Page 61 of Vows of Sacrifice

She then turned her shadowy, kohl-rimmed gaze on me, and I underwent her critical examination with stoicism.

“My dear, you seem to need a bit of cleaning.”

Her whispering voice made me want to pull my dagger from its sheath, but instead I responded with a deferential smile, as polished as a precious stone.

“A little incident during my meeting with Lord Kynnen. Three times nothing.”

He laughed outright, earning a dark look from his elder brother. A slightly awkward moment of silence stretched between us, during which I made a point of keeping my fake smile in place.

“Seitha! Nirgide! Come, let’s help Lady Ashana change. The king’s waiting for her.”

With an icy expression on his face, Dovah took a step forward.

“Why does the king want to see my wife?”

On hearing the last word, Nadrisse’s eyes darkened instantly.

“To show her the great eagles. One of your men has asked to prepare one of the royal messengers, and the king wishes to take this opportunity to introduce them to her and speak with her one-on-one.”

Neither Dovah nor I could refuse this. Nadrisse was perfectly aware of this, and her smile widened.

“Especially as your wedding is tomorrow. The king wants to be sure that everything runs smoothly between you.”

Then, the Isamane pretended to realize a blunder and pressed a hand over her mouth to feign contrition.

“Oh. Perhaps you weren’t aware of the date?”

It was my turn to reveal a certain talent for the lying game, even if I was certainly less gifted than the sister of the King of Osacan.

“Yes, my husband took advantage of our outing in town to raise the subject, since we have to leave for Gulan quickly afterwards.”

In reality, I had figured it out by following Dovah’s exchange with Kynnen at the oasis, but she didn’t need to know that. Nadrisse made a slightly irritated grimace, before composing herself:

“Ah! I would have been very sad to unintentionally create a tense situation.”

Oh, yes, I’m sure, I thought immediately. She took me by the arm as if we were old, close friends. I turned my head towards Dovah, who was staring at me silently. I must admit that an intervention on his part would have seemed strange: I was not, strictly speaking, in danger. However . . .

Once we were out of sight of my husband and his brother, Nadrisse promptly released me. I wasn’t surprised and almost smiled when I saw her, out of the corner of my eye, rubbing her hands together, as if she’d touched something dirtier than my arm.

“I’ve chosen an outfit for you,” she announced.

I felt her gaze piercing me like two deadly daggers stuck in my throat—that was the effect she had on me.

“You shouldn’t have taken the trouble,” I thanked her politely.

“I know.”

Ah. No more hypocrisy? Was she laying her cards on the table?

I was more or less expecting this, but she didn’t continue until we entered the room I shared with Dovah.

“Don’t think that he loves you because you’ve become his wife,” she attacked.

I looked down at my hands, which were beginning to tremble, then clenched my fists.

“With all due respect, Isamane, I don’t think it’s any of your concern whether my husband loves me or not,” I replied with a smile.

Her smile became even crueler and colder.

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