“Very.”
“I just don’t want them to use it against us.”
“They can’t.”
Deckard fixed her with a serious stare. “Theycan,” he said, imploring her to caution. “At the end of this, if they truly succeed in bringing down two countries, two monarchies—if they have all eight Relics at their disposal, who is going to stop these people from doing whatever they choose?”
A small smile quirked up the corner of Evylin’s mouth. “You?” she suggested.
He gave her a flat stare.
She chuckled. “Jonn, if they’re a tyrannical government bent on controlling the world, why would they want two individuals opposed to their schemes set in a place of leadership, holding an all-powerful Relic? You made your position quite clear at themeeting two nights ago. We distrust them. So even if they are tyrants, why would they press us into service?”
Deckard’s brow pinched in thought. He tried to work out an argument. If they were tyrants, they’d do whatever it took to reach their own ends. They could threaten Deckard’s or Evylin’s families or split them up. But in his heart, he knew that wasn’t who the Calders were, and they wouldn’t support a government that used such means of coercion.
With a sigh, Deckard said, “I don’t like it when you’re logical.”
Evylin’s grin grew sly. “Would you like me to be illogical? Very well.” She slid closer, draping her arms around his neck, and whispered, “Let’s run away together.”
“Where shall we go?” he asked, encircling her waist.
She made a grand show of consideration. “Mm. Perhaps we could visit Schon.” Her eyes crinkled. “Then you could get drunk on Schonese wine each night, and we’d dance until morning.”
“Sounds delightful. But what would we do about the hangovers?”
Evylin shrugged merrily. “Then we’ll go to the southern continent, Matra-something.”
“Matteire,” Deckard corrected, rather proud of his appropriately airy pronunciation of the continent’s name.
“Know-it-all.”
“I was a good student.”
“Of course you were.”
Deckard laughed. “And what would we do there?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Iwasn’ta good student.”
His smile grew. “I hear they have lovely beaches with white sand.”
“White sand?” Her eyes grew wide then. “Like in the Time Keep?”
“I suppose. The descriptions I’ve read say that it isn’t like our sand, not so coarse and gray but white and powder-like.”
“Sounds lovely,” Evylin said wistfully. “What else do you know about this place?”
A bashful smile came to Deckard’s lips, and he looked down. Her nightdress had slid up, pooling around her legs carelessly. “Well, I once read that the women of Audis, the capital of the southern country in Matteire, swim the southernmost beaches entirely naked.”
Evylin immediately guffawed. “My, my, Colonel Deckard!” she exclaimed amusedly. “How scandalous. Are you suggesting you’d like me to swim naked in the company of others?”
“I said no such thing,” Deckard replied. “You asked what I know, and I told you.”
“And this was part of your studies as a good student, was it?”
“It was extracurricular.”
“Mm-hm.” She drew herself closer until she was seated on his lap. “Well, if you want to take me to these beaches, you’ll have to teach me how to swim.”
