Page 58 of The Sundered Realms

She wasn’t mistaken on Isendhor’s etiquette: offering the nicer piece of furniture should have been expected. But she followed his lead and switched places. “The bed’s more comfortable. I thought you’d stayed here before?”

“I have, and that is not the point,” he grumbled, then scowled again. “Or maybe it is. Why did you think my thinking of you as a sister would matter?”

“You’ve been very clear that you don’t want me to feel like you’re constraining my options,” Liris said. “You’ve now even gone to the trouble of arranging external reviews of your behavior to make sure you’re not cornering me.”

Vhannor winced and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, that much is true.”

He didn’t say anything else immediately—notably anything about why thinking of her as a sister struck him as ridiculous.

Liris employed her vast powers of deduction and ventured, “I also didn’t want you to think of me as a sister, so I’m glad you’re claiming you don’t.”

“I emphatically do not.” Vhannor locked his gaze on hers.

His icy eyes very suddenly filled with gold fire, and Liris struggled to breathe normally for an entirely different reason.

“In our line of work,” he said, “physical combat skills can mean the difference between life and death. I wasn’t willing to risk my attraction to you interfering.”

Oh. Liris felt slightly giddy. “That’s why inviting you to my bed is such a distressing idea.”

“Distressing—“ Vhannor closed his eyes, and when he opened them to Liris’ perfectly innocent expression, rolled them. “Now you’re just teasing me.”

Liris’ lips twitched. “Maybe a little. So, if you’re not my teacher anymore, does that mean we can get dinner together? You pointed out that restaurant where courting university students frequent—“ She broke off at the stunned look on his face and demanded in exasperation, “Are there more rules?!”

“Liris, we’re going to have a professional relationship, and I’m a lot more experienced—“

“At being annoying,” Liris muttered.

Vhannor paused. “Well. I am an older brother.”

She glared.

More seriously, he continued, “There’s a lot going on right now, and any... volatility in our professional relationship could affect that. We can’t afford it.”

A valid point, however—“Is there ever not a lot going on with you?”

Vhannor pursed his lips.

Liris nodded. “Is this why you’re single, then? You never take risks?”

His eyes widened, his whole body tensing.

A palpable hit, then.

“Not with my duty,” he said in a hard voice.

“Hmm.” So if she decided she wanted to for sure be his partner romantically as well, she’d have to first prove she wouldn’t be a liability in his ability to fulfill his duty.

Well, Liris could pass tests. And it wasn’t like she wasn’t planning on not being a liability in that regard anyway. Though if he then still didn’t think she was enough... that would damage their relationship irreparably anyway.

“Well,” she finally said, “as long as you’re here, can you tell me what I’ll need to prepare for our mission? I’ve never packed before.”

Chapter 9

Otaryl will judge you by your facility with forms. Remember to practice the unique spoken greetings from their historical native dialect before switching to Court Methilari. A huge percentage of the population is part of the civil service, though reports vary on how effective it is. Serenthuar’s position is that the day-to-day management offers no opportunities, but the bureaucracy is exploitable.

There’s also a lantern festival around harvest time I’d love to see someday. The accompanying dumpling recipe competition might be dangerous for me, but I’m willing to risk it.

Otaryl wasn’t too many Gates away. This was Liris’ first experience passing from one realm to another without feeling... illicit, somehow. Like she was here on her own merits and not on someone else’s sufferance.

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