Page 67 of The Tsarina's Favorite
“Yes?”
“I’m afraid that, if I tell you, you’ll think me foolish.”
“Not at all,” I assured her.“I already think you foolish.Nothing you can say will change that.”
“You’re awful!”
“So you’ve said, many a time.”
“That’s true," she agreed.She twisted her hands in her lap and then, reaching out, set her hand on top of mine.“All teasing aside though....”
My breath caught with the gesture.This wasn’t a stray or absent touch.This wasn’t accidental or impulsive.She took a moment and decided, even with the hideous strangeness of my hands, to touch me.
“Yes?”I choked out.
She whispered, “I like this.”
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
“I am very alone in Ilyichia,” she admitted, “but even if I were not, I would prefer your company to anyone else’s.”
“You like to suffer, it seems,” I teased.
“You simply give what you get.You match me with whatever orneriness I have to offer, and yet, somehow, you’re still so gracious about...nearly everything!It’s almost sickening, you know.”
“My graciousness?”
“It still shames me to think of how cruel I was to you before you told me that you understood.How dare you be so tolerant!”
Alaina and Klessa probably would have made good friends if a world of titles did not separate them.I didn’t know how I could arrange that introduction now.I didn’t even know Klessa’s public name, beyond “Pietrodillo’s wife.”I admired them both for their navigation of treacherous court life, and in a place where everyone could be an enemy, I trusted them both.The idea of them joining forces was a formidable one though that Drook or any other they opposed might regret.
“I will try not to be so gracious in the future.”
“And,” she continued with her list of troublesome virtues, “although everyone is afraid of you, you’re kind.”
“I amnot.”
“You’re currently keeping me warm.”
“Purely selfish!Who else would visit me if you caught ill?”
“Pish.You’re kind.Princess Alaina of Altania and Ilyichia decrees it.I could go on,” she threatened when I groaned.“You’re clever.And funny.And you put up with me.And you’re comforting.”
“You made those up,” I grumbled.
“I wish.It’s annoying how much I like you.”
“It’s annoying how much I enjoy your company as well.”
“We’re friends, right?”She put her other hand on top of mine too.“Can we be friends?Is that strange?”
“Strange, yes,” I agreed, “but fitting for a princess who likes spending time with a bird whose existence is disbelieved by elephants.”
“But we can be friends then, even if it is strange?”
“Yes,” I said.“We can be friends.”
“Good.Because I like this.I really like this.”
