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“Probably.” He paused before adding, “Witches aren’t well regarded here.”
“My understanding is you stopped hunting and executing them.”
“We have, but centuries of mistrust takes time to change.
She waved a hand. “I don’t have time to deal with superstition.”
“Which is why a cover story for your presence would simplify matters.”
“It would be nice to not have to prove myself every other minute, but I don’t think I’ll pass as someone’s aunt. Mayhap a cousin, or this Lomar’s sister?”
Another plausible scenario to explain her presence and yet he shook his head. “Some of the soldiers will most likely remember Lomar mentioning he was an only child.”
“I guess we’ll have to try something novel, like the truth.”
“We could state that you’re my promised.” Kormac couldn’t have said why he blurted it. Blame the lack of sleep. The worry. The fact this petite woman took him off guard.
“Excuse me? When you say promised, do you mean fiancée?” She arched a fine brow.
“It would be the most plausible reason we could offer as to why you and I will be spending time together in private.”
“Won’t people find it odd you suddenly have a fiancée by your side?”
“No, as they’ve been waiting for me to choose a bride.”
His mother nagged incessantly about it. As for his father, he tended to be more practical. “You need an heir. So marry, or beget yourself a bastard.”
“Won’t they expect you to be engaged to someone from Srayth?”
“You have the right coloring to pass. As for your accent, we can claim you were educated in the south. Well-off families often send their children abroad to learn.”
“Did yours?”
“No.” His father mocked the soft south and wouldn’t let themtainthis son.
“And how will you claim we met?”
“By happenstance when I was visiting Turlow.” Another city under his rule, not as big as Wexkord, but a decent size and close to the border with Ulkruuba.
“If you declare me your intended, won’t your people be upset when I leave in a few days?”
“Not really. They’ll assume we weren’t compatible.”
“This idea of yours seems overly complicated. Why not just tell them I’m a healer?”
“Because women don’t heal here.”
She stared at him. “You can’t be serious?”
“Our physicians are male.”
“You do realize every other culture outside of Srayth has women who perform healing tasks.”
“Things are different in my country.”
“More like misogynistic,” she muttered. “And this entire discussion is ridiculous. I am here to work.”
“Work that will be easier to accomplish if you agree to pretend to be my promised.”
