older than Lorne
even. He liked Britan and Cora and Jessamyn. He sighed. His
feelings for Lorne were so strong he had a hard time thinking of
girls. He moved to ask someone else to dance, telling himself that
his heart would sort things out in time. His love for Lorne had
grown naturally, and the only way to ensure happiness for all
involved was for his love for their future bride to grow in the
same way.

As he spun around the dance floor with
a blonde girl named Daphne, his eyes searched the room, waiting for
some elusive spark to strike him. They talked, and she was
pleasant, but he felt nothing special. He danced with almost every
girl close to his age, but nothing compared to the moment he’d seen
Eva smiling up at Lorne. His eyes searched out both of them the
rest of the night, but he didn’t see them together again that
evening.

Chapter Three

Seven Years
Later

The Eve of Davin’s Coming
of Age

Davin smiled when he found Lorne
sitting in the moonlight by the pond. His yabito had been so busy
planning the upcoming celebration that they’d had little time
together. Davin wanted to share his news first, but he had other
plans for this night as well. He already knew his choice would make
Lorne happy, but he couldn’t wait to see his lover’s reaction. His
father had approved immediately, which only made Davin happier.
Slipping in to sit beside Lorne, Davin pulled the man into a kiss
right away. Lorne yielded and returned the kiss eagerly.

“
I was just thinking of
you,” Lorne said when the embrace ended.

“
And I was thinking of
you. Of us.” He took both of Lorne’s hands in his. “I’ve been with
father to tell him of my choice. He’s given his full approval, and
I wish to ask her tomorrow.”