"Glad my suffering entertains you."
"Always." She props her boots on the edge of my table—muddy, both of them. "I also like that you're pink now. It matches your shirt."
"It matches my hair."
"Even better."
I roll my eyes and push her feet off my table. "You weren't supposed to be back for a few more days."
"Got bored." She steals what's left of my bread. "Volmaris was dull. Everyone there just wants to talk about trade routes and grain prices."
"Riveting."
"It really wasn't. I lasted two days." She tears off a chunk of bread and talks around it. "There was this merchant who wanted to tell me about the difference between winter wheat and spring wheat for an hour. Anhour, Mel. I was ready to walk into the river."
"Yet here you are."
"Barely." She chews, swallows, makes a face. "This bread is stale."
"It's two days old."
"That's what I said. Stale."
"Don't eat it, then."
"No, I'm committed now." She takes another bite anyway. "I left early and stopped in Sarveil on the way back—much better. There's a woman there who makes these little honey cakes, have I told you about her?"
"Yup. Three different times."
"Well, I'm telling you again. They're incredible. I'll bring you some next time."
"You've said that before too."
"And I mean it! I just keep eating them all before I get here." She grins, completely unrepentant. "It's a long walk."
"Three years of promises. Zero honey cakes. Tsk"
"That's not—it hasn't been three years."
"It's been three years."
"Has it?" She counts on her fingers, frowns. "When did I first show up here?"
"Middle of summer. You said you were passing through. Asked to stay one night."
"And you let me, which—honestly, questionable judgment on your part. I could've been anyone."
"You brought me a fish."
"Right! And you complained about how I cleaned it."
"Because you butchered it. There were barely any meat left. And there were teeth marks in it, Kes. Not human ones, either."
"I got better."
"You got marginally less terrible."
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." She props her boots on the table again. I push them off again. "So what'd I miss?"
