“Yes, Y-y-your M-majesty?” he stuttered, barely audible with his face pressed into the grass. “What can this h-humble servant do for you?”
“Get up and do whatever it is this girl tells you.” The Crown Prince sounded bored. “And be quick about it, boy!”
The stable boy jumped to attention and faced Elli who repeated her request for a ladder and a bowl of krispers.
“And bring me some sweet biscuits too, if the kitchen can spare any,” she added. “I never knew a zorel yet that didn’t have a terrible sweet tooth.”
The boy nearly fell over again bowing to her and then he took off for the palace at a dead run, as though Demon himself was chasing him.
“All right, my dear.” The Crown Prince eyed her speculatively. “You shall have one more chance. Let’s see what you do with it.”
Then he strolled off, leaving Elli alone with Roke, who was still glaring down at her with barely repressed anger.
Twenty-Eight
“I told you—I just need to be high enough to catch his eye. This really is unnecessary,” Ellilah protested, tugging at the rope Roke was tying around her waist.
“It’s necessary for my peace of mind,” he growled. “And you’ll wear it so I can yank you down if I have to. It’s either that or I’m throwing you over my shoulder and taking you back to my ship right fucking now!”
“All right, all right.” She glared at him and sighed. “You’re getting all worked up over nothing, you know. As soon as I establish contact with Demon, he’ll be as sweet as a lambkin—you’ll see.”
“Right. I’ll believe it when I see it,” Roke said shortly. He still had more than half a mind to just toss the little priestess over his shoulder and carry her back to his ship. But he knew if he did that, Ellilah would never forgive him. Also, the fact that she was on a quest to save another priestess’s life gave him pause.
He knew the Goddess had tasked him with protecting Ellilah but presumably she also cared about the health of the one Ellilah was trying to save. So he had decided—very reluctantly—to let the curvy little priestess try again. But only with safety measures in place.
Ellilah’s idea was to sit on the top of the fence and try to catch Demon’s eye. Roke had approved this plan on the condition that she have a rope tied around her waist—a rope which he would be holding the other end of. If the huge zorel started rampaging again or tried to flame her, Roke intended to yank her backwards off the fence, catch her in his arms, and carry her to safety.
Ellilah didn’t like this at all, but Roke wasn’t budging. If she wanted to take a second shot at taming the huge, murderous beast in the training ring, she had to accept his safety measures or he was taking her back to his ship at once. Reluctantly, she had agreed, though she was still complaining even as he finished tying the knot securely around her waist.
“There.” Roke straightened up. “Now I feel slightly better about letting you try this.”
Ellilah sighed again and shook her head, but this time she didn’t protest. She simply climbed the ladder, which had been propped against the side of the training fence, and sat on the top of the fence with her legs dangling over the side.
Demon took notice of this new arrangement at once. Lifting his head from the body of the burned groom, he snorted and came trotting over.
The sight of the huge zorel approaching made Roke feel like someone had dumped a load of dry ice into the pit of his belly. His hands tightened on the rope and sweat broke out on his forehead as he prepared to yank the little priestess to safety if necessary.
But Ellilah seemed not to be worried at all.
“Pass me that bowl of krispers,” she whispered to Roke, from the corner of her mouth. “Hurry—I need them!”
Keeping one hand tight on the rope, Roke took a few steps up the ladder and handed her the silver bowl full of the round, pink fruits. Elli picked one out and took a big, loud bite out of it, making certain that the juicy sound of her crunching the fruit’s crisp flesh could be clearly heard.
Demon came cautiously closer to her, snorting uncertainly as he eyed the intruder who was right on the edge of his territory. Ellilah didn’t move until the huge brute was right beside her, his long muzzle just level with her knees. Then she looked up and appeared to notice him for the first time.
“Oh, hello, Demon,” she said pleasantly and took another juicy bite of the fruit in her hand. Then she held the rest of it out to the huge zorel. “Would you like to try some?”