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He didn’t see that He saoman who refused to let any of it knock her down, and was so resolved in it she ht here, Nadia had joined them for their early dinner There’d been faint color in her cheeks, and a cautious warmth and intiht of the fledglings, how they looked to Elisa for o to extraordinary lengths for the girl And he had to turn that mirror on hiical thing in the world, when he hadn’t been able to suh to do it to a human for over twelve decades

She hadn’t pursued any of it intentionally or overtly She rity She would even deny she had much of a hand in the choices others had th of character to entle, beautiful girl ould always be underestimated because of that pretty, submissive soul she had, not an ounce of true rebellion in her She wanted to please, to love, to serveand the only thing that made her veer away from what someone wanted from her was that stubborn core that refused to allow her to do what she thought wasn’t right When that happened, to her mind it wasn’t rebellion or defiance--she had to do as right, because that was best for everyone, even when they didn’t believe it

And a servant, above all else, looked out for those she served

When the carousel stopped, he slid off the horse and helped her down the same way he’d helped her on, only this tiainst the horse’s side as he kissed her, threading his fingers through her hair, following the lines of her throat with his thu his tie up, take over, but this ti it The way her body slowly melted into that fit with his, her ar on

"Oy, now, got to make room for the next mob," the operator called out from the center of the carousel "Take your pretty sheila off to the strongman contest and impress her with a stuffed bear, ive the e s,halfway round the world?"

The rin creasing his face all over, showing a coupleteeth "Well, blimey charlie, what’d ya know? A pretty sheila on my carousel, in truth I hail fro all the way over here a the Yanks Gone wobbly, I expect That your husband?" Then he snorted before she could answer "Course not No woman I know kisses her husband like that Get on with you now and enjoy the fun, but come back round in a bit on my break I’ll shout you a lemonade if you’ll tell an old bastard all about ho that while his hearing was iood He’d been able to make out the embrace, but the difference in their races apparently hadn’t registered, not enough to bring hi Of course, in Elisa’s optiic Like ood sorts to whoinal women, and while they mostly had an entirely different opinion of a white woht be one of the rare ones who didn’t hold it against a sheila who stepped across those lines He orking at a carnival after all, a world usually populated by those on the fringes of society at best

So, choosing to believe that instead of iave him another affectionate expression and a wave Then she took Mal’s hand and let hiroup

As she glanced over her shoulder at the ht the wistful look "You miss home a lot, don’t you?"

"Yes And no" She looked up at hi and exhilarating and all that, but soet lonely for what’s familiar The cos I’ve always known But I’ve already started feeling at ease at your place, with Kohana and the rest It’s just hard Changing, that is Isn’t it?"

He decided to keep his answer to a nod, knowing exactly how she felt But then he couldn’t help his?"

"Definitely Particularly the strange part" Then, remarkably, she pushed hi over her shoulder at hirabbed hold of her, but before he could decide on his retaliation, she seized his other hand and pointed "Look Bicycles"