“Before the dream, did you know what themagvislooked like?”
“I’d heard the descriptions.”
“So this dream could have meant nothing. Your imagination could have built it all on its own, and yet you took it as a sign of something.”
I wasn’t questioning her because I didn’t believe her. Merelda may have omitted that dream earlier, but she would never outright lie to me. I just wanted to understand.
“There was a feeling I’d gotten when I woke up from that dream and saw you in the morning. I’d ignored it at the time, thinking I was rattled. But between your sudden disappearance and how we were being hunted, I was reminded of that feeling. And it suddenly didn’t seem like a far leap to imagine you were themagvisbeside Princeps Harthon.” Her cheek slowly creased. “Which brings us to all we have to discuss regarding that man.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
She hummed to herself. “Callen?”
Callen pursed his lips. “I have made promises to Etarla that must be kept.”
Thank the Domus.
But then hewinked, encouraging her right along. The traitor.
Merelda chuckled. “Where should we start? With his physique? That jaw that’s carved from stone? His chivalry last—”
“My goodness, please stop.”
“Your silence is forcing me to list these options.”
I shook my head at her in exasperated wonder. “You have never bothered me about men. Not once.Why are you torturing me now?”
She gave me a droll look. “Dear, the only men you’d ever encountered were the old, rundown dogs in our village, and never once did you express any interest in romance. When I educated you about the things men and women do together, incase you needed to know someday, you covered your ears and ran away squealing.”
Callen burst into laughter.
I glared at him. “And how would you react if you were twelve years old, being told about the appendage a man sticks into a woman?”
“I was never told. I learned through experience.” He smugly set his shoulders. “Quite a bit of experience, if I do say so myself.”
“Merelda is right here. We don’t need the details.”
“My point being,” Merelda interjected, trying to hide her amusement, “I never bothered you about men because it was irrelevant. But now, that is no longer the case.” She suddenly sobered. “Is he treating you well?”
“Yes,” I answered easily.
“Has he been treating you well this entire time?”
There was nothing linear about the relationship between me and Harthon. He’d taken me captive, and I’d despised him for it; I’d learned about his past with my parents, I’d run away to Koerlyn, and things had been rocky from then on. Until recently, of course. Because now things were…undefined.
But despite all that, all the ups and downs and switchbacks, never once had he treated me poorly. Even when he was angry at me and scared over what I’d done, he’d ensured I was taken care of.
So I said, “Yes.”
She nodded once, relief relaxing the lines of her face. “You look well-fed. Strong.”
I wasn’t going to tell her I’d just finished healing from a recent attack. She didn’t need that worry. “I get more than my fair share of food. And I’ve been training.”
“I wouldn’t mind training with a man like that.”
“I don’t train with him. I train with Callen.”
Merelda regarded the green-eyed man. “I wouldn’t mind training with him either.”
