by T. K. Perry
Lexi shook her head. “I’ll come to your room when I’m done.” She watched his smile fade, then leaned in to give him another kiss before pushing him back into the hallway.
“Does he taste like he smells?” Clodi chortled, her face red.
Lexi licked her lips and smiled. “Like cookies,” she affirmed as she yanked her bag out and hurried to the balcony.
Tiger scowled down at her when she flung open the doors, his glance dropping to her bag. “Is my blanket in there?”
Lexi’s face flamed red as she pulled the doors shut behind her, forcing them close together in the small space. “I didn’t take yours,” she whispered, trying to read his expression in the moonlight.
Tiger reached down and took her bag, pulling the scent-laden blanket from it. “Mine has holes,” he announced as he stuck his fingers through two sizable holes and wiggled his fingers in front of her face.
Lexi swallowed, drawing calm from the scent of it before she responded. “It was on Wes’ bed.”
“I know. I switched them this morning when the holes were bugging me. Why did you take this?” he demanded, noticing too late the effect it was having on her. Swearing softly, he wadded it and tossed it up onto the balcony above them.
Lexi looked after it a moment, then slowly brought her eyes back to his. “I hoped you wouldn’t notice.”
“Lex, you’re acting like an addict.”
“Maybe I am,” she whispered.
Tiger grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. “Stop this! Just stop!” He released her chin and groaned. “I can’t even imagine how this could be worse. Talan had a fit when I came back to my room this afternoon. He thought you were still inside and tried to stop me from going in. We had a bit of a fight.” Tiger laughed mirthlessly. “I’ll probably get the cell next to Wes. And Coli saw you fly to your balcony, so she knows I was with you all morning.”
“I’m sorry,” Lexi murmured. “If it makes you feel better, I think my guards hauled Talan off to the dungeon.”
“You’re without your guards again?”
Lexi looked up at him wearily.
“Fine, I’ll let that go. But Lex, you stay out of my room and away from Wes.”
“And what about you?” she asked, immediately kicking herself for the words she had let escape.
“Can you smell me?”
Lexi leaned in gingerly and sniffed at his shirt, trying to hide her smile when she caught a faint whiff of his scent. “No,” she lied, squaring her shoulders and forcing herself to make eye contact.
Tiger shut his eyes and let out a pained sigh. “Then you have to stay away from me, too.”
“I said no!”
“You lied.”
Lexi let out a frustrated cry, and clutched at his shirt to hold him there. “Don’t do this. Talan told Mother I mated with him. I can’t go home unless I marry him,” Lexi blurted, tears in her voice. “Up here is the last bit of time I have with you.”
“But you didn’t mate with him,” he said, a question in his voice.
“Of course I didn’t! But Mother is so convinced I did that she forced Father to sign a marriage certificate and ordered Talan to follow me. She probably told the court we’re already married. Mother would never let me come home with another husband now.”
Tiger put his big hands awkwardly on her shoulders, giving her a consoling squeeze as he gently pushed her away despite her tightening grip on his shirt. “I’m sorry. I’ll hit him harder next time.”
A sob choked out of Lexi’s throat. “You usually don’t smell. Maybe you just need a bath. Please. I’ll stay out of your room.”
Tiger shook his head. “I’ll still look out for you while you’re here, but I’m not part of your future, Lex. Let me go.”
“No,” she cried, embarrassed at the emotional warble in her voice. She dropped her forehead against her extended arms, still clinging to his shirt as another sob shook her.
“Ah, Lex,” he said, fingering the knotted disaster that was her hair. “You shouldn’t have come.”
Lexi pulled away angrily. “Stop saying that! I did come. Quit condemning me and help me fix it!”
Tiger shook his head again. “I can’t fix it, Lex.” He pulled his wings back in the tight space and stepped onto the sturdy railing. “Can you?”
He jumped off the railing and flew back to his own balcony before Lexi could think of an answer. She stared up at the dark rectangle of his balcony until she heard the door behind her move.
