“I would never hate you,” she insisted.
“So you think. I nearly attacked Arrogan with an axe.”
She laughed. “From what I’ve heard, your grandfather wasn’t exactly brimming with warmth and human kindness.” Her expression shifted, and her voice deepened. If she had been a cat, Will might have thought she was purring. “Say, I’ve noticed something since we’re so close together.” Her eyes drifted downward.
He flushed red. “Sorry, I have to pee.”
She laughed. “Is that all? Then by all means take care of it!”
He slipped out of the bed, feeling self-conscious at his nudity. They hadn’t seen each other in over a year, so it felt strange. Matters were made worse by the fact that he couldn’t find the chamber pot. He scrambled all over the room on his hands and knees, but the vital receptacle was nowhere to be found. Unlikely as it was, he went to the front room to look but had no luck there either. Ah well, the city is deserted, right?
Walking to the window, he opened it and pushed the shutters apart before relieving himself on the rose bushes far below. A mad cackle rose in his throat as he enjoyed the sensation of doing something so obviously forbidden. Then he noticed a guardsman on the palace wall directly across from the window he stood at.
The two men locked eyes in a timeless moment. He was too far along to stop, and he certainly wasn’t going to jump back and get urine in Selene’s room. Despite his embarrassment, Will grinned sheepishly and lifted one hand to wave at the guard.
The other man smirked, nodded, then turned away, allowing Will to finish with a semblance of privacy. When he returned to the bedroom, Selene asked, “Did you just pee out the window?”
“I couldn’t find the chamber pot.”
Thankfully she had a sense of humor. “Did the guard see you?”
“Definitely, but I think we came to an understanding.”
She gaped at him. “Oh, really?”
“He seemed to take it in stride, so I suppose he must see that sort of thing at your window quite often.”
“What are you implying?”
He kissed her neck, then continued, “Well, since there’s no chamber pot, I can only conclude you make a habit of using that window. The roses looked suspiciously healthy.”
Selene pulled his arm out from under him and rolled over on top of him. “How on earth do you think I would manage that without falling to my death?”
Will shrugged. “Just stick your rear out and hang onto the edges of the window. If you’re worried about falling, I could probably rig up a sling or something, maybe add a wooden bar to hold onto.”
Selene was moving in a decidedly distracting fashion. “I think I’ve found something better to hold onto.”
Will was in complete agreement, but he had two reservations. “What about your training?”
She leaned down and kissed his forehead. “She wouldn’t have let me in here with you if that was a concern anymore. Personally, I think it had more to do with her testing me than it had to do with my training.”
“Testing you how?”
“After,” she breathed into his ear. “I’ve been waiting too long.”
He never got around to asking her about his second concern, which was whether she needed to find a chamber pot for herself. The answer was definitely a no. A brief time later, they rested. “Testing you how?” asked Will again.
“I think she wanted to test my fidelity.”
Will’s stomach sank as he remembered his vision of her with another man. “You mean Sylandrea?”
Selene’s head jerked back. “How did you know his name?”
“I saw you in a dream—together. You said his name then.”
“Well, just so you know, that didn’t happen, though I did have some dreams of my own. How could you have learned his name, though?”
Her manner was so relaxed and confident that Will believed her immediately. It took him a few minutes to explain the experience of astral projection, but apparently Selene had read up on it before, so the topic wasn’t completely unfamiliar to her. “Is there anything that you haven’t studied?” asked Will.
“Wizardry, apparently,” she said sourly. “From the way you and Aislinn keep talking about it.”
“So what was the test?” Will asked.
“I thought I explained that.”
He shook his head. “Being alone for a year wouldn’t be a problem. I know you better than that.”
She sighed. “Sylandrea was in heat.”
“Huh?”
“Elven males go into heat once every ten years or so. When they do, their urges become exceptionally strong, and they emit pheromones that tend to elicit a similar response in women around them. Unmarried men, like Sylandrea, are kept away from polite society during that period, but drabs like me don’t count. I thought he was being nice, but in reality, he thought I would be a guilt-free outlet for his pent-up frustrations.”
“That’s awful—and don’t ever call yourself a drab in front of me again.”
She smiled. “Can I be honest?”
He nodded, but his stomach sank at the same time.
“I was sorely tempted, Will. I want to blame the pheromones. I’ve never been so frustrated in my life, but even so, I feel ashamed that it affected me so strongly. What you saw in your dream was probably what I was experiencing in my dream.”
Will swallowed. “I trust you. I would trust you even if you made a mistake.” He was struck by a sudden desire to tell her about his recent philosophical revelation. “Lies are like clothes, but trust is allowing your partner their privacy even when you know they need new clothes.” He paused. “Wait, that’s not it. Why can’t I remember it right?”
Selene gave him a strange look, but her eyes were smiling. “Where did you come up with that bit of rubbish?”
“It wasn’t rubbish,” he insisted. “Even your father thought it was logical—I think.”
“You’ve been talking to him?” She rolled her eyes. “I need to hear the story, but first, I think we need to remark our territories again.”
“Territories?”
Her eyes were filled with hunger. “You’ve had enough time to rest.”
It turned out he had, and their second dance was much longer than the first. The sun was approaching midmorning when they finally relented and gave in to the need for rest. They weren’t sleepy, though, so the conversation continued.