She followed his advice, pulling her hands into tight knots and then stretching them back out. At first it made no difference, her every instinct telling her she could leap from one of the roofs and fly off like a bird, but then, slowly, after a dozen or so iterations, the feeling passed and she felt better, more like herself.

“You good?” Jereb asked.

“Is a spotted creek toad horny?” When he blinked in confusion, she said, “Means yes. I feel better now. Cain I git to trainin’?”

“Perfidy,” he said flatly.

“Fine. I’ll apologize to the Queen o’ New Dawn.”

“Just stick with Lady Brenner.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.”

She ignored him, marching right up to the yellow door and offering the three firm taps she’d seen him do the day before. “I’m busy!” shouted the familiar voice from within.

“It’s jest me, ma’am, I mean Lady Brenner,” she hollered through the door. “Perfidy. Perfidy Tress.” She felt like an idiot, but soldiered on as she always did. “I wanted to apologize. Ye know, fer yesterday?” Porcelain clinked and then she heard the clopping of fine shoes across wooden floorboards. The door opened and Lady Brenner towered over her, sapphire eyes as sharp as knives stabbing toward her. Hadn’t her eyes been green the day before?

“What are you apologizing for, girl?” she asked. If she noticed the two golden additions to Perfidy’s face, she showed no signs of being impressed.

“Fer, well, ye know, the things I said.”

“Which things?”

“All o’ ’em?”

“Sounds about right. And how will we avoid the need for such apologies in the future?”

Perfidy didn’t know there was going to be a test, but then remembered Jereb’s advice. “By not speakin’? An’ not laughin’? An’ by makin’ sure not to have a lick o’ fun at all?”

The woman’s stern gaze seemed to bear down upon her like an entire pack of wolves, teeth bared. But then her stony façade suddenly broke and she offered something that might’ve been described as a smile, even if it had the potential to peel skin off of bones. “My dear, girl, I’m not a tyrant. All I ask is that we all try to maintain a bit of care and decorum in this household. I simply won’t let it go the way of my sister’s household. She lets the children play ball in the parlor and their pet hound sits on the furniture, for gods sakes!” She said all this like it was akin to being stabbed by the aforementioned children while having her arse bitten by the aforementioned hound.