Clodi cleared her throat. “I was trying not to listen, but you sounded pretty upset.” Clodi cleared her throat again when Lexi didn't immediately answer and patted her roughly between her wings. “Are you okay?”
Lexi wiped her cheeks surreptitiously then forced her expression into its customary blank as she turned around. “I’m fine. I think I’ll fly a little before I meet Cam.”
“Lex,” Tiger warned from above.
Lexi started at his voice, then sucked in a breath of fury as she flew up to confront him. Tiger stood stalwart on his balcony, backlit from the lantern in his room. Grinding her teeth, she flew high above him, forcing him to lean out and search for her against the starry sky as she rounded the balcony above, then slipped in behind him through the open doors.
“Lexi!” he called angrily, whirling around to follow her into his room.
“You order me around just like my mother! Even when you don’t want me around, you still want to control my life! What for? I can’t be a princess without marrying Talan. So now I’m nobody! A farm girl from nowhere! My future is somebody’s ordinary wife, and I shouldn’t have guards and I should be able to go anywhere I want alone.”
“You haven’t enough common sense for that! You’re so sheltered, you’ve fallen prey to one man after another, and constantly need rescuing,” he shouted angrily.
“I’ve rescued myself! From Talan, Wes, a rotten guard, and even the frog man at the pool!” She shouted back, feeling her muscles relax at the soft, musky scent emanating from the beds.
“What? I saved you from Wes,” Tiger argued with an indignant snort.
“Only the first time,” she reminded him. “And I would have come up with something if you hadn’t been there.”
“Like what?” Tiger scoffed.
“Like 'I’m Princess Lexi, and the royal flying guard will hunt you down and execute you if you don’t let me go.'”
Tiger started to speak, then stopped with a tight grimace as he scratched his head. “That might actually have worked,” he conceded.
“I know!” Some of Lexi’s vehemence died out at the unexpected agreement, and she stared at him with bemusement. “Tiger, what is happening to you? You taught me to gallop bareback, steal treats from the kitchen, and climb the palace walls. You never considered me helpless before; why are you treating me as if I am now?”
Tiger squinted his eyes shut as if in pain. “Because this is different.”
“Why?”
Tiger turned away from her, his wings fanning slowly. “Too many of them want to hurt you, Lex. And even the few who don’t mean to hurt you probably still will.”
Lexi wrinkled up her long, straight nose. “Just because I’m in season?”
“And because they are.”
Lexi let out a heavy sigh. “If that’s true, then all the girls need guards.”
Tiger nodded. “Maybe they do.”
“So does Coli have guards?”
Tiger turned back towards her with a grin. “Coli has brothers.” He rubbed the left side of his jaw absently. “They take care of her.”
“So you’ve appointed yourself my brother?”
Tiger’s warm brown eyes looked startled a moment before he blinked it away. “Yep,” he nodded.
“Then you have no business telling me I have to stay away from you,” Lexi snapped, some of her ire returning.
Tiger laughed with his lips closed, the soft musical sound calming her. “Fine,” he said, lifting both hands in defeat. “B
ut no stealing my blankets or sneaking up here with the balcony doors closed.”
Lexi blushed deeply, her gaze falling on the blanket wadded atop Wes’ bed.
“You promise?”
Lexi bit her lip. “It’s so soothing,” she whispered, half-hoping he wouldn’t hear. “It makes me feel like everything will be okay.”
“It’s just a cleverly camouflaged lure, Lex. It’s an illusion.”
Lexi looked up at him, her eyes searching his until he dropped his glance. “Maybe for Wes.”
Tiger's mouth was open, but he said nothing as she slipped by him and stepped out onto the balcony. When she flew, he finally spoke. “You didn’t promise yet.”
Lexi landed on her balcony with a smile. “I know.”
Clodi stood just inside the open balcony doors, repetitively smoothing down the yellow dress that was too tightly fitted to need smoothing. “Is everything okay? Did you two make up?”
