Rhianne recoiled. “You eat them alive?”
Ben’s laugh rumbled across the room. “My colorful way of talking. They’re plenty dead when they go into the pot. The gumbo sings.” He kissed his fingers and popped them open.
“Little critters that walk along the bottom of the sea?” Rhianne repeated, still uncertain.
“Maybe you’d prefer jambalaya. That’s rice with bell peppers and sausage, maybe some chicken. Oh, and shrimp.”
“Do they have anything without this shrimp?”
“Possibly.” Ben scanned the menu. “But don’t knock them ’til you’ve tried them. Trust me, sweetheart. You’ll love them.”
Rhianne looked at the words printed before her but didn’t understand any of them. She could read the English, but nothing made sense. “I must put myself in your hands.”
Ben rubbed his together. “You won’t regret it. I hope. Hey, Janie,” he said to the next attractive young woman who stopped at the table. “Bring us one shrimp gumbo, one jambalaya, a mess of bread, and two blonde ales.”
“Sure thing, Ben. How about a side of beans and rice?”
“Maybe later. We’re starting small. This is Rhianne. She’s new.”
“Oh, hey.” Janie turned a big smile to Rhianne. “Welcome to New Orleans.”
She gave Rhianne the same interested once-over Holly had. They must believe her Ben’s paramour. As Rhianne couldn’t exactly explain how she’d met Ben and what she was doing here, she only smiled.
Janie took away the cards, and a young man sloshed two glasses of clear liquid to the table. Water, Rhianne guessed, though it smelled slightly metallic.
Two mugs of ale landed on the table only a few moments after that. Ben raised his once Janie had departed.
“Here’s to freedom,” he said.
Rhianne frowned in bafflement. “What are you doing?”
“It’s called a toast. You raise your glass, say what you’re drinking to, then we clink the glasses and drink.”
Rhianne liked the idea. “To freedom,” she echoed. “And the goblin who made it possible.”
Ben’s cheeks reddened. He moved his large glass to hers and gently tapped it. Then he drank.
Rhianne sipped the foamy liquid and found a drink she recognized. Ale, clear and tasty, with a zip of bubbles.
“It’s good,” she said in surprise.
“Yeah, humans can make decent beer. It’s one reason I’ve stayed here all this time.”
He tossed the words off casually, but Rhianne saw the flame of deep pain in him once more. What was Ben’s story? He’d said he was exiled no longer, but the pain hadn’t gone away.
Sadness and frustration tugged at her. “I can’t stay forever. No matter how good the beer is.”
Ben quickly set down his mug. “It’s too dangerous for you to go back. Dylan can kiss his own ass.”
“I will not return to be a spy, not that way.” Rhianne shook her head. “If I were cold and calculating, I’d do it, but I’m not. No matter how much my mother tried to make me so.”
Ben looked surprised. “I owe her. She’s a great lady, Lady Aisling.”
“Don’t I know it.” Rhianne’s bitterness flowed out before she could stop it. “I love and admire her greatly. My mother kept my dangerous father away from me. But everyone expects me to be exactly like the imperious Lady Aisling. She can be ruthlessly brutal sometimes.” Rhianne trailed off, rubbing the chilled beer glass with her fingers. “I don’t want to be like that.”
“She’s Tuil Erdannan,” Ben pointed out.
“So am I. But don’t have the urge to create or destroy an entire race for the fun of it, or to devastate hoch alfar who are just trying to get through their days. The average hoch alfar are fine, trying to make a living and not draw attention to themselves.”
“If you say so.” Ben’s rumble was dark.
Rhianne turned her mug on the table. “I know what they did to goblins. But that was the lords and princes, the same people who enslaved Shifters. The ordinary folk likely had no problem with goblins, and I know they don’t want any pet Shifters.”
Ben listened. Actually listened, meeting her gaze, his shoulders moving slightly. “You could be right. It’s hard to have compassion when you watched your own people be slaughtered.”
“I know.” Rhianne swallowed. She couldn’t imagine such a horror. “I’m sorry.”
They fell silent, awkwardly so. Rhianne reflected that she and Ben might have had a nice day together if the whole history of Faerie and some of the bad people in it didn’t lie between them.
“Here y’all go.” Janie returned with a large tray, followed by the young man who’d delivered the water. The two of them laid steaming dishes in front of Ben and Rhianne. “I brought you a mess of silverware in case you want to share.” In great delight, she set down the forks and spoons as though she bestowed an exciting gift.
“She’s the best,” Ben said, his affability returning. “Thanks, Janie.”
“Y’all enjoy.” Janie and the lad bustled off, leaving Ben and Rhianne with the savory smelling food.
“Dig in.” Ben lifted a spoon and scooped up thick broth from his bowl. He stuck the spoon into his mouth, then an expression of great pleasure softened his face. “This is damn good gumbo. Here, try some.”
He grabbed one of the extra spoons, filled it with broth and meat, and held it out to Rhianne.
The droplets would splatter all over the table. Rhianne leaned forward and quickly caught the spoonful in her mouth.
Incredible flavor poured over her tongue. A bite of spice, but not too much, savory sensations of herbs and sausage, and something pleasantly fishy.
“Oh, my,” she said when she could speak.
“Didn’t I tell you? There was shrimp in that. Here.” He took up a fork and speared a curled pink thing on her plate of colorful rice.
Rhianne opened her mouth and Ben gently slid the bite into it. Their eyes met over the fork, and Rhianne felt suddenly hot.
Was the food too spicy? Not at all. It was the sensation of Ben’s hand behind the fork, the smile on his lips, the enjoyment in his eyes.
Ben had been exiled, but he’d not forgotten how to live. He was now trying to show Rhianne how to live too.
She sat back, chewing and swallowing the mouthful. “I think I like shrimp,” she announced.
“It’s pretty awesome.” Ben retreated to his side of the table. “Humans have come up with some wonderful stuff.”
“How did they think to eat critters that crawl on the bottom of the sea?” Rhianne loaded her fork with the shrimp and rice and ate, closing her eyes to enjoy it.
“When you’re hungry, anything’s food. After a while, you figure out how to make it good. Very resourceful, are humans.”
“You like them,” Rhianne said with sudden insight.
Ben nodded. “They’re not so bad. I’ve always had to try to fit in. When I first came to this world, I figured out fast that if humans didn’t know what you were or where you came from, you were pretty much dead. I adapted. Try the beer with the jambalaya.”