Gwennore shook her head. “No.”
Annika bit into a crusty roll and chewed while she considered. “Then it must be that you don’t care for him.”
Gwennore paused with a bite of cheese halfway to her mouth. Memories of their embrace came rushing back, the feel of his hands on her breast, her hips, her buttocks. The heat of his mouth on hers.
Annika leaned closer to peer at her. “You’re blushing again. I think you do like him.”
Gwennore set the cheese down. “Surely you must know that a relationship between the general and myself is impossible. No one will accept me here.”
Annika scoffed. “I do.”
“Me, too,” Margosha added.
Gwennore’s heart squeezed. “That’s very kind of you, but you’re only two out of an entire country.”
“If you can get rid of the curse, the entire country will love you,” Annika declared.
Gwennore’s mouth fell open. Could that be true?
Annika bit into a slice of ham. “I know I would be eternally grateful. The minute the curse is gone, I’m jumping that man’s bones.”
“What?” Margosha laughed.
“I’m serious,” Annika said with her mouth full.
Margosha shook her head. “I must be getting old. What happened to the style of courtship where the man did the pursuing?”
Annika waved a dismissive hand. “That might happen here at court, but at camp, it’s entirely different. Women make up one-fourth of the army now, and since many of them are infertile, they aren’t worried about getting pregnant.”
“So they’re … jumping men’s bones, as you put it?” Gwennore asked.
Annika nodded, her eyes twinkling. “If we want a man, we go after him.” She made a fist. “And we capture him.”
Margosha pressed a hand to her chest. “Such behavior.”
Annika shrugged. “Why shouldn’t we take charge of our own destinies? Besides, men can be too slow sometimes.”
“Or too fast,” Gwennore muttered.
Annika gave her a curious look. “Don’t tell me Silas tried to jump your bones.”
Gwennore drank from her cup to avoid answering.
With a snort, Annika popped a slice of apple in her mouth.
Margosha shook her head. “I don’t think this new method of yours is working. Not when you have to eat here in order to avoid you-know-who.”
Annika frowned. “What can I do? The silly man believes in the curse, so he keeps telling me to get lost.”
“The man you want to capture is eating in the Great Hall?” Gwennore asked.
Annika nodded. “He lost his first wife and infant son six years ago, and he thinks the curse is responsible.”
Then he had to be from one of the Three Cursed Clans, Gwennore thought. It couldn’t be Aleksi, since he wasn’t avoiding Annika. “Are you talking about Dimitri?”
“That obvious, huh?” Annika gave her a wry look, then heaved a sigh. “When I joined the army a year ago, I saw him for the first time and right away, I knew he was the man for me. But he keeps rejecting me.”
Margosha refilled their cups. “Maybe he hasn’t recovered yet from the loss of his wife and child.”
“I thought that, too, but I wanted him to know that he was still loved. So I confessed.” Annika made a face. “And then he tried to chase me away with all that rubbish about the curse.”
Margosha shook her head. “If he’s not interested, you can’t—”
“Then why did he kiss me?” Annika cried.
With a gasp, Gwennore turned toward the young woman. “He kissed you?”
Annika nodded. “About six months ago. He came into my tent drunk, hauled me to my feet, and kissed me senseless. Then he passed out, so I let him sleep on my pallet.” She clenched a fist. “I should have lied the next morning and told him we’d made love, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. And now he’s avoiding me like the plague.”
“So he really does want you,” Gwennore said softly.
Tears glimmered in Annika’s eyes. “That’s what I think, too. But he’s going to ignore me until we can get rid of the curse.”
Gwennore squeezed her hand. “We’ll do it.”
Annika smiled. “I knew I would like you.”
Gwennore returned the smile. It looked like she wasn’t alone here, after all. Margosha was looking out for her, much like Mother Ginessa would. And Annika—“You remind me of one of my adopted sisters. Sorcha.”
Annika laughed. “I should. She’s my cousin.”
“What?” Gwennore’s mouth dropped open. “Then you’re—”
“Cousin to Silas and His Majesty, King Petras.” Annika ate another apple slice. “My mother and the late queen were sisters, but they didn’t come from one of the Three Cursed Clans. My father didn’t, either, so the curse doesn’t apply to me. But it would to Sorcha.”
Gwennore took a closer look at Annika. “You do look quite a bit like her.”
Annika tilted her head, studying Gwennore. “There’s something different about you. I can’t figure out what, but you don’t look quite like the other elves I’ve seen.”
Gwennore shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never met another elf.”
“Well, the ones I’ve seen are all male, so maybe the females just look a bit different.” Annika’s eyes narrowed. “I think your ears are smaller.”
“Women usually do have smaller ears,” Margosha pointed out.
Annika nodded. “That must be it. Did you know they don’t all have white-blond hair like you?”
“No, I didn’t,” Gwennore admitted.
“The wood elves tend to have brown or red hair, while the river elves from the mountains have white hair,” Annika continued. “The royal family has hair like yours. Do you know who your parents are?”
Gwennore shook her head. “I have no idea. You actually know more about the elves than I do.”
“Enough with the gossip,” Margosha announced. “We need to get to work, since Gwennore is leaving in a month.”
Gwennore winced. “I just told Silas I wanted to leave in a week.”
“What?” Annika gave her an incredulous look. “The curse has been going on for five hundred years, and you think you can figure it out in a week?”
“Well, I—” Gwennore hesitated.
Annika’s eyes narrowed. “Is this because he jumped your bones?”
“I’m not comfortable with him right now,” Gwennore admitted.
“Then work with us,” Margosha insisted. “The three of us
