Chapter 23 - Until the Night of the Stag

“What?” I breathe, fascinated and delighted. “Since when do courtesans come to court!?”

“They’ve always been here, Everleigh,” Mahl murmurs, not minding, apparently, that I’m not appalled at Margot’s occupation and am, instead, clearly curious. “They just…didn’t come into the circles of Lunas in the years that you were present at court. Things have changed a bit since you have been gone.”

“Oh,” I say, looking up at him again. “Why?”

And I regret the question immediately when Mahl looks away.

I stutter a moment, making awkward noises in my attempt to apologize or find something to say, but Mahl just looks calmly down at me. “A story for another time,” he murmurs as we arrive at the back door to my chambers, the same door through which Tara traveled this afternoon to bring me my coffee.

I take a deep breath and try to settle my emotions – my still-burning curiosity, my embarrassment at blatantly asking Mahl why he lets courtesans mingle with his best friends’ wives – before going into m