“Oh, I—” It was outrageously early, now that he really observed his surroundings. The fieldworkers were heading out to begin their morning, mist still rose from the dewy grass, and clearly the family had still been readying for the day when he came cantering down the hill toward their little glen. What had even possessed him to come this way? He wasn’t due to makeanyvisits for the next fortnight, but his mind was in turmoil, and his latest encounter with Miss Kiappa tipped him quite on end. “Terribly sorry. I was out for a ride and decided to pay a visit. I didn’t realize the hour. Pardon me.”
“It’s no bother. You had us in a bit of a tizzy!” She laughed, patting his arm with plump fingers. “The children are finishing their morning chores, we’ll eat shortly. Have you had breakfast?”
He shook his head. He’d slipped out before most of his staff had risen, sent the stableboy back to bed, and saddled his own horse. He should’ve realized the hour! Concern had plagued Kas for days, and his typical sanctuaries no longer felt safe, so he’d ridden out. Putting his foot in his mouth? He was used to that. Angering his favorite members of staff all at once? This was new territory.
It all started with that first chastising look Thera gave him after he told her he was sending the guard away. Aylin wasn’t any happier and had been giving him the cold shoulder for nearly a week. Even Salima, his cook,was serving him burnt food and the worst cuts of meat. Not only had he triggered some wild side of Miss Kiappa, he’d also learned, in the harshest way possible, his staff would happily choose the visiting tutor over him, their employer! It was astonishing, in an impressive and depressing sort of way.
“Come join us, my lord.” The barefoot Sir Gamil stepped to the side and beckoned Kas through their front door.
Perhaps good food and the company of people who didn’t despise him would cure his aching soul.
He was wrong. The food was well-made without the slightest hint of char. But seeing the happy family, the way Gamil pressed a kiss to the top of his wife’s head before preparing her tea for her, it made him hurt more. He wanted that. His parents shared a love like that, Hevva and Ehmet too. But he was so damned unfocused he had no idea where to begin with making it possible. For gods’ sakes, he’d ridden out at sunrise, terrifying his own tenants! He was off schedule and out of sorts, and he wasn’t sure if he or Miss Kiappa was to blame.
Kas chatted through most of the meal, asking after their children’s lessons, catching up on the latest gossip with Mrs. Ahearn, and speaking about a new set of drainage trenches with Gamil. When the meal wrapped and Gamil invited Kas out to tour the project, he accepted with alacrity, grateful for something simple, structured, and tangible to focus on.
The ride out to the construction site was peaceful and far too long for his muddled mind. Perhaps he shouldn’t have left the house. If he’d stayed there, Miss Kiappa would likely be rising for the day and coming to pester him soon with anewscheme from her brilliant brain. She’d be ready to harass or harangue him... and he’d let her. While Kas was slightly terrified of Nesrina, he also delighted in the attention he was receiving, albeit ill gained.
Their argument in the library the evening after he’d dismissed Rihan Sarma was spectacular—the confusing kind of spectacular. It was the first and only time Kas saw her lose control of her magic—at least he liked to think that’s what happened when the massive shrubbery popped between them. Everything he said came out wrong in that conversation, and noclarity was achieved before they parted ways. In fact, it was possible the argument muddied things more.
Kas and Sir Gamil reached the construction site and dismounted. A few workers he recognized, and more who he did not, greeted them warmly before returning to their tasks. Earthshapers worked together, standing on opposite sides of the drainage channel, pulling dirt from the marked area and tamping it down along the ledges to create a buffer between the banks and fields beyond. If someone as powerful as Hevva were here, she could dig a whole ditch in a day’s time, and she’d probably have energy in her well to spare. But it was important for locals of all strength and power levels to have work readily available. Though, if Hevva were visiting, he doubted she’d be able to hold herself back from helping, at least a smidge.
Watercoursers stood farther up the way. A wall of water from the past few days of heavy rains sloshed, barely contained behind their invisible dam. A small group of mages who couldn’t have been older than fifteen stood farther upstream. Honing their skills, they attempted to hold the water back at an earlier dam that kept breaking before they pressed in on it and restored the stopper. Left to their own devices, they learned to work together in harmony, eventually succeeding consistently enough that the older mages closer to Kas could take a break.
