Chapter Four
Nanda sat on the far side of the coach, wrapped in a dark cloak, her back to him as she stared out of the window. A dripping rain bonnet with a wide brim lay discarded on the seat beside her, allowing him to see the intricate braids that tied back her white-blonde hair. She must have heard him enter the coach, but she did not deign to turn around.
‘Good morning, Miss Falenia,’ he said as he slumped into a seat opposite her and hurled his sopping cloak to the floor.
That got her attention; they had long since abandoned the formal modes of address between them. Her head whipped around, and she frowned mightily at him.
‘If you are expecting a curtsey, you will be sorely disappointed,’ she snapped.
He grinned. ‘No, you are excused — but only because you are in a coach, and th
