“It’s just a small thing, and I don’t think it would be too hard. . . it’s just. . . I would like know how Nallo is faring.”

“I DON’T LIKE you,” said Nallo. “So quit bothering me.”

“Eiya! I was just trying to be nice.” The young reeve took his bowl of soup and his inane banter, obviously meant to impress her, and walked over to another table in the eating hall where he was greeted with friendly cheers.

She thought herself shed of them, able to eat the spicy cawl-flower soup in peace without a bunch of chattering pleasantries, when another cursed reeve plopped down beside her.

“I don’t like Siras either,” said this man. “All that glad-handing talk, like a cursed entertainer.” He placed his bowl on the table, nudged it to the right, and stared at the dumpling floating in the center surrounded by limp cawl petals and specks of bright red pepper. “Did they replace the cook? This looks more appetizing than the last meal I ate here.”

“I wouldn’t know. I only got here yesterday. And I plan to leave tomorrow.”

He chuckled. “Don’t you remember me? I’m Volias.”

“Yes, I remember you. You made me leave the children I’m responsible for and come here to Argent Hall, where I don’t want to be. And since I’m not planning to stay, I don’t see why I should have to remember anyone’s name.”

“You’re very irritating and rude,” he said appreciatively. “Will you promise me you’ll be this rude to the marshal?”

Nallo wasn’t used to people smiling at her. It made her suspicious. “Why do you want me to be rude to him?”

“Because I don’t like him. Not enough people are rude to him, just because he’s charming and good looking. How like them not to see past his handsome face to the insufferably smug and self-righteous man beneath!”

“Will being rude to him help me get out of here?”

He laughed. She wasn’t a good judge of laughter. She couldn’t tell if he was laughing sympathetically, or if he was laughing at her, and that made her bristle.

“Why are you so ill-tempered?” he asked.

“I didn’t say anything!”

“ ‘A look’s as good as a hundred words,’ as it says in the tale. Have you always been this way?”

“So they tell me!” She turned her attention back to her soup, sipping cautiously, but it had just the right sting of pepper to really make your eyes open as you swallowed the rich broth.

He tried his own.

“This is good,” he added, as if she weren’t ignoring him. “Listen, Nallo. The gods marked you the moment that eagle chose you, or the eagle chose you because the gods marked you. It’s hard to know how that works. You can no more walk away than you can expect to see your dead husband walking among the living. Keep your ill temper and your rudeness if you wish. It’ll intimidate people, once you get out into the world as a reeve. But the sooner you accept that you can’t leave, the better it will be for you. Although why I bother to tell you, I don’t know. I’m leaving tomorrow anyway, to return to Clan Hall. I won’t have to deal with your sulks and outbursts, although I’ll miss them. I like you.”