Page 12 of Sun Elves of Ardani

She gave him a look. “I’m notadorable. Don’t say that.”

“It’s true.” He got up to stand in front of her, frowning down at her. “You never told me you met an Ysuran in Kuda Varai. Who is he?”

She glanced away guiltily. She kept few secrets from him, but she had never spoken of Neiryn to anyone, not even Roshan. He was not someone she wanted to remember. “Nobody.”

He raised an eyebrow. “He was staring at you for that entire meeting. Any idea why?”

“No. I barely know him.”

He gave her a long look, but in the end, he didn’t pry further. “Be careful,” he said again. “It can’t mean anything good, having an Ysuran take an unusual interest in you.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

* * *

Neiryn thoughtthe house was simple by Ysuran standards, with no mage light fixtures, no heat enchantments, no running water, and no built-in baths or steam rooms. The building was short and wide, with only two floors, and the layout made everything strangely closed off, sealing off individual rooms so that the summer air stagnated in each space instead of cooling as it flowed through the building. The sunlight was kept firmly outside, where it beat impotently against the solid walls. The result was something almost like a hot cave.

But he had to admit that it had a cozy feel, like a cabin far from civilization. And it was big enough, at least. He had his own room near the end of a hall, which the Ardanian sun elf housekeeper was frantically straightening even as he unpacked his things.

When he’d finished, he stood and watched her curiously as she struggled to place sheets on the bed. This only seemed to make her more flustered. She kept her head down, except when she raised it once, saw him watching her, and flushed as she turned her gaze resolutely down again. She hadn’t said a word since they’d arrived.

It bothered him to watch one of his own people behaving in such a nervous, servile manner.

“Why so tense, Miss?”he said to her in Ysuran.

She jerked her head up toward him, her expression somehow both annoyed and anxious.“Can’t—can’t understand, please. Ardanian?”

He blinked at her. “You don’t speak Ysuran?”

“No, sair.” There was a darkness in the woman’s eyes. She looked at him like she hated him. It was the same way Kadaki looked at him.

“Are you friendly with the lord and lady of the house, miss?”

She paused. “Friendly? No, sair. I’m just the housekeeper.”

“Perhaps you have an opinion on them, at least?”

She made a show of focusing on her work, not looking up. She undoubtedly wasn’t comfortable being grilled for information. “I don’t have many opinions.”

He smiled, amused. “Do you find Lady Kadaki to be a strict employer?”

She shook her head. “She doesn’t say much to me, sair. She keeps to herself.”

“She seems quite serious. I don’t think I’ve seen her smile once since I’ve been here.”

“If you say so, sair.”

“Do you disagree?”

The woman finally glanced up at him again, her expression dour. “Do you have an interest in Lady Kadaki, sair?”

“Perhaps. She is an interesting woman, is she not?”

She hesitated for a long moment before saying, “She is married to Lord Roshan.”

Neiryn smiled tightly.

“Respectfully, I don’t think she’d be looking for companionship from Ysurans anyway, sair.” Finally, there was a bit of bite in her tone. “Most of the humans here have a strong dislike of sun elves.”

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