V
"So," she began, sitting across from him at her little table by the fire.
"Yes?" Jonathan prompted.
She frowned. She was at a loss. She hated being at a loss.
"What were you going to say?" he asked. He didn't like that look on her face. It made him uneasy, somehow.
"Well, I was going to ask you about yourself but then it felt a little disingenuous," she explained sheepishly.
"Why would it…oh, I see." She was a sorceress. She knew things. Could probably read his mind. Perhaps she had put some spell on him last night to cause him to tell her everything she could possibly want to know and then made him forget doing it.
"No it isn't that," she assured him, presumably from reading his mind. "You didn't tell me anything last night. At least not once we came up to my tower. But from my discussions with the King and our time at dancing and talking and then with Max, I realized that I think I've learned everything about you that I might have been curious about."
Jonathan probably should have been offended by that, but he found that he wasn't. He was intrigued. "And what have you learned about me?"
That sly smile came over her lips again. "You were an orphan and nearly begging on the street before Max found you. He completed your education and helped you get your start apprenticing for a merchant. You're extremely clever and practically-minded which is how you were able to go into business for yourself and be successful. You are incredibly kind, and you enjoy music and dancing. And your favorite color is green."
A laugh fell from Jonathan's mouth without him even realizing it. "I suppose I can't really ask how you know all of that, but you are correct."
"The color was a guess. My dress last night was green and you said you liked it," she replied with a little laugh of her own.
"Green is my favorite color. But I am starting to think that any color you wear would be my favorite color," he told her.
"Well, for what it's worth, my favorite color is blue. Not just because your tunic is blue, but that does certainly help. It brings out your eyes. I think that might be my favorite color. That exact blue of your eyes." She almost bit her own tongue. What was she doing saying things like that? She hardly knew this man and yet she was falling all over herself about him. She usually had much more poise and control than this. There was something about him that was just so different and wonderful, something that drew her to him, something that made her melt whenever he looked at her or touched her. And she wanted him to touch her.
"It seems we might be at something of an impasse here," Jonathan noted.
"Oh?"
"The way I see it, we spent a wonderful night together and I will have to go back home eventually and tend to my business and see Max and return to my ordinary life. And you…"
"Can't leave," she supplied.
He nodded. "I wasn't entirely sure about that, but that was my guess."
"You don't want to leave but you have to. I want to go with you but I can't. Is that about it?"
Jonathan sighed sadly. "I wish I could take you with me. To repeat last night again and again every night of our lives."
Her brow jumped up her forehead. "Why would you want to repeat last night?"
His jaw dropped. "I…we…we made love."
"Jonathan, you fell asleep," she explained gently. She did not need to tell him just now that she had caused him to fall asleep, but the fact still stood.
"I fell asleep? I fell asleep making love?" he asked incredulously.
"We didn't make love."
The look on his face would have been very funny if her heart didn't crack slightly in her chest at his expression.
"I think it might be best if you go now," she said sadly.