“Of course not,” came the indifferent reply. “Not in front of Bastion, anyway.”
“Never,” Saeldian said. “He’d make me sand the blood off the floor myself.”
Bastion huffed out a laugh and picked out another fabric scrap.
Saeldian flipped the hook over to draw the thread out. “I hope there are no experienced tailors there to notice what I’m doing.”
“What—what are you doing?” Kell’s voice scraped over the words.
Saeldian paused. “Frog in your throat? Do you need some water?”
“No. Actually, yes.”
Bastion set his task down so quickly, a scrap of shot silk fluttered to the floor. “Don’t move. I’ll get it.”
They needed all the time they could get to fix Kell’s ensemble, but why was everyone acting so weird? Maybe if Saeldian explained, it would help.
“Mending is usually just fixing a garment with a hole in it, or a burn mark, that kind of thing. I’m re-tailoring this robe to fit you.”
“So?”
“So you’re not going to have seams down the center back or on the shoulders. It’s just going to be the right shape. A tailor will know it’s odd at a glance. Mending now.”
Saeldian let the spell flow out of their fingers, and the pieces merged, inch by inch. Kell’s back shifted as he tensed again. Why?
“Can you feel that?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry,” Saeldian said. “I’m nowhere near done.”
Bastion returned with a clay jug and a cup. Kell drank it in one quaff and held it out for a refill from the jug. Saeldian concentrated on fitting the robe in silence until they could say, “It’s done.”
Kell was halfway out of the library in a breath. “Thanks.”
Saeldian stared at the doorway, hearing only the echo of Kell’s hurried steps. What had they expected? Kell hated them. Saeldian helping him probably made it worse.
On Kell’s exit, Lorzok looked up from his book and sighed. “I guess we’ll see you at dinner.”
“Which is right about now,” Bastion said. “Find him and drag him to the table, will you?”
Saeldian put the seam cutter and scissors back in the mending box. How were they supposed to do this job together if Kell couldn’t wait to get away from them?
Bastion helped them clean up the scraps. “It seems you two are sailing on choppy water.”
“He can’t stand me,” Saeldian said. “I guess I would feel the same if I were him.”
“Take a moment to settle,” Bastion said. “You can’t be late for dinner if you walk in the room before me.”
Kell found asturdy doorjamb and rubbed his back on it like a bear who’d found an excellent tree trunk while Lorzok waited for him to explain.
“Itchy.”
“I’m sure you are,” Lorzok said. “It’s such a reasonable explanation for the way you’re behaving.”
“Lorzok—”
“They said they deserted you, but they didn’t report you,” Lorzok continued. “You can’t observe Saeldian with all your anger in the way. I can. They were shocked.”
