“I’m not terrible at it, you know,” Farrin said. “Ryder is an excellent teacher.”
“In more ways than one,” added Gemma.
Farrin tossed one of the settee’s pillows at her. A smile lit up her face. “You’re a scoundrel. And I much prefer daggers to sword work.I also prefer punching. And running away. And everything else that doesn’t make me feel like my arms are going to fall off.”
“But you told me singing helps lessen the weight.”
“It creates theillusionthat they’re lighter,” Farrin said, “which gets me through training well enough. The sword, however, remains a sword, and my muscles pay for it afterward.”
I closed my eyes and smiled. The easy rhythm of their conversation was like a song. I was ravenous for it. “Tell me about Ryder. How is he? And Alastrina?”
“Alastrina has recovered nicely from her time in Mhorghast,” Farrin replied. “She had trouble wilding for a few days, but that didn’t last long. Half the time she’s at Ravenswood, providing shelter to northern refugees, and when she’s not there, she’s at the Farrow estate.”
“With her head between Illaria’s legs, I hope,” Gemma said.
I laughed. “And the other way around too.”
“Of course! Illaria is endlessly generous. Much like a certain burly, bearded man we know.”
Farrin threw another pillow.
I opened my eyes to relish the embarrassed color in Farrin’s cheeks. The flush of love suited her.
“You wouldn’t be talking about Ryder, would you?” I asked innocently. “Ryder…Bask, I think he’s called?”
“The very same,” Gemma said cheerfully. “And listen to this: the night before you arrived, Talan fetched me some of these very same cookies from the kitchens. That’s how I found out about them in the first place. He’s such a dear. Being here in the city with so many people around and so much magic in the air gave me terrible body aches, and the cookies helped, as they tend to do. Later I went to Farrin’s room to share some with her, and I stopped right outside the door andheardthem.”
Farrin groaned and flung an arm over her eyes in mortification.
“They were deep in conversation, I assume,” I said. “Discussing matters of state and the like.”
“Oh, yes,” Gemma replied. “Andquitepassionately too.”
I took Farrin’s hand in silent apology. “I’m glad for you,” I said softly, and I meant it with all my heart. “It’s clear when he looks at you how much he loves you.”
Farrin’s shy smile was like the sun rising. “Both of your crass insinuations notwithstanding, heisvery…generous.”
As Gemma burst into delighted laughter and Farrin scooted closer to press her leg against mine, I let myself fall into the comfort of their nearness, their voices, their familiar scents. My skin still itched, dark memories roiling in my mind and storms of worry rumbling just out of reach. But I concentrated on the warmth of my sisters and thought,Let me be. Let me be with them tonight.
And for a while, they obeyed.
Chapter 8
The next morning, at the mouth of the university greenway that would bear us all north, I found Gareth amid the chaos of his team—twenty librarians and professors, all their personal effects, and dozens upon dozens of books, trunks, and pieces of equipment.
They weren’t being especially chaotic, actually, or annoying, and yet I found myself annoyed. If I couldn’t hide away with my sisters as my heart of hearts desired, then I wanted to zip right back to Rosewarren and return to work as usual. Instead I was shepherding a passel of librarians and would have to get them settled in their rooms before I did anything else.
The very thought of that—and the cold reality of leaving my sisters yet again—made me want to run until I collapsed, or strike one of the punching bags in our training yards until my knuckles stung and my mind was clear.
Gareth must have sensed my agitation. He watched me approach with something like apprehension on his face and shooed away one of his colleagues without even looking at him.
“I’d like to make something clear before we leave, Professor,” Itold him sharply. “Just because I defended you against General Haldrin doesn’t mean I like you.”
A devastating opening statement, I thought, but Gareth just smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. “Your dancing, Lady Mara, suggested otherwise.”
I pushed on, refusing to give him the pleasure of a reaction.
Refusing, too, to think about either dancing or the warm press of his hand on my waist. If I wanted a warm press of anything, I knew where to find it. And if my rebellious body was any indication, I needed to do so as soon as possible.
