“Well,” Marcum barked as he wadded his napkin and tossed it on the table. He stood and said, “Now that you are here, we have some important business to discuss before you leave.”

“Just you and Rezkin?” Lady Adelina asked with more than a hint of anxiety. Most likely everyone was just waiting for the moment when the hostile truce would collapse and the two men would attempt to send each other to the Hells.

Marcum scowled at the implication that he could not have a civil conversation with the young man but replied, “No, this concerns all of our young travelers. Let us retire to the study.”

When they entered the study, Lady Adelina took her seat in her regular chair, and Tam immediately claimed the only other lone chair besides Marcum’s. Frisha resumed her usual seat on one of the couches, and then Marcum, in his infinite obstinacy, politely asked the captain to have a seat next to his niece. This left Rezkin to sit beside Reaylin, whose arms had disappeared into the too-long sleeves of the gown, while her generous bosom was practically spilling into his lap as she turned and leaned closer to him. She was a strange contradiction, as she appeared to be trying to hide the fact that she was wearing a dress and emphasize her exposed assets at the same time. Jimson, who felt both cursed and blessed to be included in the general’s personal sphere for the time being, kept his eyes on the floor and refused to watch Reaylin’s shameless flirting.

Frisha, on the other hand, did not reserve her glares only for Reaylin. For some reason, Rezkin received a fair share of his own, and he could not fathom the reason. It would have been obvious to a blind man that Frisha was jealous, but Rezkin had not encouraged Reaylin in any way. In fact, the abundance of cleavage the young woman was displaying only put Rezkin on edge. In his experience, women used such assets to distract men from the women’s true purposes—like drawing a weapon or poisoning his drink or leading him into an ambush.

The young man had no idea why Lady Adelina had insisted Reaylin wear the dress to dinner, and he was certain it was Adelina’s influence. He wondered if the lady regretted her decision now that she could see the mounting tension between the companions. A glance in her direction told Rezkin that, no, she was not regretting it, and she seemed to find the entire scenario to be quite amusing. Of course. Reaylin might be oblivious to the ulterior motive, but the lady was definitely using the young woman’s assets for a purpose. Rezkin wondered what she had planned.