CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Page Boys and SubterfugeAwamutu left his mother in the care of the Forlornn remnant and brought his wife into our small family. I greeted the change with excitement, but she disappointed me in ways I hadn’t expected. I believe I wanted a carbon copy of Bliss, but instead gained a maid who reminded me more of Zinnia. Lithe and beautiful, she possessed a poise worthy of royalty but unlike my sister, dispatched her duties without complaint. She did everything I asked and more, coping with the appearance of the children with unruffled grace and securing enough food for us all. Yet I mistrusted her with an instinct born more of jealousy than gut. Her presence distracted my guard and I saw his loyalties sever along a veiled fissure. Before long, I doubted him also.
He refused
