"So, Captain Ezra, I heard you were on vacation in another kingdom," Alyce says as she takes a sip of her tea, her movements careful, practiced, like she had been taught to make even something as simple as drinking look graceful.
They all sat inside her gazebo in the middle of her garden, the air lighter there, shaded just enough to keep the warmth from becoming too much.
The chairs were cushioned, softer than what Ezra was used to, the kind that made it easy to sink into without realizing it.
Lior sat beside Alyce, close enough that their shoulders almost brushed, while Ezra sat across from them, his posture straight despite how comfortable everything else felt.
'She's making small talk,' Ezra notes immediately, watching the way Alyce holds her teacup, the way her tone stays light.
Alyce wasn't getting straight to the point.
Even though they both already knew why Ezra was here in the first place.
It was odd.
Honestly.
Everything about Alyce right now was odd.
Or…
