TWENTY-FIVE
"Is there good news, sir?"
Yun dragged his thoughts away from his search for the right words to describe Ava's voice. "Hmm?"
The guardsman coughed. "Beg pardon, Your Highness. But seeing as you're whistling so cheerfully and all, I thought you might have heard some good news."
He'd been whistling? Yun couldn't remember the last time he'd done that. But he couldn't think of any news, except... "I have a new wife," Yun said. He supposed that was news.
"I'd heard, sir. Congratulations. We heard she was some sort of barbarian princess. One of the Horse People." Though only his eyes were visible, his expression was uncomfortable. "Is it true that she's a witch, sir?"
She'd bewitched him, in ways Yun hadn't thought possible. Yet he found himself shaking his head. "She is the