“Everything is fine,” Lexi assured her, her smile broadening as she realized part of her sentiment was probably pheromone-induced. She picked up her discarded bag and flung it under the bed, feeling satisfied when it slid neatly out of sight. “Now I’m off to soothe Cam,” she announced, walking swiftly to the door.
Clodi winced. “Would you like me to help you with your hair first?”
Lexi tried to run her fingers through her hair, but they caught in the tangled mass. Frowning, she smoothed it away from her face. “Cam will fix it,” she said, and tried to slip out the door before Clodi could comment.
“Your boyfriend does your hair?”
“Fiancé.”
Clodi’s eyes grew large. “You’re getting married?! When? Am I invited?”
Lexi smiled at her enthusiasm and opened the door. “You’re invited,” she confirmed as she slipped out into the empty corridor.
“But when?” Clodi asked as Lexi shut the door.
Not wanting to answer that question, Lexi flew down the hallway, then all the way to Cam’s room. She grinned broadly when he opened the door, then wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing him back into the room.
“Whoa, you’re in a better mood.”
“Am I?”
“What did Tiger want to talk about?” Cam asked, disentangling her arms from his neck and leading her to a stool before retrieving a comb.
Lexi suppressed a blush and carefully blanked her expression. “He just wanted me to be more careful.”
Cam snorted as he began to carefully work through her tangles. “Is that why you’re here without your guards?”
Lexi’s shoulders twitched. “I don’t obey him. Besides, the guards had to take Talan to the dungeon again.”
Cam’s hand stilled mid-tangle. “What did he do this time?”
Lexi frowned, her stomach suddenly upset. “He was just fighting with the guards trying to get in my room.”
“Why did he do that?”
“Angry, I guess,” Lexi said vaguely, then tried to change the subject. “Talan says my mother believes I mated with him. That’s why she made my father sign the marriage certificate.”
Cam took the comb from her hair and clenched his fists at his sides, the teeth of the comb biting into his hand. “Do you think he’s telling the truth?”
Lexi turned to look at him, startled by the anger in his face. “You think he’s lying?”
“I think it’s interesting he didn’t tell you that until you got engaged to me.”
Lexi dropped her gaze and turned back around. “Oh. Maybe he waited because he knew I would hate him when he told me.”
“You didn’t before?”
“No.”
Cam let out a long sigh and went back to combing her hair. “So you can’t go home again.”
Lexi shook her head dully.
“Did you want to?”
Lexi turned to give him a rueful smile. “I would have liked to visit.”
“We could drag Talan back with us and make him admit he lied.”
Lexi shook her head slowly. “I don’t think he would do that. He has too much to lose.”
“So he’ll go back to the palace after we get married, report, and receive his reward?”
Lexi frowned down at her hands. “Hopefully my father won’t let her reward him.”
“If the Cretin tells your mother where you are, won’t she send someone after you?”
Her stomach lurched as the color slowly drained from her face. “Wallowa is pretty far from the Royal City.”
“But your mother wants a grandchild on the throne?”
“Not if his father is a commoner,” Lexi admitted with a blush.
Laying a gentle hand on her shoulder, Cam stepped around to face her. “Lexi, your mother believes you mated with Talan. She’ll think our children are his.”
Lexi swallowed back a gagging sensation. “Then we’ll just have to wait to get married. If I’m here for more than a week, everyone will realize I’m not...pregnant,” she finished softly, her face scarlet.
Cam patted her shoulder and kissed her forehead. “I think so, too...especially if Talan spends the week in the dungeon.”
Lexi jerked around to look at him, and he stepped back to avoid her wing.
“If he’s not in the dungeon, he could claim to have mated with you here on the mountain as well,” Cam explained, picking up another tangled strand and working the comb through it.
Lexi slowly turned back around, staring down at her clenched hands. “You’re right.”
“Will you do it?”
Lexi sighed before nodding her head. “I don’t see a way around it.”
“You shouldn’t pity him. He lied himself into this situation.”
