In Which Evera Is Tried

December 13, 1171

"Oh, Ev, you're back. I was just wondering, have you seen my--"

"Shut up!" Evera stormed into the house and slammed the door behind her. Her stepfather was at the castle, her mother and the housekeeper had taken the children visiting in Armion, and her stepbrother was sprawled out on the couch as he often was, all smug and mock-innocent--as if he didn't know what he'd done. "God! I don't even want to look at you right now!"

And yet, she continued to do so; she watched as Setran twitched and stood and stepped toward her. As little as she wanted to look at him, she had to hear him confess it. She couldn't even say why--she just had to. "Uh... what did I do?"

"Don't play the fool with me!" Her fists flew to her hips with such force that her knuckles might have been dented, but she was almost too furious to notice. "I was just visiting the girls at Veldora Keep, and Aldara and Viridis and I went down to the village and guess who we saw? Riala--and she was just leaving Laveria's shop!"

Setran shrugged, his face that of a man on whom the accusation was lost; if he wasn't playing the fool, then she supposed he actually was one. "So? A lot of people come and go from any given shop on any given day."

"You don't get it, do you?" What a stupid boy! Had she possessed any control over her shaking arm, she would have slapped him. "Do you know, pray tell, what unmarried girls can only get from Laveria's shop?"

Her stepbrother sighed. "Ev, maybe she was just visiting with Aerina, or maybe--"

She silenced him with a stomp of her heavy riding boot. Her mother wouldn't be too happy if it had left a dent, but that was a problem for another day. "Don't bother covering your tracks, Setran! She left with a little red pouch--and by God, everyone knows what it means to leave Laveria's shop with a red pouch!"

Setran blinked, tense and confused, his face obscured in frustration as he tried to put two and two together--then, out of nowhere, he began to laugh.

"Wait, you... you think I got Riala pregnant?"

Evera scowled. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

"What? Christ, Ev!" His hysterics unrelenting, Setran shook his head. "When was the last time you saw Riala around here? She's not my sweetheart anymore--and even if she was, I never slept with her. I didn't think she was the sort of girl to randomly get herself knocked up, but if she is, it certainly isn't mine!"

"...Oh." Her face flushed to an uncomfortable warmth. She felt rash and stupid and embarrassed--had she really stormed all the way back home without even thinking things through? What had possessed her to do that? Setran, she supposed, wasn't the fool after all. "I, uh... oh dear. I'm sorry, Setran."

An amused smile on his face, Setran shrugged. "Honest mistake, I suppose. Come here."

She stumbled forth into his outstretched arms, the tension in her veins melting away as he wrapped them around her. Even when they were children, Setran had always given the most comforting hugs. "I just... I can't believe I did something so stupid. I wasn't thinking, I guess."

"It's all right." His hand dropped to hers as he pressed a kiss to cheek. "We don't all have to be rational all the time."

"Mmm." Evera stole a brief chance to grin, then pulled herself back to meet her stepbrother's eye. "Setran, if you don't mind me asking... what went wrong between you and her? I mean, you never seemed that close to begin with, but... well, you know."

Setran chuckled under his breath. He had a way of warming a room with a laugh. "Yes, I know. As for what happened... well, Riala was always just sort of a distraction. I feel bad about using her like that now, but I sort of had feelings for someone else--someone I probably shouldn't have had feelings for--and I had to come to terms with that."

Evera took a moment to study his face; Setran wasn't usually one for such personal admissions, but he didn't look to be lying. "Did you?"

He pursed his lips, as if trying to think of a reply, so she expected that it would only be a moment before he did just that--she was wrong. What he did was a different sort of response entirely.

At sixteen, Evera had danced and winked and flirted, but she'd never been kissed before--at least, not like this. This was more than a brief token of thanks after a dance, or a silly over-the-face dare. His lips left a tingling sensation on her own, like the clear ring of a crystal goblet after one flicked it with her finger. He tasted of cinnamon and felt like silk, but more than anything else, he was water; it had never occurred to her just how thirsty she was.

At last--too late, too soon--they parted. Both shocked and strangely satisfied, Evera stared up at Setran's grinning face and raised her eyebrow. "Uh... what was that?"

"I just wanted to try it." His fingers running through her hair, he shrugged. "Now, if you don't mind... I kind of want to kiss you again."

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