Or maybe she’d painstakingly drawn herself out of the shell she’d had to build for herself in Korossia.
“Take a seat,” Theira said without turning to look at him. “Breakfast is almost ready.”
In a kind of daze yet again, Varius brought himself to the same chair he’d occupied yesterday. No blood anywhere.
And the Sorceress Transcendent was cooking for him.
“Can I help?” Varius asked.
Theira froze.
Briefly, only a second before she got a hold of herself, but it was enough to make him feel like an asshole for not offering sooner.
And to make him angry that apparently a person offering to help her was so godscursed rare the very idea shocked her into a visible reaction.
Whoever her guests were, they didn’t deserve any more of her than that room gave.
“Thank you, but I’m just about finished,” Theira said.
Varius looked around. Sure enough, there was no trace he’d come through here yesterday. “You cleaned up after me.”
“I did promise you I could handle a few stains.”
So she had.
“Did you expect me to just leave dirt on my floor?” she asked, carrying a plate of food and a steaming mug to the table.
Varius stared at her, heart thumping in familiar excitement at the sight of her like the sorceress he remembered, bright red lips and dark eyeshadow and highlighted cheeks, the magical purple dress and elegant, deadly belt.
She was dressed to kill.
She set the food and tea in front of him like a godscursed restaurant server and turned to leave.
Varius surged to his feet without even looking at the food. “Where can I find us flatware?”
Theira blinked. Blinked twice.
“That drawer.” She pointed. “Napkins in that one.”
Varius nodded like he’d been given marching orders and snapped to it. Theira watched him for a moment before returning to her station and dishing her own food.
Varius picked the first napkins and flatware out of the drawers, both swirled with vines, and carried them back and distributed them as Theira sat down with her own food.
“Thank you,” she said, like she wasn’t sure what to make of this.
“Thankyou,“ Varius said, sitting down again, feeling both slightly better for having donesomethingbut also like anger was an itch under his skin. He’d donenothing. “The food looks wonderful.”
And it did. His plate was piled high with an omelet full of vegetables, sausage, fruit, toast.
“I was hardly going to let you starve after inviting you in.”
Varius took a sip of tea first before saying, “And what an easy way to dose me with a potion, too.”
Theira smiled. “Too easy, no challenge. It’s not as if I want you to decide you need to forage for yourself in my garden.”
Varius snorted. “I’d probably kill myself trying.”
“It’s notallpoisonous,“ she said primly.
