As soon as Solara and I return to camp, Qince is waiting. "Ready to go?" he asks.
We'd arranged last night to do the hunting we were supposed to do yesterday this morning. My conversation with Solara makes me not want to go now, but I don't know how to explain that to Qince without humiliating myself. I lose my ability to speak and look at my feet. Maybe Jonah should join us. On a hunt? Brilliant. Dathid's definitely a no. Maybe this is a very bad idea. How do I back out of this?
"Sure," I mumble. I really need to be a smarter person.
We walk in silence until we're out of the range of everyone that's staring at us. "Are you okay?" he asks.
I whip my head up and look at Qince with startled eyes. I cough to cover my surprise. "Yeah, my conversation with Solara disturbed me, but I'll snap out of it in a minute."
He smiles. "My conversation with Jonah was like that. You don't want to kill me, do you?"
"No, but I may kill Jonah," I say under my breath.
He chuckles. "Why do your cheeks turn pink like that?"
I'm going to die. I forgot how well faeries can hear.
He's still looking at me. "They do that a lot."
Words. I need words. Say something!
"It's cute."
My entire body turns red. Thank God, he looked away to navigate through some trees.
I have to slow my heartbeat down before he hears it. That homicidal rampage just may kill everyone who put the idea in my head that he likes me. He's being nice because he's a nice person. I could've processed this better if I could've had a few minutes to recover from my conversation with Solara before I was alone with him,
"Do you want to sit down? You don't look too good," he says.
"I thought I was cute." I need to not speak.
His face lights up with a big grin which makes him even better looking, if that's possible. "You are very cute."
He needs to shut up now. "I'm sorry I'm such bad company," I say. "Solara gave me too much information to process. I'm still sorting through it. Can we hunt first and talk later?"
"Sure. Would you like to rest here while I go?"
"No, I just can't focus on conversation for about an hour or so, then I'll be okay."
He smiles again. "I like you're time references. I'd love to know how long an hour is."
I smile back. "When I start talking again, you'll know."
We signal each other that we're no longer talking. We walk a good distance from where we were because we made too much noise. But he's been out here a few times and knows where the game is.
He a good shot. He knocks one of the Koala hounds out of a tree with an arrow. I skewer one on the ground with my knife. The other Koala hounds run off to their hiding holes.
We gather our kill, and Qince grabs my hand. I yank it back as my feet lock in place. "We're going the wrong way," I say with a point in the right direction. "Camp is over there."
He smiles. "I know, but I'd like to show you something."
"If you distract me, I may go on a killing spree," I say, holding up my knife and a dead Koala hound.
"I'll risk it."
He takes the meat from me and adds it to his string.
"You're bow skills have improved," I say.
"That's an hour? That's a long time."
It was much longer than an hour. "Sorry, I've been such bad company."
"No issue. You've got the world on your shoulders. Did I say that right?"
I nod.
"I admit, I've been practicing. We've all been somewhat Earth-obsessed since you arrived. I was at the party celebrating your return. Do you remember me?"
I shake my head. "That night's a blur of talking trees and flying people. Sorry."
"That's alright. I could forgive you anything when your cheeks turn pink."
My pulse shifts from rapid to panic. He's flirting with me. I probably never would've noticed if Solara hadn't pointed it out. My murder spree starts with her.
We come to a clearing in a group of trees so thick nothing grows under them. He hangs the string on a nearby branch and cuts off their heads. "Do you know what they're called?" I ask.
"Nope. Never saw one before. I also don't know if they taste good, or if I'm just hungry. He washes his hands with his flagon of water. "Ready?"
I nod.
He bends and swipes my knees, literally, sweeping me off my feet. I yelp in surprise.
"Relax. I've got you," he says with a laugh.
"You were supposed to ask first."
"I did. Don't you trust me?"
"No!" I shout as we lift off the ground.
It's a short flight. He sets me down on the top branch of a broken Liisoole tree, a wild one. Even though its top is missing, it's still the tallest tree. The sun has the purplish orange glow of sunset, large but not very bright. We're only seeing half of its beauty because thin blue clouds are permanently etched across it.
We're sitting so close our sides touch. His arm is around me, but I don't know what to do with my hand. It wants to rest on his leg, but I can't do that. I fold my arms across my chest to get them both out of my way. His breath changes as if he might have just silently laughed at me.
He leans over and frees my wrist from the knot of limbs across my chest. He puts his hand over mine and rests it on his thigh. I stare at our hands. I can feel the warmth of his skin through his kilt. Then realize where he must think my gaze is and snap my head up. He is laughing at me.
I smile at him and turn my gaze to the ground. I swing my feet and stare at the leaves below. "If I fall to my death a lot of people will be mad at you."
"You won't fall," he says as he pulls me closer, which I didn't think was possible.
I ignore the fingers pressing into my side and concentrate on the endless forest canopy all around us. "It's as if I fell into the middle of one of Seurat's dot paintings. Like if I could take Lenox above it, we could admire the beautiful picture all the colors made."
"If you like Seurat, you should see the work of Lynchus. He painted the West Expanse."
I can't hide my stunned expression. "You know art?"
He points to himself and with a cheesy grin, says, "Ambassador. I'm knowledgeable on any number of subjects."
Everything I know falls out of my head. My face gets hot as I struggle for something intelligent to say. Then I give up and just try to remember words.
He runs a hand over my cheek. "They're warm."
It's like fire has blazed across my cheeks. His fingers continue to burn a trail to my chin. He doesn't even need to apply pressure to get me to raise my gaze. He lowers his head, and my heart stops when his lips touch mine.
"They're warm too," he whispers.