Eliathanis shot the Dark Elf a dour glance. “Stop that! Show some—some self-control!”
Naitachal grinned. “Loosen up, dear! You look ravishing.”
“Leave me alone, will you? Or are you really enjoying this?”
The Dark Elf’s grin widened. “Of course I am! Come now, cousin-elf, where’s the harm in it? It’s rather fun to play pretend!”
Eliathanis only growled. Kevin wiped his eyes, trying not to smear his makeup, hearing Tich’ki, there in Lydia’s hair, tittering so hard she was having trouble catching her breath.
“Straighten up, dears,” Lydia cooed. “Here are the guards. Look pretty, now!”
Kevin tensed all over again, seeing the men’s grimfaced competence, the weapons never far from their hands, hearing the guards muttering something about “Selden” and “Those thieves aren’t going to get past us.” Sure, their disguise had been good enough Co fool Empty Eyes, who had probably been drunk or half-drugged anyhow. But these were sharp-eyed professionals. Could it possibly fool them as well?
Apparently it could. “Look at the girl in pink,” one said, nudging another. “Bet she’d warm a cold night!”
“Warm it, hell, she’d set it on fire!”
“The one next to her’s not bad, either.” Mortified, Kevin realized they were discussing him now.
“Awfully stringy,” someone muttered.
“But there’s something to be said for those acrobatic types!” The guard who’d first spoken leered up at the bardling. “Come on, sweetie, give us a kiss for the road.”
Feeling tike a prize idiot, Kevin managed to work his lips into what he hoped was a flirtatious smile. To his horror, the guard reached up, trying to pull his head down. Before the bardling could panic, Naitachal leaned down to whisper conspiratorially:
“You don’t want to kiss her.”
“Oh, I don’t, do I?”
“Heavens, no! The last man she kissed got so hot and worked up he followed her for days. We finally had to throw him in a lake to cool him off. You would not have believed the steam!”
All the guards laughed. “Bet you could raise some steam,” one of them shouted.
“Oh, darling, you wouldn’t believe what 1 can do!” Naitachal gave them all a dazzling smile—”My, my, my, what handsome fellows you all are! What a shame we have to leave just now.” The very essence of a delighted dancing girl, the Dark Elf laughed and simpered and blew kisses at them all—Only Kevin caught the faint hint of contempt flickering in the kohl-rimmed blue eyes. “Now, we really must say good-bye,” Naitachal said, pretending to pout—”We have such a long way to go!”
“Stay here, then!”
“Oh, darlings, I'd adore that. But ...” He waved a helpless hand. “What would the troop do without me? They would be simply lest, the poor dears. Ta-ta, darlings!”
Fun was fun, but once they were safely out of sight of the city walls, the party was of one mind, searching until they’d found a small pool screened by a grove of trees. Kevin practically threw himself from his mule and gladly stripped off his girlish finery, scrubbing and scrubbing till he’d washed every last trace of paint and powder from his face.
“Ugh. Can’t see how women can stand wearing all that stuff.”
“Frankly, neither can I!” Lydia straightened, shaking out her damp black hair and tousling the curls dry with her hands. “I mean, I like looking nice as much as any other woman.” She winked at Kevin. “You should see me when I dress up pretty! But all that stuff I was wearing just now made me feel like I was carrying a prison around with me!”
In the middle of strapping on her sword, she paused, looking out over the lake, eyebrows raised. “My, isn’t that a pleasant sight!”
Naitachal, some distance away, had stripped to the waist to wash off the last of the disguising powder. His body was inhumanly slim and graceful but undeniably male, smooth muscles rippling and dark skin gleaming with every move. Realizing the others were watching him, he disappeared into the bushes, emerging shrouded once more in his black cloak. And now every trace of frivolity was gone.
