“Well, no,” he said, “but it is a truth that a student marks a teacher as much as the teacher marks the student.” There was a kindness in the way he said it, which cut right to the heart of me, and made it that much more difficult to believe I owed him nothing. He laughed. He smiled. He looked on the verge of speech, grew consternated, and laughed again. “A match has been made for me,” he said very slowly, each word parceled out carefully, fastidiously, each said with a tiny bit of awe like he himself did not quite believe it was true. “A match has been made, and…and I’d like your approval.”

“Your family approves a match.” I blurted it out, mostly out of shock. He smiled at me. “Oh! Ah, I…Oh, Dirva, I…” I laughed. I grinned like an idiot. “Are you sure?”

“I am.”

“Your mother or Abira or Cadlah, they would…”

“Maybe. Maybe they wouldn’t. But I am asking you.” I drew in a breath. He reached across the table. “Remember what I said!”

“You’re sure about this?”

“Yes. I said I was. You always ask so many questions. Ariah, you can think it over. You don’t have to answer now.”

“Of course. Of course I will!”

“You can think it over,” he said, but he grinned as he said it. His eyebrows knit together. “Considering these past few days, you didn’t even sleep here last night, if you need time…”

“I don’t need time. Of course I will. Of course.” He hid his grin behind his hand. He nodded to me in thanks. I wanted very much in that moment to ask about Liro, to ask why he’d sought a match in the first place. I didn’t understand it. But he was happy then, happier than I had ever seen him. He looked, in that moment, like he’d shaken off the weight of his da’s death, and like he had no regrets and just a promising future. “It’s a good match?” I asked.

“It is,” he said. There was a trace of surprise in his voice. “I truly think it is.”

“When? When do I meet her? What is she like?” And why? I wanted to ask. Why seek a match in the first place when you’ve had once since you were younger than me? But those questions went unasked.

“Soon. You’ll see when you meet her.” He hid another grin behind his hand and peered at me. “Thank you, Ariah.”

“It’s an honor.”

“The honor is mine.”

I beamed. I sputtered something incoherent. I think I repeated that it was an honor. I managed, after a few stilted seconds, to ask him if he had something else to talk about.