Page 39 of Avaritia

“I’m going, I’m going,” Rainy mumbled, trailing after him as he ushered her out of the room without looking back.

Had that gone well? I couldn’t tell. Considering how flagrantly rude Rainy had been to me since I’d shown up, I still felt strangely compelled to try make a good impression on her. I mean, we were sisters-in-law for all intents and purposes now, right? There could only be benefits to us having a good relationship.

And if I could introduce a little silliness to both her and Theon’s lives, surely that could only be a good thing. Both of them took themselves way too seriously.

Just as I was starting to get hungry, Theon appeared in the library with two plates of food, glancing down irritably as Fester trotted along at his feet. I schooled my expression, though I hadn’t expected Theon to come to me. I’d assumed our mandated midday meals had to happen in the dining room.

“Your beast is far too fearless,” Theon grumbled. “If I don’t fiercely guard my plate, it steals the meat straight off it.”

“He,” I corrected primly, standing up and dusting off my tie-dye leggings. “Not it. And Fester was abandoned. It took a lot of convincing to get him to trust me—he’s mostly chill now, but he still steals food a lot. Naughty Fester,” I added, giving him a stern look that he ignored completely, yellow eyes fixed on the plates in Theon’s hands.

Theon set the plates down on the table he’d once bent me over, and my face flamed as I dragged a seat over to join him. Was he thinking about that day? He didn’t look like it. I wished I had a poker face.

“There is a lingering… unpleasantness to your smell,” he observed, ever the charmer.

“Your sister was here.”

Theon made a grumbling sound. “Wilder said as much. I hope she behaved herself, though my expectations are low.”

I waved away his concern. “She was fine. I mean, she gave me a fright, hence the smell. It was good, though. I’d like to get to know her better.”

Theon looked doubtful. “Why?”

“Why not?” I shrugged. “I’ve never had a sister. It could be fun.”

He grumbled something under his breath that I didn’t quite catch, though it sounded like he said “better than having brothers.”

Theon’s gaze tracked over the stack of books on the floor I’d been working on, and I somehow felt my skin grow hotter, though I had no idea why. Maybe it was just because I knew that he’d been down in his mad scientist lab doing god-knows-what all morning, and I’d been… dusting book covers.

“You’re sure you wouldn’t rather have Aderith do this?” Theon asked skeptically. “You’re a duchess. You don’t have to clean.”

“Am I?” I did a double take when I realized there was a sizeable portion of potato on my plate, sliced into thin rounds and fried. Not fried for very long, by the looks of it, but I appreciated the gesture, nonetheless.

“I requested some human food from the palace,” Theon said, eyeing the potato warily. “More should arrive within the next few days. And of course you’re a duchess. You’re my mate.”

My stomach did a little somersault at the reminder, even though it was still a shady, on-the-down-low mating and totally didn’t count.

“I thought titles were more of a by-marriage thing. And thank you for the food, that was very thoughtful of you.”

He grunted in acknowledgment. “We could get married today, but I assume you would be uncomfortable with the idea since you want to keep our mating a secret.”

“How do you manage to make it sound like I’m being super unreasonable about that?” I laughed. “Did you see the look on everyone’s faces when I said I’d go with you? Do not you remember how horrified they were?”

“I was only looking at your face.”

“Oh.” I blinked. “That’s kind of romantic.”

Theon narrowed his eyes. “I was merely trying to work out if you were in possession of your full faculties or not.”

“That’s slightly less romantic.”

“I have never claimed to be romantic. Why would you say such a thing?”

I stabbed a piece of semisoft potato with my fork, waving it in his face. “Because you’re a sweet, considerate mate who got me potatoes and lets me play with cleaning products? What more could a girl ask for?”

“I suspect you are not being sincere.”

I shoved my food in my mouth, doing my best to suppress my smile.

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