The Delegation by Robin Roseau

Author:Robin Roseau [Roseau, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-02-07T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

We had one more dance. The evening was every bit as magical as the first time. It was different in that I wasn’t at such a confused loss, and it was better in that I was dancing with people who had become friends.

During the final dance, it was Claary who caught me. Afterwards, she treated me very tenderly. She stole a few kisses, and her touches were sweet. But mostly we talked, and it was really our first time to talk alone at any length.

“So, you own several establishments?” I asked at one point.

“I do,” she said. “When you visit, I’ll show them to you. But let me tell you about The Baby Blanket Inn.” And then I listened, rather enrapt, as she told me about the business her family had run for several generations.

“And now it’s yours? What about your mother and sister?”

“Mother is retired from the inn,” she said.

“She must have been young to retire.”

“She received an offer that she dearly wanted,” Claary explained. “Lisbon now helps to run the bakery that provides many of our best baked goods. I hated watching her leave, but she’s deeply in love with the bakery owner.”

“Ah,” I said. “Entirely understandable. And at least you still get to see her, if she’s helping to run a bakery.”

“Not as often as I’d like,” she said. “But yes. Still, I miss her terribly, and Mother, too.” She looked away for a minute, and she looked so sad, but then she turned back and smiled. “I was just a barmaid when they arrived. That’s still a big part of who I am, but my best friend is the duchess. The most respected judge in all of Charthan is also a very good friend. And there is so much more, but I want to show you, not tell you.”

“I understand.”

We talked for a while longer. Eventually I asked, “This custom.”

“I can’t talk about it. Olivia wants to handle that in Charth.”

“I’m going to need a guide. How am I supposed to decide?”

“That’s a very good question. And frankly, I don’t know. I would adore if you chose me, but I can’t even guess whether I am as good a choice as Olivia would be. If you can’t decide and ask Olivia to decide for you, she will, and without hesitation, but I don’t know whether she’ll pick herself or me. She may not know until you ask. She’ll probably judge after watching you when she explains the custom.”

“I suppose,” I said.

We talked until late. She didn’t offer a slumber party, and I didn’t ask, but we became closer than we had been, and I found myself drawn to her.

We hugged tightly before I left.

* * * *

Their final night arrived, an evening at the palace. Yearly and Tess didn’t come, and so I found myself on Olivia’s arm for the evening. “You can’t take me as your date to the queen’s event,” I told her.

“Because we’re two women, and this isn’t Ressaline?” she asked.

“While that’s a good point, no.

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