Rosamund threw back her head and laughed aloud. “With Cody Lee? Oh, that’s absurd! He suffers from that ridiculous masculine notion that as the man he is always to be deferred to, in all things. That he is the toughest, strongest creature in any battle. That it is his place to defend us, and our place to defer to that. He dares not attempt that attitude openly with you because he is in too much need of your skills and talent. And he is too much the businessman to take the risk that extending things outside of the show—such as a romance—might ruin things altogether. I have a suspicion that he might have done so with your predecessor, and the need to put some distance between them prompted her departure.”

“That, and the precarious financial state of the show when she left,” Giselle mused.

“Taken together, a shrewd woman would have left before her would-be paramour tried to persuade her to do without a salary, ‘for his sake,’ especially if she was not too attached and she had far better prospects elsewhere,” Rosamund replied with a nod. “But no. I have no interest in that direction. Once the show is gone from the Schwarzwald, neither will the Brotherhood care where he goes, or what he does. He will become some other Hunt Master’s responsibility.”

Giselle sat for a moment on the wagon tongue. “I have no intention of leaving with it,” she offered. “The show, I mean. I am only trying to make enough money to take care of the supplies I need to go live in the abbey.”

“Well, both the Graf and Hunt Master Gunther wish me to remain with the show for now, to help with your training and make sure nothing gets stirred up that cannot be put down again,” Rosamund told her, which relieved her. “If there is a dreadful emergency that requires my services, I might leave for a time, but I will return.” She patted the side of the vardo. “I think, however, I shall keep this. Small enough compensation for saving the Captain from those rapacious Vili, don’t you think?”

Giselle laughed. “I think he would be a very stupid man not to give it to you with a smile when you ask for it. And if there is one thing I know about Captain Cody Lee, he might be, on occasion, a little reckless, and he might have a somewhat inflated notion of his own importance, but he is definitely not stupid.”

“And that is good to hear. So, good night to you, my friend. I have an hour or two of magic ahead of me, and morning comes far too early with this show!” Rosamund laughed, and swung herself up into her wagon. After a moment sitting there chuckling, Giselle did the same.

Because Rosamund was right, again. Morning came far, far too early with the show.

11

THIS . . . is perfect.