“What was I saying?”
“Something about Ser Elías and masturbation?” he said.
“I’m… I don’t think that’s what I said.”
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“No,” I confessed. “No. I’m very lonely, Mr. Evergreen. And very confused.”
He said, “You’re in good company, I think,” but the horizon wandered off its certainty, and dropped. I fell into the Sword. Then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, I was somewhere I had never been before and in some sort of house.It was dim. Hints of light before sunset crept through the well-aged room.
A clatter of ceramic pots startled me, bringing my attention to Cyrus’s back. As soon as he noticed I was conscious, he rushed to my side and complained about his relief.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
My throat was very dry. “Is this your cottage?” I asked.
“Mycottage?Is this how you think I live?”
“Well, itisdark. I can’t actually see anything.” I sat up, finding the worn arm of some antiqued chaise. “Wherearewe if not your home?”
“We’re still at the farm, you loon.”
He tucked a stray curl of hair back into my braid, returning and lingering just a little too long. I sank into his heat, which seemed to surprise us both.
“Why did you not tell me you were so feather-weighted?” he asked.
“How should I have known?” I asked.
“What? You’ve never had wine before?” he joked.
“No. My father doesn’tletme drink wine.”
He stoked his temple. “That would have been your first clue.”
“Thebetterquestion to this mystery is why did you get me drunk?”
“I did not!”
“You gave me wine!”
“You drank it!” he said. “I just wanted you to relax.”
“I passed out.”
“Oh, believe me, I noticed. And for the record, the chance of being discovered out here withyou speaking of bedpostswas never part of the plan!”
“Bedposts? What are-oh!”I gasped, suddenly recalling what things I’d revealed. “Oh,God.”
“We’ll need to make haste back. Now. We’ll be fine caught anywhere alone but inside of this house. We can excuse the time if we claim we got lost in the trees but not here.”
“How late are we?”I asked. The sky was dark.
“That is a discussion for the road,” he said.
Cyrus collected my hand, and on some sort of proverbial cue, one of our horses whinnied from outside. The door to the house kicked in, followed swiftly by a shiny boot. Then not one, buttwofull suits of armor clamored inside. Ser Elías’s angry voice boomed across the distance between us like a crack of thunder.
