“You won’t getthatwish,” he said. “Come on, we have things to do.”
She turned away, but when Mekos went back to the house, she followed him. “What’s your plan?”
He looked her up and down. “You can’t wear that. It looks like a ship’s sail on a rowboat. It’s good that Kaley had the lizard to distract her or she would have started asking questions.”
She sat down on the edge of the bed. “Maybe I can repair the pads.”
“That lizard ripped them apart. You need to—” At the look on her face, he stopped talking, then sat down beside her. “Are you afraid Olina will hear the truth about how you look?”
She nodded.
He reached out and took her hand. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to live in fear every day. But we do have things to do. Did you forget that Valona wants to make you into a pot of face grease?”
She grimaced. “I’d rather be made into beauty cream than spend my life as Nessa’s wife.”
Mekos squeezed her hand. “I would feel the same way if I had to live with someone I didn’t like.” He stood up. “Wait here. I have an idea.” He left the room and a few minutes later, he returned with some of Kaley’s clothes over his arm. “I can’t tell under that tent you have on, but I think you two are the same size.”
“I can’t take Kaley’s clothes. She needs them. She—”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You’re right. The last thing she needs is clothing. But then, she’s with Tanek.” Aradella gave an exaggerated sigh.
“That’s better.” He tossed the clothes to her. “Get dressed, then let’s eat. I want you to tell me all about what training you’ve had and who helped you.”
It took her a moment to realize what he was saying. Reveal her secrets? Tell someone thetruthabout her life? “I don’t...” she said softly.
Mekos seemed to understand her reluctance. “I’m a swansman, remember? Valona and her maid said I’m worthless, therefore I’m completely trustworthy.”
“Worthless? Trustworthy? How do those two go together?”
“Who knows? Get dressed. I’m starving.”
Aradella clutched the clothes to her. “You always are. Like the night of the dance. You never looked up from the table. You—” At his look of impatience, she ran to the bathroom. She was taller than Kaley, so the pants were ankle length and the top wasn’t long enough to hide much. But they were certainly better than the big dress. The Earth clothes were strange to her but she liked them very much. When she walked, she didn’t have a big skirt against her legs.Wouldn’t my cousins be jealous, she thought.
When she stepped into the bedroom, her breath was held.What would he think of her dressed like this?
Mekos was looking out the window and when he turned and saw her, he gasped, his eyes wide. But he made no comment.
After a moment, he got himself under control. “Food!” He led the way to the kitchen.
It looked as though the kitchen had recently been restocked. There was bread, butter, eggs, fruit, and little bowls of food they didn’t recognize.
Mekos was the chef. He told her to sit on a stool on the other side of the high island as he began assembling everything. He expertly lit the little wood-fed grill and began cooking meat and a concoction of batter that he poured out of a bowl.
As he worked, Aradella told how Hale came into her life. “She was my punishment and I hated her at first, but...”
“You had no one else except Sojee’s daughters for friendship,” he said. “I thought one of them was going to attack me when we were on the platform.”
“That’s Shay. She’s only interested in beauty and which man her father is going to get for her.”
“What about the other one?”
“Hale said Bree sneaks out of the Cauldron but she couldn’t find out where Bree goes.”
He pulled little flatbreads off the grill. “What else did Hale do for you?”
Aradella told how the only food given to her by the queen were cakes and pies. “They kept me big, but when I offered them to Hale, she said she didn’t eat them. That made me curious about what she did eat. And at night I heard noises in the courtyard. I wondered what caused them.”
