“Where did the flowers come from?” Snod asked, eyeing the discarded bouquet on the floor as a
distraction.
Frankie shook his head as he concentrated on his work, sighing, “It doesn’t matter.”
“They’re from Mark, aren’t they?” Snod made a face, flexing his hand as the pain began to fade.
“Yes, they were from Mark,” Frankie groaned lightly. “Wanna read the card, too?”
“Yes,” Snod replied immediately, though he wasn’t entirely sure what the purpose of the card was or
why Frankie would ask him that.
“I wasn’t being serious,” Frankie said dryly. “It wasn’t anything provocative if you’re really that
worried about it. Just another stale apology for his behavior and how much he had taken my company
for granted.”
“Extravagant gifts like that... are common during courting?” Snod asked, genuinely curious.
“Is that what you call it? Courting?”
“Yes,” Snod replied, fidgeting. “It’s how things are done in the Order.”
“Well, we call it ‘dating,’ and flowers are hardly extravagant,” Frankie said, squeezing out a few
more drops of blood from his finger. “They’re actually a pretty common gift. What do you do in the
Order?”
“If you have an interest in a young lady, you must first ask the council,” Snod said, balling up his
hand. “They have to approve of the union. If they do, then you have permission to approach the lady’s
father. If he’s accepting, then you can begin and ask the lady if you may court her.”
“Wait, so the girl you’re after is the last person you ask?” Frankie balked.
“Yes,” Snod replied impatiently. “If she agrees, then you may court her. You can have supervised
visits, she can invite you over for dinner with her family, things like that until the offer of marriage is
accepted. There aren’t usually... gifts. But I have heard of women receiving kitchen goods before.
Dishes, pots. Things like that.”
“What happens if you fall in love with someone outside of the Order?”
“You can’t marry someone who isn’t a member,” Snod said with a shake of his head. “Outsiders can
be baptized by the council and join us, but that... that doesn’t happen often. Athaliah’s mother was
such a person. After my father laid with her, he tried to get her to join us properly.”
“Let me guess,” Frankie said, frowning. “She wasn’t a big fan?”
“No,” Snod said quietly, poking at his hand where the wounds had all closed up. “She said we were
