“My Lady?”
Ciana turned. The first woman who’d tended to the stew watched her with a question in her eyes. The woman wiped her hands on a ragged towel. “Would you like to share a meal with us?”
Ciana’s smile widened. “I don’t wish to be a burden.”
“Nonsense.” The woman waved her off. “There will be plenty; the hunters did well. We would be honored to have a Lady of the Queen’s court join us.”
Warmth bloomed through Ciana’s chest. “Thank you. I think I will, then.”
Chapter 9
The stew was delicious.
Ciana slurped down another spoonful, her appetite slamming into her like a hammer, before she remembered that she was a Lady and had better manners than that. She straightened, glancing around sheepishly as she dabbed the corners of her mouth.
The middle-aged woman, who’d introduced herself as Isa, chuckled softly. “It’s fine, my lady. This is no palace dinner; we’re all hungry. It’s just nice to see that my cooking is so enjoyable.”
Ciana smiled. “It truly is delicious, Isa. But no matter the setting, I was raised better than to gulp stew like that.”
Isa hummed, almost a laugh. “Speaking of,” the matriarch said, taking another bite of her meal, “what is it like, serving on the Queen’s Court? How did you meet her?”
The memory warmed Ciana’s chest more than the flavorful broth. “We met on the day of the Choosing, just before the ceremony. She wore this incredible golden dress, something so different from what the rest of us wore, that I knew I had to be friends with her. Her confidence was radiating; I needed more of that in my life.”
Isa blinked with surprise. “You had just met, and she made you her first Lady? You must have made quite an impression yourself, Lady Ciana.”
“I suppose.” Ciana chuckled. “But I also don’t think I gave her much of a choice.”
They fell silent. More travelers were making their way to the open space, friendly chatter bubbling in the air. People helped themselves to stew before sitting with their families, while others cycled through the bathing pools or refilled water skins from the deep well in the center of the clearing.
“I have another question for you, Lady Ciana.”
Ciana returned her attention to Isa. “I might have an answer.”
The woman watched her with a sharp, scrutinizing stare. “Where are you from? Before the outcome of the Choosing changed your path?”
Discomfort prickled beneath Ciana’s skin. For a moment, she considered lying. Did this womanreallyneed to know where she was from? In her mind, everything that had happened in her life before the Choosing was irrelevant. She’d been given a fresh start, a chance to build a life away from fear and pain.
She decided against the lie. Isa had generously cooked for their entire caravan and offered to share some of it with Ciana. The least she could do in return was offer the woman the truth.
“My family is from Kasia.”
Isa’s eyes widened, her head cocking to the side. “Kasia? What is your family name?”
The woman’s curiosity was becoming even more unsettling, but Ciana had committed to honesty. She toyed with her spoon nervously. “Visseau.” It was her father’s name and not one her mother had used in over a decade, but it was the only family name she acknowledged for herself.
Isa’s brows shot up to her hairline. “Oh, I knew you looked familiar!”
Ciana’s stomach bottomed out. What?—
“I am from Kasia, as well. Is your mother Marion? She was a Visseau until she remarried Leon Blaise.” Isa pointed across the clearing. “I believe she and the other Blaise’s have set up camp just there!”
The wind whistled shrilly in Ciana’s ears.
No, no, no.
This was not happening.
They couldn’t have traveled here. Of all the people across Onita to join Priam’s caravan, they could not be among them. She had just barely freed herself of them by simply not returning home, despite the piles of letters that had accumulated at the palace.
