Bran let the thought pass and took his place before his easel.
They stood only a few feet apart, nothing between them.
Actually, that wasn’t strictly true.
A past stood between them, implacable.
Still, though he wasn’t looking at her, he was so very aware of her. If he wanted, he could reach out and touch her. Would she feel the same as she once had beneath his hand?
How had it come tothis?
That Lady Artemis was within touching distance of him … That his hand tingled with the remembered feel of her.
Two feelings pounded through him—one a push, the other a pull.
He should lose this contest.
He shouldwantto lose this contest.
After all, if he prevailed, what would he have won?
The right to train Radish on Lady Artemis’s practice track.
The right to spend more time with her.
Which was no victory.
Yet he couldn’t quite will himself to lose.
The fact was he wanted to prove something—he wasn’t entirely infirm. In a way he hadn’t felt in years, he wanted to prove it to himself.
In a larger way, he wanted to prove it toher.
It was the first time he’d wanted anything in two years.
Want … desire …
Tofeelwant … tofeeldesire …
Wasn’t that feeling part and parcel of being alive?
And the fact was he hadn’t felt alive in any way that mattered in a very long time.
Until now.
He reached for his brush and glanced at the pot of paint.Red.Of course, the paint was red. Sir Abstrupus wouldn’t miss such a detail.
Though he’d never attempted it, the strict truth was Bran knew how Giotto had drawn the perfect circle. He’d learned about it at Cambridge in a lecture concentrated on Italian art.
Beside him, Lady Artemis extended her arm, the brush dripping red paint onto the white duck cloth below, and contemplated the canvas before her. If that was how sheintended to go about drawing a perfect circle, she’d already made her first mistake.
Bran’s heart gave a hard thud, as if to punctuate his intention.
He couldwin.
And he fully meant to.
He shifted his weight further onto his good leg, adding stability to his stance, and dipped the brush tip into the paint. He only had one go at this, so he needed to make it count.
