Excerpt:

Who would’ve thought Gnomes could be sexy, Ember mused as she braided a string of topaz chips into her long, light brown hair. Gnomes were often thought to be dwarfish and slightly ugly, but people saw them so rarely that there was no way to be sure. This one was not short at all, and far from ugly. She wondered what his name was, and what his voice would sound like. Most of all, she wondered how to get him to help her. He probably would not be happy with her. The embodiments of the earth element, gnomes were a private people. Unlike the Faeries, Gnomes tried to avoid human contact even when they were in the human realm. It was possible that he had never even been there, since Gnomes only came there after an earth-related natural disaster, such as an earthquake. He would not appreciate being yanked from his home.

Still, she had to do it. The scrying bowl had revealed, in no uncertain terms, that he would be the one to help her. She scanned the cave where she had made her home to make sure all was ready. Satisfied everything was in place, she went to the right wall and ran her hand over a vein of translucent topaz. By concentrating her energies, she called up the Gnome’s image until she could see him through the stone. His back was to her, so she studied him. Broad, bare shoulders, thick arms moving slowly (as earth elementals were wont to do) while he used his magic. She could not tell what he was doing. Maybe he would tell her, once she gained his trust.

She turned away reluctantly and began to undress. Her laces loosened, her purple velvet dress fell to the floor.

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