جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 60

AilisTovan looked up when I entered Maela’s.I kept walking.That was rude.I knew it was rude while doing it.I also knew that if I stopped beside his table, he would look at my face for approximately two seconds and discover something had happened. Then he would ask what. Then I would have to answer.Impossible.I had not yet answered myself.“Ailis?”I stopped at the foot of the stairs.Tovan was still sitting at the little table near the back. No apron. Bread in one hand.His eyes moved to the parcel against my chest.“You found the bookseller.”“Yes.”Then to my face.Oh no.“What happened?”“Nothing.”That was immediately false.Tovan knew it.I knew he knew it.Neither of us benefited from discussing this.“I need my room.”His ears shifted.I went upstairs before they could become more expressive.My key missed the lock once.Then again.This was unacceptable.I had opened this door every day since arriving at Maela’s. The lock had not recently become more complicated.My hand

AilisGeneral Aodren was outside.Wearing the coat.My coat.No.His coat.My embroidery.This distinction had been difficult before breakfast and had not improved with hunger.I stood at the bottom of the stairs staring through the window while he spoke to the man beside the carriage. Black wool. Old gold. Smoke-gray hair tied low enough that the collar remained visible.The collar.Both sides.He had worn it exactly as I had designed it to be worn, which was technically the entire point.My heart behaved as though I had performed a miracle.Neris said something beside me.I did not hear it.General Aodren turned toward the tavern.He saw me through the glass.His smile appeared.Oh.This morning was becoming unreasonable very quickly.The door opened.I remembered that I was standing in the middle of Maela’s tavern wearing the same brown dress I had spent an entire morning criticizing.Too late.General Aodren came inside.His eyes moved over me once.Not my dress specifically.Proba

AilisGeneral Aodren released my hand only after both my feet were safely on the street.The assistance had not been necessary.That did not mean I wanted him to stop offering it.Both things could be true. I had become very skilled at allowing two inconvenient truths to exist beside one another where General Aodren was concerned.The lower market was already busy. Awnings stretched over narrow stalls, shutters stood open, and enough people crossed between carts that I immediately understood why his household men remained close behind us.Then I smelled onion.Cheese.Browned dough.Every other part of the market became less important.I turned toward a broad iron plate beneath an awning.General Aodren followed my gaze.“Bren?”“Yes.”My stomach complained.Loudly enough that pretending otherwise would have required lying to a prince before breakfast.I looked determinedly toward the stall.“I forgot supper.”His attention moved to me.“You forgot.”“Yes, Your Highness.”I had been wo

AodrenThe curl was softer than I expected.I had not expected anything from it, which made the thought useless. Ailis sat beside me with her hands folded over her bag while I let the strand slip from my fingers. The arrangement she had chosen this morning was different from the one I had seen at Maela’s. Less severe. Several curls had been allowed to remain loose at the back, and one had fallen far enough toward her shoulder to make touching it convenient.I had noticed before she entered the carriage.“You wore your hair differently.”“Yes, Your Highness.”She watched me for a moment, clearly waiting to discover whether the observation required anything from her.“I like it this way.”Her eyes widened slightly before dropping to her hands.That pleased me.There was no reason to pretend I did not know why.Ailis was beautiful. I liked looking at her. I liked the dark curls I had just touched, the way pleasure reached her face before caution followed it, and the softness that appeared

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