“And what, pray tell, is more important than dining in community with our people?”
I moved one shoulder up shyly to my ear, and David’s smile spread across his face, his white fangs gleaming in the early light, warming my blood with a pang of hunger. But not hunger for the kind of food we’d have in the Great Hall.
“You, my girl—” He cupped my chin and slid his thumb down it, “—are insatiable.”
“But, insatiable and still bound to my queenly duties, right?” I said, knowing he was about to throw the covers back and get up to break that record.
“Just as I am bound as king.” He winked, and disappeared behind the bathroom door, leaving my bed empty, aside from the mound of proverbial duty I couldn’t escape.
***
I’d not heard a guitar being played in so long I couldn’t remember the last time. And I knew David’s style, knew before I even heard his voice rising above it that he was playing. But I wasn’t exactly sure who the second guitarist was.
I wandered down the stairs to the Great Hall and crossed the room, hugging myself. The dining table was empty now, all the breakfast dishes removed and the people disbursed, but a small group was still lingering, settled on chairs in a disorderly circle beside the fireplace under the great picture of Lilith.
David smiled up at me, and I stopped dead, my jaw dropping when I saw Jason sitting beside the king, the two of them in white T-shirts and dark jeans, entertaining the staff with their musical talents. They were actually laughing and joking with each other, the air around them charged with a very radiant kind of energy. And it seemed that, when it came to me, those two could tear each other’s throats out, however, take me out of the picture, and it was as if no conflict had ever arisen between them. Which, I guess, was the way they had to be after a hundred-and-twenty years under the same roof. It kind of made me feel bad for coming between them.
“Okay,” David said, tuning the E string. “Let’s try some Jeff Buckley.”
“Fine, but I’m singing this time.” Jason elbowed his brother. “Otherwise we’ll get a pack of curious cats in here wondering what all the crying’s about.”
David reached out and flicked Jason playfully across the back of his head. “Right. Let’s do this.”
Jason strummed once, getting a nod of approval from David, then started plucking the strings.
I leaned my butt against the dining table, keeping my arms folded, trying my hardest to hold the grin back. I always knew David could sing, but Jason was right—not about David sounding like a dying cat, but that he was a little better. Jason had a better mid-range and his voice flowed easily from chest to falsetto. David had a more gruff, kind of sexy voice. Both of them great, but also surprisingly different.
The staff sang along with Jason, clapping and dancing, united as equals for this small moment in time. Right now, David was not their king, and Jason was just his brother—the past we all shared just an inconsequential thing that happened once.
The song ended to a round of applause, David and Jason taking overly theatrical bows.
“Thanks, folks, we’ll be here all week.” David placed his guitar in its case.
“Thank you,” Jason said quietly to a maid who took his guitar for him.
“Good to see you two getting along.” I clapped a few times as I walked over.
Both boys stood, and the staff quietly went back to work, tidying the chairs before they left.
“It happens from time to time,” David said, kissing my cheek.
“Yeah, when there aren’t any girls to come between us,” Jason added lightly, winking at me.
“Well, it’s nice to see.” I rolled myself into David’s embrace, wrapping my arms all the way around his chest. I knew that scene—seeing the boys play guitar together like that—would stay in my memory forever: a rare file in the ‘happy memory’ column. “Speaking of see, have you guys seen Em or Morg? I’m supposed to have another politics and boring stuff lesson today,” I added.
“Nope,” David said, breaking away to close his guitar case. “But if you find one you find the other.”
“Yeah, they’re pretty much glued at the hip, aren’t they?” Jason picked up his guitar case.
“You mean fused.” David laughed, snapping his locks closed. “I think Mike’s got cause to worry there.”
“Why?” I asked, sitting on the last remaining chair.
Jason and David looked at each other then at me.
“Why?” I repeated.
“You know what girls are like,” David said.
“Uh, no.” I blinked a few more times than necessary. “I don’t.”
“Once they get talking, a relationship problem becomes gossip, girls unite, and then a simple mistake sees us guys in the dog house,” Jason added.
“Relationship problem?” I stood up. “Who’s having problems?”
“Em and Mike,” Jason said.
David glared at him before looking at me. “That’s her business, Ara. Don’t get involved.”
“How can I not? Mike and Em are my best friends, David.”
“I know.” He touched my shoulder and leaned in to kiss my cheek again, maybe marking me in some immature display of ownership. “But it’s not our place to interfere. We’re not in their relationship, so we can’t pass judgement.”
“Who’s passing anything?” I said. “I’m more worried about what Morg’s saying to Em. I think she has thing for Mike. What if she’s advising Emily out of the relationship?”
Jason gave David a smug grin. “Told ya.”
I looked at David. “Told you what?”
“I told him you wouldn’t get caught up in the drama of it all.” Jason stuffed his capo in his back pocket. “We’re worried about the same thing.”
“Then I should go find them,” I decided.
“Okay.” David grabbed his guitar case. “Just . . . Remain objective, okay? Don’t listen to too much of what Em says about Mike. You know what he’s like.”
I nodded. “I know he loves her. I know he’s. . .” I thought about it, having a laugh to myself for a second, “—downright stupid when it comes to girls sometimes, but I’ve also known him longer than she has. She can’t badmouth him in front of me, I won’t let her.”
“Good.” David nodded. “Because that kind of chatter is infectious. Before you know it, an argument she had with Mike will become a full-scale cause for hatred. Don’t let Morg get inside her head.”