Page 49 of The Noldrin Witch

“I had a feeling. Besides, with a face like yours, who could deny you anything?”

Elise grabbed a chair and sat beside Morgaine. “Did you also know Seth was here waiting for me?”

This last bit of information made Morgaine straighten at once.

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him I’ll be at the castle every day starting tomorrow,” Elise said carefully. “Kurt was here as well.”

“Ah!” Morgaine groaned. “Don’t tell me he came looking for another cape.”

Elise shook her head, the mere memory of Kurt sending a strange warmth through her body.

“He wanted to spare me the rain, so he drove me home. The two of them nearly got into a fight. Seth was awfully suspicious of Kurt, and in the spirit of peace, I decided not to ask why.”

The witch laughed as though the dreadful episode were nothing more than a jest.

“Demons are territorial beings,” she said. “I, for one, prefer not to mingle too much with them, though I have to admit they are difficult to resist. With Devon, for example, I had to go and relieve myself with Volker every time things became heated. But matters grew complicated with him as well.”

Once more, in the spirit of preserving her sanity, Elise did not ask for specifics. While she understood the natural calls of the body, she preferred a more restrained approach. Anyhow, after being so close to Kurt, she could not help but find all the sinful talk a bit more enticing than before. She even started to wonder whether she would be able to resist him should he show any further interest.

Chapter 21

Kurt reached the training camp for the second time that day. His curiosity about Elise had dragged him to the castle, and now he was regretting the whole thing. As well-composed as he prided himself on being, at present he felt more like a boiling stew, a demonic jealousy simmering from every pore. He was still wondering who in the blazes the scoundrel waiting for Elise was, but seeing how familiar they were, he was drawing his conclusions rather quickly.

He had to be mad to believe a woman like that would remain entirely unclaimed. Elise’s protector had surely lied. The witch said Elise was free, but the circumstances showed a different reality. One needed only a single glance at her to know she was not only beautiful but trouble. Those thin arms and generous curves always came with complications.

“There you are!” someone called from afar.

It was none other than the king.

Kurt startled. He hadn’t expected his friend to be here. He had assumed the monarch was with the troops in the west trying to enlarge the kingdom, as it was the recent fashion among the kings of the continent. Kurt managed a small smile and walked toward him at a brisk pace. He could tell his friend was in an exceptionally good mood, and he could only attribute his high spirits to seeing all the territories of Bromheim finally united.

“Sebastian, I didn’t know you would grace us with your presence today.”

The king smirked. “Come now, Kurt. I have been looking for you all morning.” He drew Kurt into a hug and clapped him on the back.

“I was at your castle,” Kurt said, unsure how much to share with his friend about Elise. In the end, honesty won out. “I was waiting for someone I recommended for the opening on the magic staff.”

Sebastian’s smile widened with dangerous implication. “What’s her name?”

Kurt swallowed hard. He had not realized the whole matter was quite so obvious until now. It seemed anything related to Elise reduced his wits to the edge of folly. But before his friend began weaving romantic fantasies of the situation, he confessed, “She’s a witch…from Falaine.”

The king stiffened at once. Unknown to Kurt, his friend himself had had his passions with a witch ten years ago. To Sebastian’s great misfortune, however, the woman had decided to leave shortly after he confessed his devotion to her and insinuated he intended to make a decent woman out of her. So great had been the disappointment that the king never wed, and his subjects constantly worried over his lack of heirs.

“From Falaine, eh?” Sebastian finally said. “I can see you have a type.”

Kurt’s lips curled into a hint of a smile.

Sebastian was ten years his senior, and Kurt saw him as the older brother he never had. He admired many qualities about his good friend. One of them was his good judgment. The king was so observant he required only a few gatherings to discern a person’s motives and afflictions. Therefore, Kurt considered it pointless to hide anything from him.

“There would never be anyone like Josephine,” he said. “That foolish boy who fell in love upon a few balls died the day he found out she preferred rank over sentiments.”

Sebastian sighed. “Perhaps, my friend. Although I know a few candidates who would be happy to prove your theory wrong. Adelle, for one. That is, of course, if you do not mind her father.”

Kurt grimaced. He knew he and Adelle made perfect sense on paper. She was the daughter of Commander Langohr, the very man who had started the war. The commander had taken a particular interest in Kurt, who was not only well-regarded for his military prowess but a duke no less.

But like many things that function perfectly on paper, reality had a way of ruining even the finest plans.