“You’ve… I’m sorry. I’m lost. ….Did Mr. Evergreen tell you I was angry or not?”
“Svana, you ran away from me,” he said. “You slammed the door. You told me to go away. I don’t need to drag Cyrus into our private arguments just to decode simple ideas for me. You were ruffled by my…my actions, yes? Rightfully, I’ll admit, but I do want to remedy that for us…And without a public scene. This is me seeking to resolve it. See?”
“You mean you wish to resolve my offense to youraffair?”I asked.
He cleared his throat and then reached for his glass to take a drink.
“By arranging for me to spend time with another man?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I looked around, catching a glimpse of the subject in question’s careless brown hair bouncing around as he disappeared through the door beneath the balcony.
“And every day?” I asked.
“Noteveryday,” Sam said. “He’s mine on Wednesdays, and he’s not another man. What a crude frame of words. He’s…He’s Cyrus. He’s like a brother to me.”
“But he is a man other than you,” I said.
“He does happen to be a man, yes,” Sam said. “If it’s honor you’re concerned of, he will not be inappropriate with you. It’s not in his nature.”
I sat.
“I promise you, if you give ole Cy a chance, I have no doubt you will like him,” he said. “He’s brilliant. Quick, like you. And sure, he’s not a noble. Perhaps you’re not used to devoting your time to those outside your circle. And yes, he is a bit crass—rude, really, and unserious at times, but he is remarkably skilled in many things, riding being one of his strengths, swords another, and finally, loyalty his best. All that said, I am beyond certain that he is far better the hand to please you than I could ever be. I’m sure you’ll agree.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I’m scared of horses,” he said.
“What does that matter?” I asked. I focused on trailing the shimmer of one of Sam’s rings along the table to avoid the thought of Cyrus’s handspleasingme.
I didn’t even know what that meant, only the bits I had gathered from the knights who had spoken about women before. Elías had scolded them for such talk.
“I cannot ride them with you,” Sam explained. “I barely manage to exist inside carriages just knowing they’re around…. Look, Cyrus taught all of my sisters to ride.”
“You have sisters?” I asked.
“Yes, of course,” he said.
“Where are they?”
He shrugged. “They’re teenagers. They’re at school. Where else would they be?”
It was quiet.
He said, “He’s taught my sisters; he’s taught our squires when they’ve come here and needed it. I believe he could even show you a thing or two about the sport if you let him?”
I shook my head. “I doubt that very much. I have been riding since I could walk, and I–”
“Please give him a chance,” the Prince said.
“Why?”
“You are my fiancé; it’s natural that the two of you should talk, and he will be my best man at our ceremony.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.
“It– Have you even met him properly? Have you had a conversation with him? Or is your judgment based upon his status?”
