Talis had to laugh. “Maybe. Still new. But—yes. I hope so.”
They all made romantic noises and insisted he eat the last apricot fantasia. Talis went out of the palace kitchens grinning, full of pastries and ham and cheese and praise of Jer. Despite plots and rumors and wicked princesses, he couldn’t not smile. Of course the cooks and the staff adored Jeryn. Everyone should.
He wandered through here-and-gone veils of sunlight, clouds, rain showers, cobbled paths. The royal guard trained and practiced in a large airy salon at the back of the palace courtyard, in several buildings that held weapons and weapons-masters, an infirmary, exhibition circles, all sorts of footing and grounds to play with. Talis found a likely-looking pair of off-duty guards to follow, and trailed after, on the basi
