He said it the way you state the weather. As if it were simply a fact, fixed and permanent, not subject to revision.
I intend to revise it.
When the rumor reaches Ava — and it will reach Ava, everything reaches Ava eventually, the palace has no true secrets — she will look at Varder differently. She will look at him with the particular expression of a woman who has been told something she cannot unlearn, and whatever fragile thing exists between them, whatever quiet arrangement they have made with each other inside this forced marriage, will develop a crack. Small at first. Hairline. The kind you can ignore.
I am very good at finding hairline cracks.
