ELIA
Forty minutes later, the ladies had dressed Elia's hair into a lovely twist at the back of her head, with just a few wisps around her face. She'd had to untie the halter-neck while they did it, and was retying it, bantering with Aymora about the look in Reth's eyes (and his smell) when he'd left.
"Maybe, since the Anima don't seem to care about nudity, I'll just untie the neck while we're dancing and give him my neck right there," she joked.
All the women in the room looked shocked, but the two Leonine shot significant glances at each other. Elia frowned. "Was that in bad taste?"
Aymora cleared her throat and crossed the space to stand behind Elia in the mirror. "Would you… give him your throat that way? In front of others, I mean?"
"Yes. Without question. I almost did it at the last feast and he stopped me—I wasn't so clear about what it meant then, but I am now."
"And you would… still do that?" Aymora asked carefully.
