Vevina stood staring at Astrid. She had heard her, though she couldn't quite make sense of what she'd said. Her words had also hurt. She was aware that Astrid thought of her as weak, and now she added coward to how she felt about her.
It had taken all her strength to outfox Robert, and she'd learned by trail and error until she was finally able to protect herself the only way she could by outwitting him. She never thought of herself as a coward or a warrior, her only thought was survival, as was it now.
"If that is what you wish," she said.
"Do you always comply so easily?"
She heard her annoyance and did not intend to suffer over it. "You have made yourself clear. Why argue?"
"Always the obedient wife, huh?"
"I do my duty," she said, not meaning to sound as if she accused, but Ast
