Varius grinned. “You think of everything, my transcendence.”
Theira snorted but relaxed a little further. He looked more closely at the paintings he could see, smiling—all bold colors, wild and raw. Some were clearly experiments with textures or techniques, but others—
Varius’ breath caught as he gazed at one, the warm, bright, expansive blend of colors. “This is the hill above the Tridentis. Before the battle. You were there?”
“How in Gaia’s name can you tell that?”
“The cast of light between the sky and the river at dawn—I recognize that reflection. You’ve evoked it beautifully here.”
Theira was studying him like a puzzle. “You can really tell that just by looking at my mishmash of paint.”
“Your art,” Varius said gently. “I know you, Theira. And I am used to looking for you in chaos.”
A quick grin. “And finding me.”
His chest warmed. “Just in time for whatever you’ve made this time. I am surprised you’ve seen the hill from that direction.”
Theira rocked her head noncommittally. “I’ve laid a lot of spells over the years.”
Evasive—what did she have to hide from him now? Or maybe she just wanted him to figure it—her—out.
He would.
He always did.
And it hadn’t been for purely practical reasons for a long time.
“Is there room in here for a second person?” Varius asked.
“You want to try painting?”
Next to her fearless expression? No. And he didn’t want that to become a competition between them.
“Maybe something else,” he mused. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had the chance to build something rather than break it. Do you have any clay in your garden?” He thought he knew which book could teach him how to fix her broken mug.
Theira was studying him again—he had the impression that she was sizing him up, but for what?
Varius shook his head. “That was presumptuous, wasn’t it? I probably won’t have time—“
“You will,” Theira interrupted firmly. “Youwillhave time. And I have all kinds of materials you can play with on the lower level. Let’s see what we can find that looks interesting to you.”
Varius looked up. “There’s an underground?”
Theira smiled. “I’m a sorceress, Varius. Of course there’s a hidden level underground.”
Varius had been wrong—the door at the end of the hallway was not to Theira’s bedroom, but to a staircase that led underneath her house.
He mentally calculated as they descended. Given how far they were going, she had a fucking hippodrome buried under the hill.
“Did you want to make sure Tychon couldn’t come at you from belowground?” he asked her.
“That’s one reason,” Theira agreed. “But it’s also heavily spelled.Reallyheavily spelled. Sometimes you want to try something especially destructive and don’t want to destroy the garden, you know?”
Varius snorted. “I do know,” he agreed dryly.
Gods, the times he would have given for an empty field for military exercises.
They reached the bottom at last. Theira opened a door, snapped her fingers, and light flooded the space.
