Trinket (Reverse Harem)

The Third Floor

Asund nodded.

"Why did you bring Korr last night?" I asked him before I left.

"He refused to stay behind, and Ethat refused to make him."

Figured as much. And what were the others going to do against two determined dragons? It would have ended in a bloody brawl before they had even gotten to the brawl.

The house was cool, but not the usual chill that indicated Korr's magic was as it should have been.

Korr, Ethat, and Itek had rooms on the floor above mine, while Ormiss and Asund had claimed the rooms on my level. Usually, Korr would have been in the sitting area on the main landing of my floor, but neither he nor Ethat were there.

Still, it was early. Itek was still asleep in my bed, draped across the bed on his back like a content cat. Ormiss did not seem to be about. It was barely dawn, and he'd still managed to disappear somewhere.

I ascended the stairs to the next floor, crossed the floor to Korr's room. The door was cracked. I pushed it open slowly, trying to be as silent as possible, and not sure what to expect, since I'd never actually been in or seen Korr's room. Or Ethat's, for that matter. Did Ethat even have a bed?

Korr's room was simple, decorated in undyed wools and silks of varying shades of creams and pale browns. The curtains were parted, but the windows were misted over--partially--with frost, and the air was cold, but something told me it wasn't as cold as it should have been. There was a desk stacked with papers and ink wells and pens, wax sticks, leather envelopes in varying magically dyed shades, diplomatic pouches and scroll cases, and a massive, detailed map of the world, and many, many, many massive leather-bound volumes lining the wall behind the desk.

Something flickered over my senses as I crossed the threshold. I flinched but ignored it.

Ethat was in human form on the bed with his brother, wrapped in a green silk robe. He was propped up against the headboard, arms crossed, chin on his chest, green-and-withered hair in a thick, mused sleeping braid. His bare feet stuck out from under the robe. He was missing three toenails, and the ones he still looked like a horse had crushed his bare feet.

He did not raise his head, but opened one eye, bright and brilliantly green.

Next to him, asleep and under the blankets, was his brother. Someone--Ethat, likely--had braided Korr's hair, and appeared to have carefully arranged him on a large sloping stack of pillows. The tail of Korr's braid had been decked with a large white satin ribbon tied in a bow.

Korr opened one of his wintery eyes. His pale lips twitched in a smile.

"Look, brother," Ethat said, "our consort has deigned to enter our nest."

"Do you think it pleases her?" Korr's voice sounded pale and fragile, like there was no strength in his chest to shape it.

"No." Ethat clicked his tongue like this was some old argument they'd had. He gestured towards Korr's work area.

Korr's smile got a little brighter. "Do not be shy, my love."

"I am not shy." It still felt odd and unreal to have run of the house. The upper levels of Tynne's house had been strictly forbidden, and I'd never gone beyond the first floor. Severe punishments had been meted out for the idiot servants that had thought they'd sneak up to the upper levels to snoop around. Stepping into the Lord of the House's room felt dangerous and presumptuous, like it couldn't be real, and I had gotten confused somewhere.

"So very shy, but determined," Korr said while Ethat gave me his sweet smile, still not raising his chin from his chest. Korr shifted as if to push himself higher up on his pillows. Ethat's hand snapped out and pinned Korr on the shoulder. Korr glared at him. Ethat glared back and clicked his teeth. Korr clicked back.