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Valda frowned. What scenery? If she was correct, there was nothing to take in. Broken down houses, sad excuses of community gardens, and a couple of ponds were not something to admire.

Before she could talk, Eyphah said, “It is such a shame that you are blind, Your Highness.”

Valda stiffened, a warning growl emanating deep within her chest and unfurling through her limbs.

“I could go into great details about all the things you are missing about your seeing-eye dog.”

“Her name is Maris, and I would watch the next thing that comes out of your mouth, Hurley. I will not tolerate any disrespect.”

Valda swallowed hard; her throat tight as she felt a distinctive emptiness in her chest she had been trying to avoid ever since her lips first touched Maris’s. Never in her life had she wanted something as much as being able to see her lover, to see how she looked when she smiled, when she laughed, how she looked when she was sleeping, when she bathed. Valda let out a growly breath as her mind wandered at the sounds coming from Maris whenever they were together… She wished to have an image attached to those noises.

“Of course, my apologies.” Eyphah quieted for a couple of seconds before addressing Valda again. “I am curious, though. How in the world did a Sealian end up being caretaker?”

“Assistant.”

“Right.” Her tone was dull. “Assistant.”

“She was appointed to me by my mother when I fell… ill.”

The silence enveloping them wasn’t comforting. Valda could feel Eyphah’s eyes on her, and it made her uncomfortable. “She is not your mate, isn’t she?”

Valda’s jaw tensed and she shook her head.

“Heart mate?”

“No.”

Eyphah sighed. “Good. Then there will be no problem if she stays here rather than go back to the castle with you, correct?”

Valda blinked and took a step back. The thought had not crossed her mind, not even once. Her relationship with Maris, although secret, was...stable, right? She shook her head and turned her head the moment she heard the soft and sensual sound of a violin playing in the distance. Valda didn’t need to look to know that it was Maris. Her Maris…

Valda’s bit her lower lip at the sudden realization of her feelings, especially the possessive ones running through her at the thought of having her lover pulled away from her arms and into the ones of someone like Eyphah.

She wanted to say there was nothing for Maris here, but how could she deny Maris what belonged to her? How could she do the same thing her parents had done? “If Maris wishes to stay here,” Valda began, her voice faltering as she tried to finish her sentence. “If she wants to stay here, I will not oppose it.”

“Good. Because regardless of her job to you or the crown, she is a Sealian, she belongs here.”

She belongs with me. “Whatever she wants, she gets,” Valda said, turning away from Eyphah. She concentrated on the sound of violins playing.

She heard Maris laughing, as she stopped and instructed someone to play a different key before starting the song again. Another round of laughter slipped through the hot air until it reached her. And from far away she could make out Maris’s voice.

Once the song ended, and once again Maris’s voice reached her, this time closer. Valda stiffened. She wanted to leave. She wanted to go back to the cabin and hide out, not only from Eyphah but from everyone else. She wanted to be locked up with Maris as she had been in the castle.

“Is everything all right?” Maris asked, lazily placing her hand on Valda’s back. The sudden touch made Valda jump, surprised to feel Maris so close to her.

“Yes. Can we go back to the cabin?” Valda snapped.

“Oh. Sure,” Maris said, her voice filled with confusion and hesitation.“Thank you for today, Eyphah.”

The mention of the other woman’s name made Valda’s stomach turn as well as the retort, mixed in with the pet name Eyphah had used with Maris.

“No problem, love.”

Nighttime passed by in deafening silence, in awkward touches and angry huffs. Valda and Maris ate in House of Arago, to Maris’s displeasure and at Valda’s suggestion. The queen had said she had enough socializing for the day and told Maris that she was more than welcome if she wished to eat with Eyphah at House of Proteus.

Maris declined over and over again, and confirmed she wanted to spend her evening with Valda. Tomorrow morning, they would visit the ponds or lakes and somehow determine what to do with them. Valda was quiet as she sat on the living room sofa, eyes closed. More than once, Maris thought she was sleeping. It was nerve-racking, and Maris had enough of it.

“What’s wrong?”