Page 20 of Six Burning Candles

“Trouble.”

I snickered the whole time she helped me dress and clean up the office. Then I went to bed alone and fell asleep with the smell of her leathergloves on my skin.

“Goodmorning!”Ichirpedin the breakfast hall as other clerics bustled around the cathedral. A handful of paladins walked around the tables, their armor clanking as they moved. One of the clerics, Ramone, perked up from his plate. He tried to swallow his food, but realized mid-gulp, he’d shoveled too much inside and opted for just waving happily. The cleric to his right, Delainey, tossed her head back and cackled, slapping at his back.

“Smaller bites, Ramone. Please try not to choke.”

Ramone finally swallowed his meal and let out a breathy laugh, “But I’ve got to get it all in quick before the first bell.”

“Oh no, did our Lunar Cleric put you on watch duty?” I grimaced, taking up a plate from the serving table. The cleric’s rotated who was on serving duty, so not the same person worked the mess hall and soup kitchen every week. I bowed my head to the small, younger boy Jensen, who piled eggs and roasted meat onto my biscuits for breakfast that morning. He was a shy thing and shrunk inwardly at my perception of him. So, I spared him any more hardship and immediately whisked my mug of steaming coffee and breakfast to sit at the long table across from Ramone and Delainey.

“I volunteered for this week. There’s been something lurking outside the castle walls. So, the captain of the guard’s called for extra surveillance. I think we might see a Yeti.” Ramone beamed with a broad smile. He was a tan skinned, brown eyed man with a mop of black curls on his head, long dagger ears, and fangs. A werewolf with a bush for mutton chops and an contagious smile.

“Oh, come on, it’s likely just a bear.” Delainey rolled her eyes with a scoff. She was a selkie, with gray skin covered in inky spots. Her eyes were big on her face, but it made her pudgy cheeks adorable. She brushed her long silvery hair over her shoulder to get it out of her food. Shoveling down her breakfast, she took smaller bites than Ramone did but at twice the speed.

“What if it was a Yeti?” I giggled, nudging Ramone’s mug of coffee with my own.

He leaned in close, eyes wide, “I heard Yetis can roar so loud they cause avalanches!”

“Oh, you two are impossible,” Delainey grumbled into her food. I opened my mouth to tease her about being a spoil sport when she stiffened, immediately wiping her face clean with one of the cloth napkins. “Your Lunarence! Good morning.”

I twisted in shock, finding Keida settling onto the bench next to me. She bowed her head curtly to both the other clerics. They sat up straight like someone shoved two iron rods up their shirts. Her tone was formal but not unkind, “Good morning, Delainey. Ramone. Melrose.”

My gaze roamed her face as she glanced my way, a twinkle of delight in her icy orbs when she said my name.Like it was a stand-in for a better name, like Troublemaker or Wicked Girl.I flushed a little around my jawline as I turned to face my plate. “Good morning, how did you sleep?”

“Well, thank you,” she answered, taking a bite of her breakfast like she hadn’t spent last night spanking me to completion. I woke up a smidgen disappointed not to find her crawling into bed with me.I’ll have to suggest it, see if she takes the bait.Keida sipped her coffee and squinted at Ramone. “Did I hear correctly in the fact you think a Yeti is outside the castle walls.”

“Yes,” Ramone and I hissed in excited unison.

Delainey and Keida rolled their eyes, shaking their heads together. However, it wasn’t Keida who spoke next. “Yetis are preposterous. It’s likely just a snowy Gryffin.”

It was a firmer voice from over my left shoulder. A voice I’d only recently thought about. Someone so confident and charismatic that it intimidated me. My shoulders tensed and my spine tingled as I twisted to face the newcomer.

“Peony,” I breathed, staring up into the face of a knight I’d not seen in years.

“Hello, Rosie,” she winked at me, an easy smile spreading on her lips. Peony Bernstein propped a fully armored boot up onto the bench next to my hip and leaned over her bent knee to smile at me. “Long time, no see.”

“Pardon me, Knight Bernstein, but this is breakfast held for those in the order. If you’re in need of assistance, there are clerics in the Cathedral major that can answer any questions you have.” Keida’s answer was short, dry, unimpressed. I was still too stunned to speak because I hadn’t heard or seen from Peony Bernstein in six years.

“Oh, my apologies, Your Lunarence, I am actually here for the Lady Melrose. It is of the utmost importance that she come with me at once.”

“Really?” I blurted out, eyebrows up to my hairline. Peony sent me another wink, and it did something in my stomach. Something…wrong. It felt forced. Slimy, unwelcome, and derived from a strange place that put me on the defensive. I cleared my throat, looking back at my plate of food, completely turned off from another meal.At least this one I got more than halfway through.

“Melrose St. Augustine is in my care while her father is away on sabbatical. Any inquiries go through me. Please inform me of thisutmost importanceand I shall determine if it needs her attendance or not.” Keida shifted beside me, climbing to her feet. Having not eaten more than a bite of her breakfast, nor more than a sip of her coffee, Keida abandoned the table completely to stand between Peony and I. I felt her hip against my back. The difference between the two was stark. Peony Bernstein was massive, nearly seven feet tall, with broad shoulders and choppy brown hair. She wore a deep red scar across her lip like a badge of honor and there was a cut in her right brow. Peony was made of brute strength and her hands were the size of my face.

Keida, however, was closer to my height. Slim in stature, slight in nature, with a hardened face and frosty tone.

“She’s a grown woman,” Peony chuckled, dropping her boot to the floor. “I’m pretty sure she is capable of making decisions for herself even in her father’s absence.”

“I am not implyingherinability. I’m implyingyours. Let me make this as monosyllabic as possible for you, Knight Bernstein.While her father is not here, you speak directly to me.Now, please, leave. As I said, this is an Order specific mess hall. I know not all knight’s understand boundaries, but this is a place you cannot be without an invitation.”

Keida snapped two fingers and two paladins stepped away from their tables, putting their imposing, full platemail-covered bodies on either side of Peony. I peered at the knight, finding her face twisted up in a petulant scowl. She, wisely, didn’t pick a fight, especially one she knew she’d lose. A singular knight without a broadsword in a room full of clerics and paladins under the roof of their goddess’ holy place? Fools have tried more for less. There was a part of me that considered everyone was being ridiculous. Peony Bernstein was a knight.

Then she cocked a brow at Keida. “I’m a knight captain. Know your place, Cleric.”

“Yes, you are, Knight Bernstein. You answer to the queen.” Keida stepped forward till she forced the knight to step back. I could only see her from behind, how tense her shoulders were as compared to the curl of her fingers in the small of her back. “But Ido not. When you are in this cathedral, I am the highest authority here.”

Peony didn’t give me a second glance as she tore away from the table. Just outside the door were two knights, both wearing their glistening helmets. Morning light reflected off their armor as Peony stormed past them. They marched after her and I watched in horrified confusion as the knights disappeared from the doorway. I even glanced at Ramone and Delainey for clarification thatthat actually fucking happened.Ramone sat, shocked, like someone slapped him with a wet towel. Delainey’s upper lip curled in a snarl, eyes narrowed and her cute little fangs barred.