B00CH3ARG0 EBOK Read Online Free Page B

would
not know its significance.”
    * * *
    The Sural, working at the desk in his open study off the
audience room, put aside the tablet he’d been reading, pleased with his head
apothecary. Marianne had, on her own initiative, begun a personal conversation
with the healer.
    “She needs a friend,” he said. “You have my permission to be
familiar with her.”
    “My gratitude, high one,” Cena said.
    “Choose an assistant for yourself, to assume those of your
duties which do not deal directly with me,” he added.
    “High one?”
    “It will give you more time to spend with the Marann.”
    She nodded. “She would benefit from more time spent with you
as well. Your influence on her is normally soothing.”
    “And yet avoid coupling.”
    “Unless she initiates, yes, high one. For her sake, work off
your appetite sparring with your guards.”
    He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers in front
of him. “I understand.”
    “Good,” she said, flashing one of his own crooked smiles. Then
she gave him a more clinical look. “You allowed yourself sufficient rest? You
are consuming enough food to replenish yourself?”
    He chuckled. “I slept past first light, and I have been
eating enough for three Surals.”
    She nodded approval. He chuckled again and sent her away,
then picked up his tablet and began to sort through his reports to determine
which of them could be delegated to aides and advisors and which demanded his
personal attention.
    * * *
    Marianne was wandering through the garden when the Sural
winked into sight beside her. He wrapped her in a hug.
    “Beloved,” she breathed into his robes. Warmth from the sun
clung to them.
    “You are not to be alone,” he chided. “Why did you send away
the aide my apothecary assigned to you?”
    “I’m not alone,” she responded, nodding toward the nearest
guard. The Sural raised an eyebrow. “Don’t they count?”
    “They focus their senses too keenly on watching for
intruders to be useful in this matter,” he said. “You may not recall that most
were of little help in catching you yesterday. It is too dangerous for you to
be out here unaccompanied, with cliffs on every side.”
    “Oh.” Then, “How close did I get to the edge?”
    “A few strides.” His arms tightened around her, and she sensed
a pang run through him. “A few more moments, and I would have lost you.”
    She winced. Good lord . No wonder he was smothering
her.
    He took her hand and walked toward a cora tree blooming with
small white flowers. She seated herself beside him on a low branch at the base
of the tree. The faint scent of the petite blooms, undetectable to her before
her recent change, had a citrus-like tang.
    “You will enjoy cora fruit,” he said, putting an arm around
her as she nestled against him. “It ripens in mid-autumn.”
    “You always seem to know what I’m thinking,” she said. “Don’t
you have any cora fruit stored away that I can try?”
    “Cora must be eaten fresh,” he said. “Directly from the
tree, if possible. It loses its flavor very quickly after picking and becomes
bitter.”
    “So that’s why you have so many cora trees in the gardens.”
    He nodded and ran long fingers through her hair. Light brown
wisps, almost the color of his skin, came free of their knots.
    “Earth has a few foods like that,” she added, wistfully
thinking about fresh-picked snap peas from her grandmother’s vegetable garden
in Iowa. He smiled. “Cena has that smile.”
    His forehead wrinkled.
    “You know,” she went on, “Cena. Your daughter. The head
apothecary.”
    “Ah.”
    “Is that all you’re going to say? ‘Ah’? Didn’t you know your
own daughter’s name?”
    “Of course – but she is not my daughter.” His eyes flicked
over her face. “What troubles you about this?”
    She pulled away from him, arms crossed, irritation consuming
her. What was the matter with this man? “I don’t understand you people,”
she said, narrowing her eyes as