Page 89 of The Warlord's Princess
“Yes, and you will be again, but for now, you’re a spinner.”
My brow pinches in confusion. “Spinner.”
She grabs fluffy cloud-looking puffs from the basket. “You’re going to make thread for Asha.”
I cannot say no to that.
After teaching me what I must do, she sits by my side, working on threads of her own.
“How is Asha doing?” I ask, trying not to sound too interested. A lie.
How was I to know that being apart from her would suffocate me, causing unknown sadness to grow, tainting every part of me?
But Asha needs this distance.
“She is settled in the longhouse for now, but the men are falling all over themselves to make her a proper hut.”
My stomach twists because I know what a prize she is, but she was not meant for them. She is not even meant for me.
“You need to spin that tighter,” Nori says.
I glare at her, then proceed to spin the thread tighter.
“Was Asha able to grind the shells into more dyes?”
“She washed the shells and is now drying them in the sun. It’ll probably be a week before she can.”
I nod.
“Is there anything else you’d like to know about her?”
“Is she happy?” I blurt, without thinking.
She pauses her spinning and tilts her head to the side. “Why do you care?”
Her tone is more curious than harsh, yet I mislike what it implies.
“She saved me.”
“Is that all?”
Annoyed, I go back to the puffs, spinning them into threads to later be used by Asha.
“I understand most of the men,” Nori says. “But you…I don’t think I’ll ever figure you out, and that’s driving me nuts.”
“What is there to figure out?”
“Asha has proven to everyone that she’s strong. Even the men that mislike us the most respect her.” She sets down her puff and stares at me. “Happiness is tangible for you. Yours for the taking. Yet, you look away.”
“As you do with Dogan?” I say with an arched brow.
“It’s not like?—”
Dogan enters the hut with a plate of steaming food. I set the thread and wool aside, expecting to eat, but he hands the plate to Nori.
I stare at her, knowing my point has been made.
“Is it time to eat already?” she says as she takes the plate from him and ignoring my words.
