Page 98 of The Duke and the Disciple

No,she thought, watching Pieter’s breath cloud in the cold air, his eyes regarding her like a hawk sizing up prey.This is.

Aesylt tried to push past him, but he sidestepped, blocking her.

“Aesylt, please. I’m the last person you’d get judgment from.”

“I’m going to be late.” Her jaw clenched harder with each word. Pieter had worn many hats since Aesylt and Rahn had arrived. Old friend. Spy. Co-conspirator. Rahn had been right; she shouldn’t have been so quick to let him back in, even if she had been cautious. He was as shifty as a snake.

“The scholar is a catch. I can’t say I blame you,” he said, moving to let her pass. Unsurprisingly, he followed. “If you’re worried I’ll tell my father or the stewardess?—”

Aesylt spun on him, full of fire. “I know you won’t, because I’d kill you in your sleep.”

Pieter’s eyes widened, his hands moving up and out in submission. “I followed you yesterday because you were acting so strangely at evening meal. I wasn’t trying to collect damning information on you.”

“You don’t even know what you saw,” Aesylt countered, lifting her chin. “And I don’t owe you an explanation. I’m going to walk away, and you’re not going to follow me. If you do, I’ll know your intentions were not the wholesome ones you’re trying to sell me now.”

“I won’t follow you,” Pieter said slowly. “And I’ll keep your secret. But it didn’t take a diviner, or me stumbling upon the two of you, to know what’s been going on in the tower.”

He stepped aside, and Aesylt marched past without responding.

By the time she reached the sitting room, Nyssa was already being poked and prodded by a handful of young women. Her emerald gown had so many layers, she took up the width of four grown men. The cost of the amount of velvet it had taken to produce such a dress would have fed a Vjestik family for a year. The lace only made the entire ensemble more garish.

“Was wondering when you might decide to join us,” Nyssa said, smiling at herself in the long mirror.

“Apologies,” Aesylt muttered as she threw her furs over the back of a chair. “I’m here now.”

“Well I know you’re not particularly fond of dressing up, so I’ve taken the liberty of finding you a more... subtle piece.” Nyssa shooed the women away and waved an arm at a tall armoire in the corner. “Fetch it already, one of you. Guardians.”

One of the young women scurried to the armoire and returned with a dark-brown frock that had almost no detailing whatsoever. Instead of broad, sweeping skirts like Nyssa’s dress, the piece was slim fitting, like the way a nightgown wrapped around a woman’s curves, but it was at least twice as thick. The neckline was so high and tight, she could already feel herself suffocate in it.

“Nyssa, did you steal this from one of the old monasteries?” Aesylt asked with a short laugh.

“I might have come up with something more appealing, had you told us you were coming months ago,” Nyssa said with a dainty shrug. “But you’re taller than me, and my other gowns are simply hemmed too high for you. It’s not as if we’ll be dancing instreams, for Guardians’ sake. This one will suffice.”

“You said this was yours?Wherewould you even have worn such a thing?” Aesylt fingered the ungainly fabric.

“I wore it on a diplomatic trip to Darkwood Run. The Arranden women are less, well, showy, and Mother thought a more modest cut would be the respectful way to go. And it was springtide, so perfectly in season. We didn’t have time to get it to the seamstress, so I just had to carry my hem around all afternoon.”

Aesylt laughed and shook her head. “Modest is really underselling this smock, Nyssa.”

Nyssa grinned from her reflection. “It’s not the dress, Aesylt. It’s the woman within it.”

Aesylt released the dress with a cordial nod at the seamstress maiden holding it. “I’ll find something in my own trunks.”

Nyssa flipped around so fast, she teetered, and the women had to scramble to keep her from toppling off the chair. “You willnot,Aesylt Wynter. The Vjestik simply have no sense of... No. Your gowns are drab and lacking life. If you want to traipse about your lord’s halls in them, I can’t stop you. But you’re not wearing anything of your own tomyball. I won’t have it.”

“Nyssa, nothing I own comes close to as drab and life-lacking as this.”

“You’re being difficult. This evening isn’t about you, and I’m not asking for much.”

Aesylt sighed. “I’ll be happy to spend the evening in the tower, working on my notes. Honestly, I’ve never been one for celebrations, and I’d only pull the mood down.”

“You should thankme, Aesylt. If you’re wearingthis,your darling man of science won’t be so likely to make a fool of himself in front of others.” She flitted her wrist with a disgusted look. “You know, you’re twenty... and cavorting with a man old enough to be your... much older brother. If you don’t secure a betrothal soon, one will not come.”

Aesylt snorted. “And would the reason you’re helping me have anything to do with the way you’ve been eyeing him for yourself since we arrived?”

“A duke wouldplease my father. There’s only a handful in this entire kingdom, and most are married already.” Nyssa twirled side to side on the chair, admiring herself. “But as he is no longer in favor with the queen consort, it would create a political nightmare for us that even I can appreciate.”

“Rahn isn’t out of favor with Queen Adamina.” She started toward Nyssa and the chair, growing even hotter than she’d been after her encounter with Pieter. “He left because he wanted to.”

---