66, Girl talk

“Do you see what I’m talking about?” Tenac asked. Ayya knew what he was referring to, and she had to admit it seemed he was right.

“Yes, I can see what you are saying,” she agreed.

“Even the king sees that the castellan is in love with you,” Tenac told her.

“And I agree with you.” He looked at her with surprise and then smiled. 

“Good, that will make my life easier,” he said. “That is the second time someone has mentioned you writing about me. Do I want to know what you have been saying?” he asked. Ayya smiled at the flirtatious way he said it. 

“I don’t know if I should tell you,” she played along, turning away from him and walking into her room. Tenac took a couple of steps to catch up and grabbed her by the waist as he tugged her into his chest.

“You better tell me, or I’ll tickle you,” he threatened her. She laughed and tried to wiggle her way out of his arms. When she didn’t answer, he let his fingers dig into her sides and Ayya couldn’t help but to laugh even harder.

“Fine, I surrender, I will tell you,” she let out between spouts of laughter. Tenac chuckled and stopped tormenting her. Instead, he spun her around and kissed her. As they broke apart, she tilted her head and leaned her forehead against his. 

“So?” he asked.

“Are you asking what I wrote about you or why?” she asked. “I will only answer one of the questions,” she teased. 

“Good question,” he told her and took her over to the loveseat. They sat down and Tenac put his arm around Ayya as he was thinking. Ayya studied him. He was giving this far more thought than the subject required, she thought. “Why,” he finally said. 

“That was the wrong answer, isn’t that obvious?” she asked.

“No. Why would it be obvious?”

“How can you still not know how important you are to me, and have always been since the first day? Okay, maybe I wasn’t sold after our first meeting,” she corrected herself. “But after our first trip to the market. At first, you were my teacher that showed me this amazing world. Then you became my friend. You were my first friend in a long while that didn’t put a condition on our friendship. You just were my friend. That was revolutionary for me. Don’t you know you taught me to trust in other people? You lay the foundation for me, forming a healthy friendship with Firlea and then Hinat. It all started with you. So why wouldn’t I write about you?” she told him. Tenac blushed, and Ayya found it adorable. 

“You didn’t like me the first time we met?” he asked.

“Of all the things I told you just now, that is what stuck?” she asked and shook her head. “It wasn’t the fact I didn’t like you. I just wasn’t comfortable around men, or new people. I can’t even imagine what your first impression of me was,” she said and smiled.

“I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen,” Tenac told her. It was Ayya’s turn to blush.

“You did not,” she objected. 

“I did. You were sitting at the table with the sun shining on your hair and you took my breath away,” he insisted and let his fingers play with a stray lock of her hair. “I may have had a plan to steal a kiss or two from you during our outing. Then your father came along and all those plans were scrapped.” Ayya laughed. 

“I’m glad we got back to your original plan,” she told him. 

“As am I.” He was leaning in to kiss her when there was a knock on the door. Ayya saw Tenac frown as she sat up straight and called for them to enter. Firlea and Hinat came into the room with trays of snacks and desserts. 

“Time for you to leave,” Hinat told Tenac.

“We need girl time,” Firlea agreed. 

“I’m her bodyguard,” Tenac objected. 

“Right, but she has no use for you now. She is safe,” Firlea said as she took his hand and tried to make him get up from his seat. He frowned and looked at the two aari.

“Don’t tell me you think someone will scale down and break in through the windows,” Hinat teased him with a giggle and helped Firlea in her efforts to get him off the love seat. 

“It isn’t farfetched,” Tenac told them.

“It is. And even if it happens, there are three aari in the room. We will fend them off for the minute it would take you to get here,” Firlea reassured him as they pushed him out the door.

“But I want to spend time with her,” he whined, and Ayya felt sorry for him. Not sorry enough to intervene, though. 

“Yes, yes. I’m sure you do. But you have been hogging her. It’s our turn,” Hinat said, closing the door in his face. 

“Now then, let’s get to the fun part. Tell us everything,” Firlea squealed and started placing the trays down on the floor. Ayya got the picture and helped Hinat to put down anything soft on the floor. Soon the three of them were sitting, having a picnic.

“So?” Hinat asked as she and Firlea looked at Ayya.

“So?” Ayya asked.

“Spill everything. Is he a good kisser?” Firlea wanted to know. Ayya blushed, which made her two friends laugh.

“Yeah. When we kiss, everything else fades away,” she admitted.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Firlea hooted. “Have you… done something… else?” she then asked. 

“You’re talking about sex, right?” Ayya said with a laugh.

“Yeah,” Hinat answered for her friend.

“No. But he did sleep in my bed with me the night of the banquet,” Ayya admitted. The three of them stayed up late, eating sweets, cake and fruit. Talking about everything and nothing. It was close to midnight when they finally put the room back in order and Firlea and Hinat left, still giggling. Ayya had barely closed the door behind her friends before there was a knock on the door connecting her room to Tenac’s. She smiled and told him to enter. He walked in and walked up to her.

“You look happy,” he told her with a soft smile. Ayya smiled back at him and gave him a hug.

“I am,” she said and snuggled into him when he put his arms around her. 

“Good.” He kissed the top of her head. 

“Did you eavesdrop?” she asked, eyeing him. 

“Never,” he told her. She saw the honesty in his eyes and nodded. “That doesn’t mean I’m not curious about what went on here tonight,” he said. Ayya smiled. She was still in a playful mood.

“Oh, nothing really. We talked about girl stuff, comparing the size of our men, you know, the usual,” she told him. She felt him go rigid and looked up at his stunned face.

“But that’s, I mean, we haven’t. How, I mean, where do I, what?” he said. Ayya couldn’t hold back any longer and burst out laughing. She kissed him and continued to giggle at his confused look. 

“I’m only teasing you, Tenac. We would never do something like that,” she told him, still giggling. He relaxed and smiled.

“You are a terrible person,” he said and shook his head.

“But you still like me?”

“No, I still love you.”

“I love you too, Tenac,” she told him. He leaned down and kissed her. 

“Do you feel ready for tomorrow?” he asked. “We got the official letter inviting you back to the talks with our dinner,” he told her.

“Yes, I’m feeling a little more positive than I did before the break,” she said. 

“Good. Then it’s off to bed. It will be an early morning and a long day,” he informed her, giving her a quick kiss. 

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to spend more time together today,” she said.

“It’s okay, you are happy, so the evening was well spent.” 

“I don’t want this to be about just what makes me happy. I want to do things that make you happy as well,” she told him. Ayya was worried that Tenac always put her first. She needed to remember to do the same. 

“You being happy makes me happy,” he said. 

“That’s sweet. But there has to be something else. I want you to think about what you would like to do the next time we get some time for ourselves,” she demanded. He just smiled and nodded. Ayya hoped it wouldn’t turn out to be to place her in a small room without windows to keep her safe. 

“I will let you know,” he said.

“Thank you. Good night, Tenac. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night, sweetheart,” he replied and kissed her again before leaving her alone in the room. Ayya sighed, it always felt empty when he left. Then she took a hold of herself and got ready for bed. Tenac was right in thinking it would be a long day tomorrow.