“I know. I’m angry with him, but being a life servant looks so miserable; I can’t wish it on him.”
“You’re not. It’s just a week,” Cam soothed.
“But he said his family has a history of short seasons."
Cam frowned. “Did he tell you that when he was pretending his season was over to get you to mate with him?”
Lexi grimaced and nodded.
“It was probably all part of the lie. I could ask him for you, but I doubt he’d tell me the truth.”
“Van would know,” Lexi said, cringing slightly as Cam pulled at a tangle.
“I’m more concerned about you. Your family’s long history of quick arranged marriages could be hiding some pretty short seasons. I don’t suppose you know how long your father’s season was?”
Lexi shook her head. “He never mentioned it.” But the Old Castle’s records would show how long they were here. Her mother had been careful never to mention her maiden name, but those identical red wings had to mean Ryp’s father was the Queen’s brother. Queen Ami Monarch must have once been Ami Leafwing. Lexi once again tried to imagine her mother as the farmer’s daughter in her homemade, ruffled shirt. Impossible, she thought.
Cam let out a long breath. “Then prolonging your stay is too big a risk.”
“What other choice do we have?”
Cam's brows knit together in thought. “Maybe Tiger or the Governor would know how long your father’s season was.”
Not likely, Lexi thought. Before her father told her, she had never even heard the false story of him traveling to a distant nobleman’s house to marry his daughter. The Queen always masterfully changed the subject whenever Lexi or her sisters wondered aloud about their mother's family. As the subject change usually involved chastisement or the imposing of an unpleasant task, they had stopped asking. Lexi shook her head lightly as if to dislodge the unpleasant memories, and stood.
“That’s a good idea,” she lied.
“You’re going now?”
“Why wait?”
Cam laughed. “Umm, because it's the middle of the night? Because you haven't had dinner? Aren't you starving?”
Lexi's stomach growled at the suggestion, but she smiled and hoped he hadn't heard it. “I had dinner in my room.”
“Then I’ll go with yo
u.”
“Thank you, but no. It’s better I take care of this myself.”
Cam rubbed at his neck unhappily as he watched her slip through the door. “Okay then, guess I’ll just wait here.”
Lexi flashed him a grateful smile, then hurried down the hallway debating whether to talk to Tiger or Ryp first. The jittery nerves that bounced in her stomach decided her; she needed to calm down. Pheromones first, she thought with a quickly-hidden grin.
Her knock was tentative, but quickly followed by an exasperated noise. “What do you want, Lex?”
Startled, Lexi let herself into the dark room, using the light from the corridor to find the solar lantern and switch it on. Sprawled across his bed, Tiger groaned as he covered his eyes.
“You're supposed to wait until I say 'come in.'”
Lexi grinned and shut the door. “How did you know it was me?”
“I can smell you.”
“Through a door?” Lexi asked, running her eyes over the blanket he had carelessly tossed over his legs until she located the familiar holes ventilating his feet.
“Yep.”
“Maybe it’s the blanket,” Lexi said, sticking her fingers through the holes to tickle his feet.
Tiger lurched onto all fours. “Don’t do that!”
Lexi laughed merrily and reached under his wing to poke his ribs before he could get away from her.
Tiger flew off the bed, wadding up the blanket as he landed. “I’m trying to sleep here,” he grumped.
“Are you really so afraid I’ll take it again?” she asked, nodding at the blanket.
Tiger stared at the balled-up blanket, then tossed it on the bed. “Leave it there,” he warned.
Lexi stuck out her tongue at him, then stared at the blanket. “Why are you using it again?”
“What?”
“Why are you using your old blanket? You said the holes bothered you.”
Tiger shrugged. “The other one reminds me of Wes.”
“But that one,” Lexi said, pointing to the blanket on his bed, “should be covered in my scent.”
“No, I aired it out.”
Lexi’s eyes narrowed slightly as she walked over to stand next to him. “You didn’t have time,” she accused.
Tiger pressed his lips together and scratched at his head, avoiding her gaze.
