Byron let out a sharp laugh. ‘I’ve asked him that. He’s hell-bent on being his responsibilities, though. He doesn’t think it would be fair to quit.’
My eyes fell on Aifric’s back. He seemed relaxed but if I looked closely, I could just see the line of tension down his spine. ‘Maybe the Clan-less don’t have it so bad,’ I commented.
Byron smiled sadly. ‘Maybe not.’
‘Is that why you sleep around?’ I asked curiously. ‘Because you don’t like Tipsania in that way but you can’t tell her directly?’
The atmosphere between us shifted abruptly and he dropped my hand. ‘I didn’t say I didn’t like her. And I’m not the one who sleeps around. I rather think that’s you.’
‘You mean Jamie. That wasn’t a sex thing.’
His emerald eyes flashed. ‘You could have fooled me.’
‘You’re the one with the playboy reputation.’ And the one who continued to flirt outrageously with me.
‘And,’ he said, his voice dangerously soft, ‘I’d have thought that with your reputation, you’d know better than to place credence on such matters.’
‘So you’ve never cheated on poor Tipsy? Because, Byron, we came pretty close.’ I knew there was unreasonable anger in my tone, but I couldn’t help it.
‘I told you, I’m not with her. Besides, you wanted it a hell of a lot more than I did,’ he growled.
He had me there. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t dwell too much on that,’ I spat back. ‘After all, I drop my knickers when any man so much as looks at me.’
His expression darkened. I had the feeling he was tempted to drag me off poor Barbie and shake me. If it hadn’t been for Lily’s timely interruption, he might have.
‘This is fun, fun, fun!’ she exclaimed, dropping back. ‘Can you feel the crickle crackle, Chieftain?’
‘I’m not a chieftain, Lily,’ I said tiredly. ‘What crickle crackle do you mean?’
Byron nudged the black stallion and sped up, joining his father at the front. He didn’t look back.
‘Him,’ she said, in a tone that suggested she was pointing out the obvious, ‘and you. Lots of crickle crackle.’
I stared at Byron. That was certainly one way of putting it. Me and my big mouth.
Chapter Twenty
We finally made camp a few hours after dusk. Byron had resolutely refused to speak to me since our argument and Lily, while fun to have around, was often flighty, taking off in mid-conversation to gallop after a butterfly or a beam of sunshine or whatever happened to take her fancy. I tried to ask her several times what she could tell me about my parents but, whereas before when I hadn’t wanted to know she’d practically begged to tell me about them, now she didn’t seem interested.
I started wishing I could bring Bob out, just so I’d have someone to talk to who wasn’t going to go off on a tangent or sulk. I even wondered if it would be really bad to teleport myself to the Foinse and do my bit then leave. Perhaps the others wouldn’t notice my absence.
Of course, it didn’t help that my arse was incredibly sore. After hours of bouncing up and down in the saddle, I could barely stand when I slid off Barbie. For her part, she seemed unconcerned, nudging me curiously when my legs gave way and I crumpled right next to her. She proceeded to grab a mouthful of my hair and chew on it. The Darroch dowser, whose name I discovered was Diana, found that very funny. I dragged myself up, using Barbie’s bulky frame, rescued my hair, and started muttering.
‘Diana Darroch dowses dutifully. Diana Darroch dowses dutifully. Try saying that five times over,’ I called out to her. ‘It’s a great tongue twister.’
She sniffed and turned her back on me. It was better than the sniggering. I didn’t want anyone sniggering unless it was at one of my jokes.
Once I’d untacked Barbie – which took me far longer than anyone else because I was hurting so much – I watched with interest as Byron used pyrokinesis to light a fire. While the others started cooking, and Lily curled up next to the fire and promptly fell asleep, I wandered off and tried to do the same as Byron. No matter how hard I concentrated, I couldn’t create a single spark. That answered one question at least: it wasn’t enough for me to be in the vicinity of someone when they used their Gift; to learn it – if that was even what I did. I tapped my mouth thoughtfully.
‘Bob,’ I whispered. ‘Are you there?’
There was no answer. I slid out the letter opener and glanced around again to double check that I was on my own. It was just as well that I did because Aifric suddenly appeared from out of the trees.
‘Integrity! You ran off very quickly. We’ve got some food. Come back and join us. We don’t often cook for ourselves, you know,’ he added with a wink. ‘You should enjoy the moment while you can.’
I smiled at him, smoothly returning the blade to my pocket. ‘You’re right. Highborn Sidhe doing the job of a servant? What is the world coming to?’
Aifric appeared very easy going for someone in his position. ‘The others wanted to bring more people along to serve us,’ he confided.