"Mistress, are you alright?"
Ettore's voice came from Hermi's left, startling her out of a deep trance. Her gaze snapped to him, her eyes wide as if she were still wandering through a dream.
"I am... I am fine," she said, nodding in a grateful gesture.
They sat together on the waiting couch of the Thermal Spring Apothecary. Achille and Curzio had already been admitted to the inner chambers to be tended by the healers.
Ettore remained as unreadable as ever, his face a mask of stony calm, yet he added in a quiet note, "Ever since you went to the town with the Master two weeks ago, it seems something has been troubling your mind."
Hermi turned to him, her eyebrows rising in surprise. She thought she had hidden her internal turmoil well enough from the men. At the very least, Cassian had not questioned her, yet Ettore seemed far more observant of the shadows in her eyes.
