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Is there something wrong with me that I find him even more appealing now that I know he could break a man’s wrist if he wanted to?
Casimir shows no sign that he’s noticed my discomfort. He picks up one of the hair pins.
“You know, this one would look amazing with the reddish sheen to your hair. That color is almost like amber. I’ll bet every woman at the college has been envying it… We might as well make them envy it more.”
He flashes another grin at me and brandishes the pin, which holds a vibrant teal stone that I can’t help thinking would also match my new favorite dress awfully well too. As much as I know about fashion coordination.
The metal around the gemstone gleams gold. My hand comes to rest on my pouch. “I don’t think I can afford—”
Casimir waves off my protest before I can finish it. “I consider it a service to the entire city to add to your beauty. It’s no hardship.”
I manage not to guffaw at the idea of me having much beauty to begin with. It takes more effort not to totally stiffen up when Casimir reaches to fix the pin in my hair, adjusting my current casual updo.
He’s so deftly graceful that his fingers barely graze my skin, but a quiver of heat races over my scalp and down my back anyway. His sandalwood smell trickles through the thicker perfumes of the shop.
As he eases back so I can look at myself in the polished silver mirror next to the shelves, I swallow thickly. The gem really does gleam strikingly against the reddish blond of my hair.
“There,” he says. “It’s absolutely meant to be, Kindness.”
He adds a grin with the lilting nickname, a callback to what he told me after he brought my dresses.
The reference only reminds me of just how kind he’s being.
I cast my gaze toward him. “I should be the one calling you that. Is this how you are with all your… your friends?”
I don’t know if I can really call myself his friend. I wouldn’t be in reality, if we were both being ourselves.
Of course, it might not even be me he’s thinking about when he makes a gesture like this. He’s being sweet to the woman whowashis friend—and maybe more—who’s experiencing it on some level alongside me.
The reminder that he might not even be seeingmewhen he looks at me—not really—hits me like a bucket of icy water. My smile tightens, and I glance away.
Casimir answers in his usual gentle tone. “If I see an opportunity to bring some extra brightness into someone’s life, and it’s no trouble for me to do it, I do.” From the corner of my eye, I think I see his smile falter just a little too. “It’s what I was put in this world for.”
My attention jerks back to him, just as his expression turns thoughtful. He rests his hand on my arm, the warmth seeping through the silk sleeve of my dress. “It’s been a long time since anyone tried to make you happy, hasn’t it? Much too long.”
Between his touch and the too-accurate observation, my mind freezes up. All at once, I want nothing more than to escape his caring, perceptive gaze.
“Thank you,” I say quickly, detaching the pin. “I appreciate it; it’s just too much. I should be getting back to the college for Stavros’s next class.”
The second I’ve set the pin back on the shelf, I’m hurrying for the door.
“Ivy,” Casimir calls after me, but he won’t want to make a scene when we’re barely supposed to know each other. I don’t hear his footsteps behind me as I stride down the street.
What was that about?Julita asks.You’ve got to know Cas didn’t mean any harm by the remark. He really does want to please everyone.
And she obviously can’t see why that wouldn’t make me feel better. “I don’t like accepting gifts I can’t reciprocate,” I murmur, which is maybe a quarter of the truth.
Julita sniffs.Suit yourself. I don’t see any reason to refuse generosity when both people enjoy it.She pauses.I won’t be offended if you get more friendly with him—or any of the others—you know. Even if I were alive, it isn’t as if I’d staked any claim over them.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” But even after I’ve said that, I have to add, “Did you ever get… more than friendly with any of them?”
Oh, no, Julita says, as if she finds the idea absurd.Maybe a little flirtation, but, you know, sometimes that’s necessary to judge a man’s investment. I might consider them friends, but exposing the scourge sorcerers was the important thing. It wouldn’t do to distract them from our goal.
I’m weirdly relieved by her answer and also a little queasy, after seeing how devoted each of the men appear to be to her. But who am I to tell her how she should have run her life when she doesn’t even have one now?
By the time I’ve made it back to Florian’s central hill, the walk has smoothed out my thoughts. I ignore the thrum of the temple’s energy as I skirt it and then pace through the steps dictated by the passcode to enter the college.
As I cross the first courtyard to the outer school building, I scan the grounds around me out of habit. My gaze snags on a stout older man with silvered brown hair and a thick brow, who’s pointed out something to the boy beside him.
