The Goblin King's Lovers (4 page)

Davin put his hand over Lorne’s mouth
and stared at him. They studied each other a long time, and
eventually Davin let his hands slowly drop. Lorne’s hand still
rested on Davin’s heart, and Davin placed his hand over it. “I’ve
never seen you flustered before. Never.”

Lorne considered keeping silent, but
the look in Davin’s eyes told him it was safe to open his heart. “I
love you too, but I don’t want you to make promises before you’re
sure. I would never want you to feel obligated to me. Your honor is
one of the things I love about you. You’re kind and always think of
others. I don’t see you as a child. You’re a beautiful young man,
and the idea of a future with you makes me happy.”

Davin smiled and threw his arms around
Lorne’s neck. “Was that so hard?” he whispered.

When Davin pulled back, Lorne said, “I
was protecting us both, something I’ll always do. I think we’re
well suited, but you have three more years to decide if you prefer
another to me.”

“
No other man compares to
you,” Davin said, a huge smile on his face.

Lorne smiled back. “If you say so.
I’ll trust your judgment.”

“
Take the compliment,”
Davin said, his gaze briefly dropping to Lorne’s lips, “and kiss
me.”

Lorne paused. He’d wanted to kiss
Davin for months, but he hesitated.

“
Just a kiss.
Please.”

Lorne cupped Davin’s cheek and brushed
their lips together. He’d never kissed anyone before, yet he knew
exactly what he wanted. He brought their lips together three times,
each time applying more pressure, and then he ran his tongue along
Davin’s lips. Davin gasped, but his lips parted, and their tongues
touched briefly. Davin responded more, opening to Lorne and kissing
him back.

When the kiss ended, Davin linked
their arms and rested his head on Lorne’s shoulder. “That’s settled
then,” Davin said.

Lorne laughed softly. “As you wish, my
prince. I’m yours, until the day I die.”

“
And I’m
yours.”

They sat on the balcony for hours,
talking about everything and nothing. Lorne had never felt more
peaceful or more content.

Chapter Two

Lorne paused outside of the school and
watched the girls leaving. Eva walked at the back of the group by
the teacher, looking down. Lorne had not seen her for a couple of
weeks, except for brief glances, but he was pleased to see Nika had
persuaded her to go to school. Lorne straightened his doublet and
swiped a bit of dirt from his sleeve. He strode across the street,
and Eva looked up, probably at the sound of his boots. She turned
to the teacher, but the woman was talking to someone else
now.

Lorne smiled, thinking they could
start again if he could only watch his mouth. Eva needed friends,
and Lorne had determined that he would simply have to learn to keep
his feelings in check. He knew Eva would not be the only girl to
attract him between now and the day Davin married, and he had to be
strong and put his prince before himself. Thoughts of Davin helped
him smile. The prince had warmed to him so much lately, showing his
love in numerous ways. Lorne saw happiness in their future, even
without knowing who would be their bride one day.

“
I see you’ve been to
school. May I carry those?” Lorne said, already reaching for her
books.

She held them tight to her chest,
almost like a shield. “I can carry them.” She cleared her throat.
“But thank you.”

“
I never said you
couldn’t. I only wanted to help,” he said, stung that she’d shrunk
from him immediately.

She gave a curt nod and turned to walk
away.

He caught up to her,
pushing the slight aside.
Be friendly. Try
to think like Davin.
“Do you like
school?”

Eva did not answer at first, but
eventually she said, “I didn’t know boys and girls went to school
separately.”

“
But you’ll still do lots
of things together. How long have you been going?”

“
Today was my third day.”
She glanced at Lorne. “I thought you knew everything around
here.”

What did she mean by that? “I have a
lot of responsibilities as the prince’s yabito, but no, I don’t
know everything.”

“
Oh.”

She seemed both nervous and curious,
and he tried to appeal to the latter. “At the end of the week,
you’ll be with the boys for dancing lessons and things like that.”
When he got no reaction, he added, “You’ll see Davin
then.”

