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His laugh is quick, harsh.
“Nay. Nor will I ever be.”
I wet my lips, which are suddenly dry as stone.
“So says the man who has acquired the services of a Garra.”
Vanni’s eyes crinkle at the corners. “Marriage is very different than . . .” He stumbles.
“Sex. You may say the word. ’Tis not blasphemy to my ears.”
His amusement only grows.
“Forgive me, Aedre. I’m unaccustomed to speaking with a woman so openly.”
“A Garra,” I correct him. “My mother and grandmother, and theirs before them, have taught me there is no shame in the very act which ensures our continued survival as a people.”
He considers my words. “Then you know marriage is not necessary for sexual relations. But you also know that my . . . affliction was a pretense for these meetings.”
I nod, for I know it well. “Why do you not plan to marry? Will it not be necessary to carry on your name?”
He shrugs, unconcerned. “My name will mean little if our kingdom does not remain secure. My duty is to the king.”
A loud clap of water against the cliffs captures our attention. A storm is coming.
“So you will never marry?”
His answer is immediate. “I do not plan to do so.”
Why does his answer annoy me so? I decide the wording is what grates on me, not the sentiment, so I say, “The heart does not plan. Love does not adhere to one’s will.”
Vanni looks to the sky and breathes in. The air is more pungent, the winds changing.
“When do you think the storm will arrive?” he asks.
So he will ignore my words about love, ones I should never have uttered. He is a noble. Of course he does not believe in love. Southerners marry for advantage, believing matters of the heart mean very little.
But our traditions are different.
“Soon,” I say.
“I would ask questions of you today. Two, if I may. In exchange, I will grant you answers to two of your own.”
His words startle me. Two questions of me. Aye, I would agree to that.
“Very well.”
“You said you were raised here, in Murwood, with Aldwine. What do you know of him?”
I’ve thought much about this, and while I’d never give away Kipp’s secrets, it’s obvious Vanni already knows about his parentage. Kipp bears no love for the father who cast him aside.
Though King Galfrid has never sent his own Curia here before. That the second-highest-ranking man from court should come . . .
And yet, I cannot outright say what I know, if only because I promised Kipp I’d never speak of it. So I settle for a vague answer.
“I know everything there is to know. We are quite close.”
His eyes widen. “Close?”