It wasn’t long before the workers completed their stretch of ditch and stepped back to watch the fruits of their labor flow.
“Thank you, Sir Gamil,” Kas said over the rush of muddy water.
The group broke up for lunch and Kas bid his tenants farewell, having learned some, but not as much as he expected, on the merits of a herringbone structure for the channels. His mind was elsewhere during many of the explanations. Turning his horse, he took off toward Stormhill.
Alone on his ride, without a physical project in front of his face to occupy his mind, he found himself reflecting on the past week...again. A worm of guilt had burrowed into his chest during her tirade against him in the library. Each and every time she battered him with her frustration—by being noisy in the library or rapping on his office door—he felt more and more unsure of his decision to dismiss the guard.
The fact was, he hadn’t been able to take it any longer. Rihan’s badbehavior aside, it was hard enough having her under his roof. The last thing he needed was to be distracted by his beautiful distraction andherdistraction. Sarma was a rogue, to be sure, but Miss Kiappa didn’t seem to agree, and that was the crux of the problem. The man was an absolute bounder. Buthadit been Kas’s decision to make?
Yes. It was. He couldn’t condone such poor behavior and would have had to send Sarma away regardless ofwhohe’d been pawing at. His personal feelings toward Miss Kiappa had no effect on his decision... well,hardly.
Still, the hardest pill to swallow was that his moment of attempted advocacy backfired, and she’d made it her mission to pester him during every waking moment she wasn’t with the twins.
He couldn’t focus.
He wanted to focus: on his passion projects, on research, on his schedule, on his tenants’ plans—but his mind kept leaping back to the tutor who’d tentatively stepped into the foyer of Kirce and inadvertently tripped him up again and again with her ongoing presence in his life.
She wasn’t supposed to be interesting, but she was swiftly knocking sustainable mining practices out of first place. And hermagic?The king’s magic, the twins’... it was infinitely interesting, and he knew the moment he gave in and started learning about it in earnest, he’d be hooked.
The same went for studying her.
What heneededto do was finish his personal projects, then he could focus on earning Miss Kiappa’s goodwill. But anxiety over whether she hated him or was temporarily disgruntled kept his focus split. He didn’t need to be learning aboutnaughtbirins... or tutors. He needed to be gettinghiswork done.
Perhaps, if he could answer one question, maybe a few, he could find his focus. With his mount handed off to the grooms, Kas beelined to the trees, Vites and Enoth bounding out from somewhere to join him. The day was pleasant, and Nesrina would have the twins out by the stream, he was certain of it.
Waltzing down the path to the clearing, Kas slowed his steps to half-skulk behind trees when he caught sight of Nesrina, speaking animatedly to the children. She was so lovely,tilal.Tilal’kalalitani, his lovelydistraction, in her new coral gown, perched atop a stump with the stream at her back.
His dogs ran ahead, joining the group and earning a cheer from the children. When Nes looked up, glaring daggers down the shaded path—at him—he lifted his hand in a small wave, and stayed put.
He hoped she loved her new dresses; he truly had intended to tell her they were from him, but things snowballed, and he lost his chance. He should have confessed when they met in the dining room, after he’d sent Rihan away, but before she knew the guard was gone. That was the ideal time, and he’d missed his opportunity, spouting nonsense about the wardrobe being a gift from his sister, too. He should’ve fessed up, told her he’d dismissed Rihan, and why, then admitted his affection for her. Perhaps not all in the same conversation. He still could, stillshould, but he needed the right time to crop up.
Life was full of bad timing and difficult situations. Kas typically prided himself on putting his head down, gathering information, and getting through to the other side more educated and capable than before. Like when he had to learn to balance the earldom with earning his credits at the Institute, and after that, balancing it with a brief stint in the Selwassan army, because it was what the nobility did—a service to the kingdom. His father had been around though, for support. It was different than now, he supposed.
But even when his parents passed and he came into the dukedom too, Hevva had been there to prop him up. She still was, but she had a whole country to run. He hated to burden her. That’s what he needed though: someone to bounce ideas off of. The problem was, he wanted to bounce ideas about Nesrina—and her magic—off the woman herself. That felt... scary.