Her head popped up then. “He goes to
school with everyone else?”

Lorne noted the interest in her eyes,
wondering if she’d have reacted the same way earlier if Davin had
been the one offering to carry her books. “Not every day, but yes.
He and I have a private teacher for days when other things get in
the way. I’m almost done with school though and mostly study
alone.”

“
Humans go to school until
they’re eighteen. Then they go to colleges and universities and
keep studying.”

Lorne nodded. “Yes, like
apprenticeships. Others have told me before.”

They reached Nika’s house, and Eva
entered the front gate, murmuring a soft farewell.

“
Eva?”

She stopped and slowly turned.
“Yes?”

“
Davin and I are your
friends. I hope you make more soon, but remember that you can come
to see us whenever you like. I know we’re always busy, especially
lately, but we’ll make time for you.”

Eva stared at him as if he’d just done
something ludicrous. “Okay.” Another pause. “That sounds … nice.”
She still seemed a bit stunned as she continued up to the door and
slipped inside, giving him a brief nod before closing
it.

If he hadn’t been worried about
startling her further, he’d have tried to continue the
conversation. Perhaps starting school had her overwhelmed too. He
couldn’t expect her to change her view of him overnight, especially
since he hadn’t talked to her in a while. She definitely needed
friends to help her adjust. Losing first her parents and then her
entire world had obviously hurt her deeply. He set off to find
Davin, glancing back once and noting the curtains upstairs moving.
He hoped he’d made a better impression today, as he wanted to help
her more than he’d wanted anything else in a very long
time.

* * * *

Eva watched Lorne walking away. He
considered her a friend? Did that mean that he liked her? That he
didn’t think she was stupid? Nika was always saying Lorne was nice
and sweet, like Davin, so Eva had never confessed that she believed
Lorne thought she was dumb. He’d said he was sorry she didn’t like
him the day she’d spoken to the king, yet he’d said and done
nothing when she’d gotten upset later on. He’d sat on the other
side of the room staring down at the table.

Now, she wished she had asked him more
questions. Had he said those things because Davin had told him to,
or because he had wanted to? King Urzen was kind, and Davin was
sweet and made her smile. And, she had to admit, Lorne had been
pretty nice today. She shrugged as she began cleaning her room.
She’d thought boys were weird in her own world, so it made sense
that they were a little weird in Elar as well. She’d learned a lot
from the history book Nika had given her to read before she started
school. She blushed a little as she thought about it. Most Elari,
she had discovered, had some goblin blood, and vice versa. Whether
one identified as an Elari or a goblin depended on a combination of
lineage, appearance, and even personal preference. She now knew
almost everyone around her was, in some small way, a goblin, which
made her feel stupid for letting her fear show. Explaining what
goblins were like in stories in her world never seemed to help, so
she’d given up trying. She’d talked to Nika about it a few times,
and Nika had reassured her people understood her struggle, as
they’d seen it in other humans before. To their credit, no one had
given her any kind of grief for it. But now that she knew better,
she was determined to push her unease aside completely. Elar, also
referred to as the golden goblin realm and the land of the white
sun, was now her home. The large, flaming sun no longer startled
her. She’d stopped waking up scared in the middle of the night.
Storms didn’t frighten her anymore. Goblins were not monsters
seeking to harm her, and the Elari were not mystical beings who
spirited children away from their homes. Each and every one of them
was now a neighbor, a potential friend.

Eva thought of Lorne’s
words as she went downstairs to clean the kitchen so dinner could
be prepared when Nika came home later.
And
you already have two friends, one of them a prince.
She smiled at that. Nothing could bring her
parents back or send her home, but shrinking away from her new life
wouldn’t do any good either. With a handsome prince as her friend,
how could she continue to be unhappy?

* * * *

Davin hefted the basket of food into
the cart and slid it next to the one he and Lorne had brought with
them. “You didn’t have to prepare so much,” he said to Eva, “but
thank you. I’m sure it will be wonderful.”

