Page 96 of The Chaosweaver's Daughter
She scrunched her nose in frustration before scooting her chair up to the table and reaching for the platter of cinnamon buns as ifthathadn’t happened.
“Good morning, what did I miss?” Queen Hevva asked cheerfully as she blustered into the room.
Afewhoursafterbreakfast,but well before her lesson with the twins, Nesrina decided to break her promise to avoid Kas—outside of his required meals and turning up unannounced, of course. Unfortunately, the newt/salamander situation upended her plan to ask about the advance copy ofMystical Sciences Review.
She remembered the publication at the precise moment she settled beneath her favorite willow after aimlessly wandering the gardens for over an hour. Though she groused and grumbled dramatically, as if she had somewhere better to be, Nes couldn’t help the little bubbles of excitement in her chest.
Great idea, become a mistress.Nesrina Kiappa, Guest of the King, tutor to the royal children, mistress to the Duke of Stormhill.
She scowled, her excitement diluted. Even though Kas claimed he’d never thought of her in that way, she didn’t quite believe him. In what other context would a duke like him consider a tutor like her? She was going to ask about borrowing the new journal. That was all. That was the reason she sought him out, the only reason.
Definitely.
Nes entered the portico by the north door. A glance to her right showed at least one lit candle in his office, but she couldn’t make out much else through the sheer curtains. At this time of day, it’s where he was most likely to be. Pulling open the glass-paneled door, she waltzed inside, intent on popping by—very briefly—to ask after the journal.
Her entrance startled a maid cleaning the already pristine windows outside of the library. The woman jumped back from the glass and brandished her rag at Nesrina like a weapon. “Sorry, miss!” Her voice was startlingly loud. “Library’s closed for cleaning.”
“Oh, I—uh—that’s fine. Do you know, is the duke in his study?” Nes gestured to the doorway on her right and the maid relaxed. Apparently, they didnotlike to be bothered while working. She hadn’t noticed that before.
“I believe he is.” Her voice came out at a normal volume that time.
With a smile, Nes stepped into the miniscule hallway to Kas’s office, little more than an alcove, and paused, reminded of the time she’d been badgering him after he sent Rihan away.A blessing in disguise,she thought wryly.That scoundrel.
With that, Nes lifted a hand and rapped on the door, not bothering to disguise her knock as one of the staff’s. Either he’d open or he wouldn’t. And if he didn’t, she’d have to dance around the maids in the library tohop up on her favorite chaise and shout through the vent.
Athunksounded from within.
She knocked again.
As she raised her hand for a third time, the lock clicked and the door swung open, revealing the man she sought. Kas stood there in a flowing white shirt, no jacket, no ink staining his chest. With his right arm, he braced the door frame. Both of his sleeves were rolled to the elbow, and she watched as the muscles in his left forearm tensed and relaxed in time with the fist he kept making by his side.
Maybe this isn’t a good time.
He made no move to let her in, instead using his gigantic frame to block the open doorway. “Nes.”
“Kas.”
“Can I help you?”
He asked,she reasoned, before launching into her plea to borrow theMystical Sciences Review. When she finished speaking, he stared at her. She stared back, until that became too much; what, with her heart threatening to dislodge from her chest and all. She allowed her eyes to drop back to his arm. Tense, release, tense, release. He was still making that damn fist.
Finally, Kas spoke, his voice flat, “Sorry, I don’t have it.”
“What?” She took a step back to look him in the eye more easily. “It was deliveredjustthis morning. Where’s it gone?”
Tense, release, tense, release. “I threw it out,kalalitani.”
“Don’t call me that.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You threw it out?”
“Burned it.”
She leaned a little to the side, trying to see past him. She was pretty sure the fireplace hadn’t even been lit; it was sweltering outside. “You didn’t burn it.”
“I did. It was an accident.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Liar.”
“Nope.”
