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“Does ‘lovely’ not mean the same here?” I ask, but both of them seem to ignore me as they go to the kitchen.

Brynla takes a torch off the wall and lights the woodstove while Ellestra fills up a kettle from the basin.

They maneuver past each other with ease, movements matching each other, and I feel like I’m getting a glimpse into Brynla’s everyday life, a peek at her past.

“Tell your boy to sit down,” Ellestra says to her.

“He’s not my boy,” Brynla says, looking slightly embarrassed. Good to know I still bring a flush to her cheeks.

“He’s your something, that’s for sure,” Ellestra mumbles under her breath.

I take a dutiful seat at the table, unable to take my eyes off Brynla as she rummages through a threadbare pantry, wondering what’s to come and wishing we were alone.

“Do we have any of that mint tea?” Brynla asks her aunt.

“Right there.” She nods at a small linen bag.

Brynla sniffs it. “This isn’t the good stuff. I’m talking about the one from Farmer Vale. The one for guests.”

Ellestra sighs as if Brynla’s asked for the moon. She stands beside her and pulls out a small paper bag, shoving it in Brynla’s hands.

“I don’t need anything fancy,” I say, splaying my hands. “Don’t waste the good tea on me.”

Ellestra gives me a tired look while Brynla sprinkles the tea leaves into the kettle’s sieve.

“It’s customary for Freelanders to offer water in two forms when a guest comes to stay or visit,” Ellestra says to me. “In a tea, and in a bath or basin.”

“I don’t need a bath,” I tell her, though I quickly smell myself to make sure that I’m right.

So far so good. “I took one in the ocean yesterday. Brynla did too.” At least I assume she did—she went off the bow and out of sight while the rest of the crew had a dip off the stern.

Salt water doesn’t clean as well as fresh, but with the right soap it works in a pinch.

“As I said, it’s customary,” Ellestra says sternly. “Water is in short supply in the Banished Land. This offering is the highest honor. And one you shouldn’t refuse, unless you want to be cast into a slug web. I’ll get a bath going for you.”

At that she grabs a torch and walks off down the hallway that leads out from the room.

“You saw me take a bath yesterday,” I tell Brynla. “At least, I saw you avert your eyes once I took my pants off.”

“Take the bath,” she advises me, that flush still on her skin. “You never know when it could be your last. Take whatever my aunt is giving you, to be honest.”

“She doesn’t like me much,” I tell her. “She might have poisoned the water.”

She laughs, causing the dried black salve to crack on her cheeks. She still looks impossibly beautiful. “If she wanted you dead, you’d be dead already.”

She puts a small teacup on the table in front of me and I impulsively reach out, placing my hand on top of hers, holding it down as I stare into her eyes. I don’t even know what to say. I don’t know what I’m doing. I just know I want to touch her, feel her, and I want her to know that I want that.

I want her .

Brynla holds my gaze, her dark eyes swimming with emotions I find hard to read—lust, shame, sadness, affection? All of the above?

It doesn’t matter. I’m about to get to my feet to march over there and kiss her, the need becoming unbearable, when Ellestra comes bustling back into the room. Brynla swipes her hand away and turns to the stove, but her aunt stops and looks between the two of us with a cocked brow.

“It will take time for it to heat up,” Ellestra says coolly, pulling out the seat across from me and sitting down. “That will give me time to decide whether you’re even worthy of our water.”

I lean back in the chair and try to look as unimposing as possible by flashing her a smile. That only makes her narrow her eyes. “Ask me anything,” I tell her. “I’m an open book.”

“We shall see about that,” Ellestra says, slowly tapping her nails on the table.

“Now, imagine, the both of you, that Brynla and Lemi go away to the Midlands on an egg-stealing mission. And they don’t come back when they should.

I figure, all right, so perhaps she had to stay a little longer.

Maybe she needed more time to get the eggs.

After all, it wouldn’t be the first time that Brynla’s taken her time.

But then another day passes. And another.

And I am worried sick. I think that Brynla has died, or if not, she’s been injured, or stranded.

There’s no way for me to find the boatman that she used for the journey because she used someone I didn’t know and her old boatman is dead.

So I’m wondering…what happens when Brynla doesn’t return with the suen?

When will House Dalgaard show up at my door and demand payment? ”

“Did they show up?” Brynla asks warily as she brings the kettle off the stove and fills our cups.

“No,” Ellestra says. “But that doesn’t mean I didn’t spend this last moon waiting for them. Waiting to hear if you died or were captured. Every moment I was waiting until I saw that white raven. And even then, I knew better than to believe it.”

“Knew better?” I ask, taking a deep sniff of the drink, the mint scent enticing. “We’re right here.”

“I see that,” she says. “That doesn’t mean I trust you or what’s happening.” She glances at Brynla as she takes a seat at the table. “What happened to you? Why did you go with House Kolbeck?”

Brynla meets my eyes and I press my lips together to show that I’m not going to speak for her.

“Andor made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” she says dryly. “Work for House Kolbeck instead of House Dalgaard.”

Ellestra frowns. “And what was in it for you?”

Brynla looks down at her tea, moving the cup around in her hands. “A better tomorrow.”

Her aunt swings her wary eye back on me, her lips pursed together.

“What kind of snake oil are you selling? There is no better tomorrow for the Freelanders. This is our tomorrow.” She gestures to her house.

“This is as good as it gets for us, but at least it’s a place we know, a place we can control. ”

“There are an infinite number of tomorrows,” I tell her. “And some of them are better than others. I offered Brynla a chance to have a life in Norland, a life of freedom in a world where she doesn’t have to hide underground, where she won’t be persecuted. And you are part of that offer too.”

“In exchange for what?” Ellestra asks. “For her skill? For Lemi? Tell me how she has any freedom if she has to be used in exchange for this so-called better tomorrow.”

I stare at her for a moment, struck again by how unyielding she is. I admire her, I do. I would probably be just as stubborn in her situation.

“Nothing is free,” Brynla says quietly. “In the end, I trust Andor and would rather work for House Kolbeck than House Dalgaard.”

Ellestra narrows her eyes. “Trust, huh? Is that what the two of you have?” She glances at me. “Why don’t you take your tea to the bathroom, Andor of House Kolbeck? Water in the tub should be hot enough now. Brynla and I have a lot to discuss.”

I get to my feet and pick up the cup of tea. “Does that mean I’m officially worthy of your water?”

She grunts. “For now. Enjoy it while it lasts.” Then she jerks her chin to the hallway.

I know when I’m not wanted.