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"Hay-"

"Or we could take off on Midnight and Sundown, head for your old fah the fields and play by that stream you always talk about It sounds like paradise"

I s "Haydyn, you knoe can’t"

"Why not? You’re the only one I care about and the only one who cares about rand adventure"

"You know you care about the people here, Haydyn You’re just overwhel her, ic, Haydyn And it needs your goodness I know it’s a lot to ask of a young wo for our land"

Ian, you must thinkI think you’re scared But I kno sood you are And like you said, you have h I’ll always be there for you You’re all that …"

…a stripe of heat acrossainst the strea in from a crack in the rafters

Where was I?

It tookback and I stiffened;to one My heart raced No, he was probably just in the house, I reassuredless exhausted, I still ached all over All over Why, oh why had I kissed Wolfe last night? I groaned, buryingto do!

You were exhausted

Yes I was exhausted I wasn’t thinking clearly clearly

I was in themy best friend, my sister; the one person in the entire land of Phaedra whoto me I couldn’t be distracted by kisses froinable His father killed irl! He would marry and I… definitely would not!

But what to do now? When I went into the house, how should I act? My stomach churned I dreaded an actual conversation with him about it Oh surely Wolfe would knoas a e happened I bet that was exactly what he would want Nodding, happy with the decision, I scra on ht and hot outside the hayloft and I winced at the thought of riding to Caera in this heat Heaving a huge sigh, I bracedfor battle, and headed into the ’s house Wolfe was nowhere to be seen; thebustling around the kitchen, the srumbled a plea

"There you are" The oldsmiled at me "I hope you slept well"

I nodded, confused Where was Wolfe?

"Your lowered "He’s not my man He’s my…" I realised I didn’t kno to finish that sentence

Chuckling softly, thelay out the breakfast for us "I’ Be back in a ratefully and sat down, answering her cheery smile with a half-hearted one of my own I never knew confusion could be so physically disorientating Shrugging it off, I began to dig into the delicious food, salivating as it ue Perhaps we should take the oldback with us, employ her in the palace kitchens My lips twitched at the thought Cook wouldn’t be amused by that turn of events Ah Cook I missed her And Valena And Haydyn… but that ithout saying

At the sound of a creak behind me, my ears perked up, and then his familiar scent hit ainstat him incredulously I across his gaze Whatever he saw in ust and he took the seat beside ht was a dreae to his voice

I took asensation on nore the way ht of his aquaht ive me away, I replied, "Not a drealare at me out of the corner of his eye, and it wasn’t hard to fall back into the way of things, bristling at the condescending look he slid on and off his face as easy as ahis head "I should have known you’d wake up as skittish asto do with that And I am not skittish! I never skitter"

He rolled his eyes "You’re being skittish But I’ive you sos"

Whatever else I had been feeling, whatever doubts, whatever confusion, rushed out of theat his patronising conceit That faant, condescending, arrogant-"

"You said that already" He flicked his fork atHe thought ere having a disagree my nerves to calm "I’ how he flinched as I reverted to calling him Captain "I’m sorry to have ht won’t happen again"

Wolfe gazed atto calculate how earnest I was Finally he shook his head, angry confusion in his beautiful eyes "Rogan, don’t I know this is… difficult… but we can figu-"

"Don’t" I stood up quickly,to wash up" Before he could argue anypast the bewildered oldThe trough was right out back, hidden in the shade of the house so the water was still chilled It felt delicious, shocking, and refreshing as I splashed it up intowater droplets into my neck and behind my ears It wasn’t perfect, but it would do For a while I just stood by the trough, gazing around at the open land around the old ’s horeen as Vasterya There was a browny-bronze tinge to everything that suggested the land existed in a state of near autumn all year round, contrary to the heat of the sun There wasthe summer months than anywhere else bar Alvernia It was colder too, the further north you crept I decided I liked the air in Daeronia, however Not only e still close enough to brewery land to smell the sweetness in the air but it was joined by a crisp freshness that you just didn’t get in the other provinces during the sum I had prolongedas I could, I headed back into kitchen, heart pounding, dreading aitingfor me, his expression carefully blank