Page 23 of Obsidian Throne
“Of course,” Evander answered. “If you’ll allow my wife a moment to dress.”
The medic turned around.
“Well, that feels rather pointless, but…” I muttered, and Evander gave me a wry look, stepping out of bed to hand me a black silk robe.
I put the robe on and told the man he could turn back around. Then we began the awkward business of me lying back for his not remotely invasive examination.
For all that Evander had pretended this was no issue, he stood glowering at the foot of the bed, watching the man’s every move. Which, naturally, made this at least seventeen times as uncomfortable.
“You can feel free to be literally anywhere else, you know,” I told him.
“No,” he said shortly.
Well, then. I averted my gaze, sure my face was crimson by now, and tried not to shift in discomfort. After about fifteen seconds of this fun, Evander let out an irritable breath.
“I’m certain you have what you need by now,” he said in a curt tone.
“I do,” the medic said with a long-suffering sigh, like he was used to overbearing Socairan men overseeing this process.
But my sympathy for him was limited, since no one was examininghisbody right now.
He stood up and moved to walk out of the room. “I’ll go make my report now.”
I glowered at his back, burrowing into the blankets. “Yes, please do enjoy telling everyone about the state of my--”
“Lemmikki.” Evander’s eyes sparkled with amusement, though his features were otherwise stoic.
I declined to finish my sentence, and the medic left without further conversation. Once he was gone, I still found it difficult to look at Evander. The exam wasn’t his fault, but it still rankled that I had to be subjected to it at all.
Besides which, it had been humiliating.
“Lemmikki,” he said again, his tone softer this time. “I asked for biscuits with breakfast.”
“Ya ne khochu vash pechen’ye.”I don’t want your biscuits,I told him in Socairan, though it wasn’t strictly true.
He let out a slow breath. “While your Socairan is improving at an impressive rate, your lying skills are not. And you always want biscuits.”
Evander settled on the bed next to me, but he didn’t get under the blankets, like he knew I was using them as a form of armor.
Leaning over, he tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “Iamsorry, Lemmikki.”
I looked at him in surprise, sure it was the first time I had ever heard him actually apologize.
“If I could have taken your place, I would have,” he said. “But this legitimacy is what gives you the protection of a clan wife. It’s what keeps you safe.”
I sighed. “I know that. But who exactly is he making a report to?”
Evander’s expression came closer to a wince than I had ever seen it. “The...gathered Dukes.”
“Oh. Perfect.” My cheeks flamed once more, and I crossed my arms over my chest. “I hope you at least ordered honey with the biscuits.”
He scoffed softly, like that was obvious. “Of course I did.”
That was something, at least.
* * *
It wasn’t long after that we were required in the courtyard to send off the wedding guests. The noonday sun bore down on us from a cloudless sky as we bid the dukes goodbye, with me doing my best to avoid direct contact with any of them.