The Rogue Lady

Chapter Twenty Eight

    Sorry I'm a bit late guys, it completely slipped my mind to update. But here it is; I hope you enjoy it, and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all. I also hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!

    Map in the external link, and any mistakes feel free to point them out.

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    I took in the Lord before us, my eyes zeroing in on the glass of wine in his hands. It was most likely not the first one he had had this evening, or even his second. Eric had probably already come to the same conclusion as me and yet he managed to keep a polite smile on his face and let me do the talking. It was a good thing he let me handle this; handling drunk Lords was not quite the same as handling other drunk people.

    Over the past hour we had been approached several times by people from all over the Kingdom, though luckily for us only the older generation. Had anyone our age approached us, they were very likely to see right through our cover as there was a bigger chance they actually knew the children of Oldmont. But his man, although not old, was older than us, probably older than William as well. His hair was still dark without a hint of gray. And he was drunk so he would probably believe everything I told him without remembering a word of it in the morning.

    “Lord Henry of Crystalhill,” the drunk man slurred before he placed a sloppy kiss on my hand. I kept my face blank and fought the urge to wipe my hand on my dress. Eric was particularly tense as he shook hands with the Lord.

    The both of us just smiled at the man but didn’t give our names; the less people we had to give a fake name to, the better. Besides, it wasn’t like he would remember. He was drunk enough for me to easily mess with his head when he asked who we were. Keeping a tight grip on Eric’s arm, hoping he wouldn’t interfere, I stared at the man unblinkingly. The magic in my veins warmed up and could see the Lord’s brown eyes dull even more.

    “Of course you know me, my Lord, you used to be good friends with my father,” I lied smoothly, willing the magic to turn the lie into reality.

    Lord Henry thought hard for a moment, and then smiled as the magic did its work. “Oh yes, I remember. Good man he is, your father. Give him my best wishes.”

    “I will,” I smiled before the man walked away. Then I let out a sigh and relaxed as the magic became less intense. As a waiter passed us, I grabbed a glass and took a gulp from the wine. I had told Eric that he wasn’t allowed to have a glass because it dulled the senses, and thus his magic. It was a little hypocritical of me to have some but I needed it. If only half a glass, it would relax me a little more.

    Next to me Eric chuckled softly. I turned to gaze at him and was not for the first time tonight taken by surprise at how handsome he looked in his formal clothing. The cream fabric stood out perfectly against his golden skin while the light green stitching and design on the collar of his shirt made his eyes appear a lighter and brighter shade of gray. Or maybe that was the magic. The formal attire almost looked natural on him. He reminded me so much of that one person, my steady flame in that moment that it left me bewildered for a moment. But then he spoke, reminding me that he was not that same person, although I had come to care probably as much about him. Wait. What?

    “You might not have enough magic to become a witch but what you have is definitely strong.” I blinked at him, still surprised by my previous thought. Then I smiled, taking that as a big compliment coming from a magician. My eyes moved away from Eric’s when his gaze became too intense for me to hold and I looked around until he spoke again. This time as my green eyes met his gray ones I was surprised by how soft they were. “Can I ask you something?” he almost whispered it. All I could do in response was nod. “If your mother was a witch, how come you don’t have enough magic yourself?”