Eva smiled shyly. “Can’t go to a
picnic empty-handed.” She glanced at Lorne and then back at Davin.
“Thank you for inviting me.”

Davin hopped into the cart and
extended a hand to help Eva up. “We had so much fun last week, we
wanted you to come with us again today.” He smoothed the blanket on
the bench behind the driver’s seat so Eva could sit, and then he
settled right behind Lorne. He tipped his head back to nudge Lorne.
“Giddyup,” Davin said, using the phrase Eva had taught
them.

Lorne turned slowly and looked at both
of them with an arched eyebrow, but then he smiled and spurred the
horses on. To Davin’s delight, Eva giggled. Making her laugh seemed
to be the best way to put her at ease. Lorne had been right to
suggest trying to draw her out in this way, which Davin found
amusing since Lorne so rarely laughed himself. But it was
definitely working. A week earlier, they had gone fishing with some
other children, Lorne teaching both Davin and Eva, as well as some
of the smaller children, what to do. Eva had seemed worried, at
first, but for once Lorne had been as patient in his instruction of
others as he was with Davin. Eva was finally attending school, and
she seemed to be enjoying it. He and Eva had dancing and art
together, and at first she’d stuck close to him. Now though, she
talked to other children as well.

“
You seem much happier,”
Davin said. “I’m glad.”

Eva smoothed her skirt and folded her
hands in her lap as she looked down at her feet. Lifting her gaze,
she said, “People here care more about me than my foster family
did. Maybe coming here was for the best.”

Davin felt Lorne stiffen, which
puzzled him. Surely Lorne should be happy to hear that. Perhaps it
had merely startled him. “You didn’t like your foster
parents?”

Eva shrugged. “They took me in as a
charitable act. They just … didn’t seem to like
children.”

“
Then why take you
in?”

“
Um,” Eva said, her face
scrunched up, “foster families are temporary. They take care of
kids for a little while until they can be adopted. Some people do
it to look good in front of others. Stuff like that.”

Davin nodded his understanding. “But
Nika loves you.” He smiled. “You like living with her,
right?”

Eva nodded happily, a big grin on her
face. “I love Nika. And we have lots of fun.” Her smile dimmed a
bit. “I’m sorry her little girl died, but maybe … you know … it was
meant to be.”

Lorne leaned back a little, and Davin
looked up at him, swiveling on the bench. “Fate’s a funny thing,”
Lorne said, turning to look at Eva and hold her gaze a moment, “but
we’re happy to have you with us.”

Davin watched Eva smile at Lorne,
wondering if she’d ever done that before, as he didn’t remember her
ever doing so. She’d warmed to him on their fishing trip, but Davin
remembered her still seeming a bit nervous then. “I’m happy here
too.” But then she turned her eyes back to Davin quickly. “With
you.”

Lorne stiffened again as he looked
back to the road. Davin leaned his head back against his yabito and
listened to his heart, which kept a steady beat yet still thudded
quite loudly. Davin knew with his head that Lorne wasn’t easy to
read or get along with, but his heart was another matter. He
worried that Lorne opened up to no one but him, and while it
flattered him, it also distressed him. They’d been together three
years, and Lorne hadn’t really made any other friends. He simply
went along with Davin all the time. Lorne also never spoke of
friends he’d had before becoming Davin’s yabito. They’d never
pursued the subject, and suddenly Davin was curious.

Davin poked Lorne in the side. “Who
was your best friend before me?”

“
What?” Lorne
said.

Davin picked at a thread on Lorne’s
doublet. “Your best friend. Before you became my
yabito.”

“
My mother, I suppose. She
was very sick, so I stayed by her. Reading. Playing
music.”

Davin pressed his lips together and
silently cursed his stupidity. He’d known all about Lorne caring
for his mother yet hadn’t considered how that might have affected
his life.