“Learning all about you.” Harriet lifted a diamond necklace off a hook on the wall. “Is this yours?”
“Put that down.” Yves took the necklace from her and set it back on the hook. “I mean, what were you doing looking like you were trying to tumbleCharon?”
Harriet blinked the big, wide eyes that made her an absolute menace in the Starian countryside. “Am I not supposed to?”
“Of course you’re not supposed to!” Yves cried. “He’s—he’s Charon!”
“Yes, and he’s massive,” Harriet said, with a low note of appreciation in her voice that made Yves want to throttle her. “And unattached. Unless he isn’t?”
“No, he isn’t attached to anyone.” Yves tried to sound nonchalant, but his voice wavered. Harriet was clearly too distracted to notice.
“I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun,” Harriet said. “I wasn’t trying to come on too strong, of course, but if he wanted to…”
“Well, he doesn’t,” Yves snapped.
Harriet raised her brows. “Oh. You’rejealous.”
“I’m not jealous of anyone,” Yves said.
Harriet glanced at the door. “Then what if I went down there and asked Charon to bend over the tea table?”
“That’s against the rules,” Yves shouted.
Harriet fell silent. They’d set the rules when they were teenagers, on the way to their first spring festival. They couldn’t tumble anyone who spoke ill of the other, had to avoid anyone with a partner who wasn’t supportive, and under no circumstances were they to poach someone out from under each other.
“So you do like him,” Harriet said. Yves groaned and turned away. “Oh, Yves, I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have teased you if I knew.”
“It’s not as though it’ll go anywhere,” Yves said, and collapsed on his bed. Harriet lay down next to him and reached for his hands. She took them in hers, threading their fingers together. “I overheard him talking to Laurent about it. He said an attachment to me would be impossible.”
“Then he’s an ass,” Harriet said, “and I’ll slip a toad in his boots before I leave.”
“Don’t do that.”
“You sound like you’re actually besotted,” Harriet said. She squeezed his hands. “What happened to the boy who said he’d never fall in love?”
“I’m not,” Yves said, but he couldn’t even convince himself. “I’m not good for him. He needs someone who’s serious. Someone who understands all the languages he speaks and knows about art and carpentry and cultural rituals in rural Thalassa.”
Harriet pressed her lips together for a few seconds. “What kind of rituals?”
“Things like scooping seawater out with conch shells to bless the keystone of a house. I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
“Huh.”
“He doesn’t need someone who hates mud squeaking complaints behind him as he travels the world,” Yves said. “I know I’m spoiled. I’ve worked very hard to become this way.”
“That’s not usually how being spoiled works,” Harriet said.
“And I know that there’s something dreadful in his past that he won’t tell anyone about, and it’s the kind of thing that someone who grew up with a huge, loud family in the middle of Staria wouldn’t possibly understand.”
“Have you told him any of this?” Harriet asked. She winced at Yves’ horrified expression. “All right, but I think you’re lovely.You’re smart as a whip and you’re bold enough to do what you want, even when everyone else is too meek to stand up for themselves. I think anyone would be lucky to have you.” Harriet released his hands to brush a tear from the corner of his eye.
“Well, I loveyou,” Yves said.
“Of course you do.” Harriet stroked his cheek, and Yves laughed weakly. “Maybe he thinks it’s impossible becauseyou’retoo beautiful and charming, have you ever thought of that?”
“Don’t patronize me, Harriet.” Yves wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t have any clients tonight because of the maze contest. Stay with me for a while?”
“Bribe me with one of those ruby earrings, maybe,” Harriet said, and Yves lightly smacked her. “But I’ll stay.”
