Eva found Kade in the fortress kitchens two days later, sitting on a countertop with his leg propped up on a stool, arguing with a woman twice his age about the correct way to season something that smelled like it had personally offended him.
"Absolutely not," the woman was saying, waving a wooden spoon like a weapon. "You put clove in that broth and I will feed you to whatever's left of Damon's army myself."
"It's traditional."
"It's a war crime."
Eva hovered in the doorway, unsure whether she was interrupting something, until Kade spotted her and waved her in with the easy relief of a man delighted to have his argument interrupted.
"Ms. Cross. Come settle this. Clove in venison broth inspired, or an act of aggression?"
"I have genuinely no opinion on venison broth."
"See, Marta, a
