Chapter 13Back at the unassuming building that held books and opera scores and Jer’s marvelous too-narrow bed, Jer collected soup—thick and creamy today, some sort of fish chowder—and roasted potatoes and a raspberry tart and two mugs of ale, and smiled at his landlady when she added an extra tart, and followed Talis up the stairs. He said, setting everything down, “Everyone likes you.”
“Yes.” He might’ve said it’s not real, or don’t trust it, or of course she had an extra tart with a broken crust, and we walked in just at the right moment…
He didn’t. He thought Jer saw it on his face, though, from the shift of emotion in those pretty eyes. Unhappy storms, wanting to protest on Talis’s behalf. Jer only said, “Will you mind if I clean up, a bit, first? Unless you’re hungry. And you said i
