Half Wylde | Book 1

Twenty Eight: Tea

I followed Thain quietly through the streets. He knew where he was going, and I was content to let him lead. The biggest problem was his growling. Every pair of eyes that settled on me for a moment would quickly dart away as Thain let his displeasure roll off his shoulders with a growl. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. I didn't want to irritate him further but it was amusing to see him in such a state. Not one fae approached me as we went. We walked the entire way to the little tea shop in silence.

Maple Way was a calm corner of the city, surrounded mostly by residential streets and a few public gardens. The tea shop stood apart from the surrounding homes with cheerful yellow walls and beautiful cafe chairs on the front patio. Inside, screens and potted plants divided the guests from each other and added to the privacy that this conversation needed. Schula had chosen perfectly.

We were seated quickly in the darkest corner, which was still fairly bright compared to the inside of most buildings I'd been in. There was a skylight overhead, which I had heard about but never seen before. To my left was the open shop where a nymph brought trays to the guests. To my right was a large open window with a view of the water behind the building.

Thain, for his part, looked utterly unsettled. I suppose Schula accomplished that much when she dressed me today, and I must admit that I rather liked it. Unfortunately, I was unsettled too and couldn't enjoy the feeling as much as I would have liked to.

I took so long looking through the list of teas that Thain had the server to bring us her recommendations. I was glad to be out of her gaze while I tried to pick a drink, but now the menus were gone and there was nothing between me and Thain save for our impending awkward conversation.

"So... what is it you wanted to tell me?" I asked innocently. I let my fingers trace the design painted on the table so neither of us could see that my fingers were shaking. I was both eager to settle things between us and dreading the encounter all together.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior." He shifted in his seat. "You don't owe me anything, not even answers. I shouldn't have thought of them as mine for the taking."

I let out a slow breath and closed my eyes with a smile. It was exactly what I had hoped for. I didn't know what I was going to do if he was still determined to mother hen me and prod for answers.

"Thank you, Thain. I'm trying to open up to you, but I need to go at my own pace," I said. "I would like it if we could still be on good terms. You're the first fae I ever met after all."

He nodded, his shoulders relaxing a fraction.

"I would like that too. I shouldn't have acted the way I did. I have a somewhat more bestial side and sometimes it comes out when I don't want it to. I need to know about... about what we talked about that night, but I can wait until you are ready." He glanced out the window and back to me. He still seemed on edge.

The witches remained an unspoken thing between us. I needed to tell him, and I would, but not here. Not where the whole shop of fae ears could hear us.

"I'll talk to you about... about my back. But later. Soon. Not here," I said, glancing around us at the other patrons.

He nodded, accepting it as all that I would give on that front. For now at least.

He fidgeted a little as he glanced around the shop. He looked too big to be sitting in the delicate chair across from me.

"Was there something wrong with coming to this shop?" I asked. His reaction to it in Eberon's study was one thing, but he definitely grew wearier of it as it actually came into view.

"I have certain memories of this place. This is where Schula made me apologize to her when we first met," he grumbled. "I, may have, overreacted to her upbringing when I found out about it."