He nodded, the set of his shoulders relaxing a little. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Clearing his throat, he added, “And thank you for tending to my foot. You didn’t have to.”
She glanced away again and whispered, “Yes, I did.”
Dame Florence, Reyla, and Olivia finally returned—the first two bearing cups of tea, the latter watching her and Aldric with open wariness.
With so many people crammed into the tiny room, Seraphina began to feel claustrophobic. She drifted closer to the Crow, no longer knowing where to stand. Silent, he eased himself from his chair and offered it to her instead. But when he placed weight on his wounded foot, he hissed in pain.
Olivia’s lips twitched into a smile, as if she found his suffering amusing. “Sorry about the foot.”
Aldric’s expression soured. “Sorry about the hand.”
Dame Florence shook her head at the two of them before offering her a cup of tea. “Will you be staying long, Your Majesty?”
Seraphina smiled and murmured a word of thanks, accepting the drink. “We shouldn’t stay too long, I’m afraid.” It was a long day, after all, and she hadn’t slept well last night.
More like not at all.
Exhaustion weighed heavily upon her already. How long had she been asleep before Olivia woke her? A few hours at most? The wisest course of action would be to leave right now. But she couldn’t leave just yet and miss this rare opportunity to see her Crow being…normal, spending time with his little sister.
Her gaze found Reyla, where she sat across the table, sipping her tea. Seraphina tried to catch the Drakmori woman’s eye. “Lady Reyla? I heard you like to play Sovereign. Perhaps you might like to play a few games with me before I go?”
Her sister-in-law had no reaction to her question, choosing to stare at the table rather than at her. After a moment, though, she rose to her feet, drifted off just long enough to fetch a writing slate, and returned. She scratched out a message and flipped the slate around for her to read.
I hope you’re a better player than my brother.
Seraphina choked on her tea.
Aldric barked out a laugh. “She is, don’t worry.” Gathering up the cards, he started shuffling them. “I’ll deal for you both.”
Slowly, Seraphina sank down into her Crow’s previously occupied chair so she was no longer looming awkwardly over them all. When she gestured for Olivia to come join her, her friend slumped into the seat right next to her, nursing her own cup of tea with a frown.
Seraphina leaned in close and whispered, “How is your hand?”
Olivia gave her a slow blink. “It hurts, that’s how it is. But I’m glad to see you’re enjoying yourself.” Her tone was sharp, moody. But no doubt that was the pain talking.
Or perhaps her foul mood had something to do with one Sir Tristan Dacre requesting leave to journey to the duchy of Coreto with the duke and Lord Tiberius just that morning.
“I’m sorry,” she softly apologized. “I know you were just defending me.” Reaching over, she laid her hand atop Olivia’s uninjured one. “I appreciate all that you do for me, you know.”
With a sigh, her friend’s features softened. Her posture relaxed further.
And as they settled in to play a few games of Sovereign with Reyla Hargrave, sipping tea and making idle chatter with Dame Florence and Aldric all the while, a strange sense of belonging settled over Seraphina.
As if, as odd as it sounded, she had finally found her way home.
Chapter twenty-two
Aldric
The day was brisk. The sky was overcast. His foot hurt. Even seated upon Mourn and riding the length of the yard with Sir Easome, Duke Percival, Calix, Leif, and Rakon to inspect the Elmorian troops, he was painfully aware of his latest injury.
His men thought it was all terribly hilarious, though. Even Kyn—who was usually the polite one—had been fighting not to laugh earlier that morning while stitching him up.“At this rate, you’ll be full of holes before we even make for the front.”
Funny.
