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I blinked. “What are you doing here?” I looked around the groves for any Halfling faces I didn’t recognize.
“The courtesans are still in Cereliath.” Dynara handed my weapon back to me. “Though not for long.”
“What reason did you have to leave them?” I straightened my back. “Do you need help bringing them here?”
Dynara gave me a dramatic pout. “I thought you said I was your best spy?”
“You are.”
She flicked the point of my nose. “Then don’t assume I need your help. If I do, I will ask for it.” She wrapped her long arm around my shoulder and I caught the rich floral scent of her chestnut hair. “Nikolai sent word that you rescued the Shades from under Damien’s nose. I figured that was worth a visit.” Her dark eyes trailed along my body and then my face. “I thought you’d be in better spirits on the cusp victory.”
“I’m ill.”
Dynara raised a disbelieving brow. “Is that what you’re calling it?”
“Either way I’m dealing with it.” I clasped her hand as we walked. “I’m glad you’re here, but won’t your presence be missed?”
Dynara twirled a strand of her hair. “The lords that Damien allowed to keep their heads may be under the impression that I have beencommissionedto Silstra for a short visit.” She smiled devilishly. “I won’t be missed for a week or so.”
“I’m glad I know you’ll be safe for a week.” I squeezed her hand. “Remember how you dressed me that night in Aralinth?”
She shoved my hip with hers. “I’m not sure there’s enough time for me to forget how wonderful you looked in that bodice.”
I grinned. That night had been one of my favorites since coming to stay in the Faeland. Dynara had become one of my favorites too. “Would you want do to something like that again? Butbigger?”
Dynara’s eyes flashed with excitement. “How much bigger?”
“As grand as you and Nikolai could possibly imagine.”
She stepped down from the last step. “That’s a dangerous combination.”
I followed her across the large hall and my lungs filled with the inviting smells of Lash’s baking. “That’s what I’m hoping for.”
We stepped into the kitchens and Nikolai and Gwyn were sitting at the table exactly where I had asked him to be. Gwyn’s blue eyes landed on me and she stood.
I stepped in front of her. “I will not make you stay, but I would like to introduce you to someone I think you’ll like very much.”
Gwyn moved her hands in a quick slash through the air. I turned to Nikolai, who frowned. “She says she doesn’t care to meet any of your friends.”
Dynara stepped around me, making a point to let her leg slip through the slit in her skirt. Gwyn’s eyes couldn’t resist taking in the beauty of the layers that flowed like a waterfall down Dynara’s leg.
Dynara smiled, knowing exactly how to crack the thick wall Gwyn had built around herself. She slipped the gold flower from her small braid and tucked it into Gwyn’s fiery curls. “This is the sister you’ve been telling me about.”
I stilled. I had never used that word to refer to Gwyn in her presence. Only in the notes Dynara and I passed back and forth to each other when I was at her bedside with the healers. I tried not to look at Gwyn.
Dynara pulled one of the copper curls from behind Gwyn’s ear. “A beauty and a warrior, I see.”
Gwyn stepped back with wide eyes but didn’t sign anything.
“This is Dynara,” I interjected before Dynara could say anything else. “She’s the one who procured the beads I gave you to call me back to Koratha. She’s the reason Gerarda was able to … get you out.”
Gwyn’s brows furrowed and she stared at me like a painter lost in her unfinished portrait, looking for something that wasn’t yet realized. My heart quickened. I would have given anything for her to speak one word to let me know what she was thinking.
Gwyn turned back to her chair and pulled it completely free from the table. She gave a small nod to Dynara and pointed at the seat.Dynara sat gracefully and flicked her skirts over her knee. Gwyn looked at the door behind me and I watched the debate rage in her eyes. Then she grabbed the chair next to Dynara and sat down.
My shoulders relaxed. I turned to Nikolai, who was pretending not to be interested in what had just occurred. “Glad to see my message reached you, Dynara,” he said with a stiff nod.
She smiled back at him. “I appreciate you thinking of me. It seems I arrived just in time. Keera was telling me about some kind of fashion disaster.”
