“Right.” Cyrus sat taller. “I’ll go first. My mostprizedpossession is my sword. Favorite’s the same.”
“Oh no,the shock,”I said. “The Sword likes swords. How strange.”
He shrugged. “I’ll have you know, my father purchased this blade for me after we arrived in Chalke. I like to think of him when I swing it.”
“And I’m sure if your opponents knew how sentimental you were, it would strike fear into their hearts!” I laughed, and he frowned.
“Spoken like an Eisson,” he said. “Out for blood.”
“Well, I…” I paused. “I suppose I cannottrulytease you, Mr. Evergreen. Your answer is deeper than I would’ve given you credit for, originally, but perhaps you are a poet and not a philosopher at all?”
“I am a businessman,” he said.
“You are?” I asked.
“Yes. And I have a deal for you,” he said.
“I think the word you meant was charlatan.”
“If you call me Cyrus, I won’t make fun of you for whateveryouranswer is.”
“That is as incredibly unlikely as it is inappropriate for our relationship, Mr. Evergreen,” I replied.
“Is it, though?” he asked. “More inappropriate than riding alone out here?”
I scowled. “This arrangement was your idea,” I argued.
“Technically, it was Sameer’s,” he said.
“You said it was appropriate because of that!”
“And I gave you the opportunity to end our rides last week. Yet, you summoned me, yes?”
“…Yes, but?—”
“But we spend all day together, several days a week, for what has been, and I suspect, will be all summer. Do you not feel we’ve surpassedsomeformalities by now? What with our blossoming friendship?”
“I…” I’m sure he heard my molars as they struck each other, but I tried to gather my thoughts articulately. “Sir. You must understand…”
“Oh yes. Tell me,” he said. “I’m ready for my scolding. And I know you are dying to educate me somehow, so please. Feel free.”
“Sir… Mr. Evergreen… Oreian women are encouraged to call only men who have, um, well, declared their intent to marry them by their first names. You see, when a courtship begins, the lady must first agree. Well. The gentleman must firstannouncehimself and then she agrees to the courtship, and onlythenis it proper for her to call him by his given name. Unless they are related.”
“You call Sameer by his,” he replied.
“Yes. I will marry His Highness soon. See how that applies?”
Cyrus frowned. “Sam did not declare himself.”
I paused. “Well. No…”
“And you did not accept,” he said.
“No, I did not. But my father arranged the marriage,” I explained.
“Did Sameer declare his intent to His Majesty, then?” he asked.
“Not to my knowledge.”
