Sinna dropped his forearms on the wagon’s rail and buried his face in them.
He sighed. “I don’t know. I mean, I know what my parents will say, a slave girl and all of that! But the truth is… When I first saw her I thought she was pretty, but after she bathed and put the new clothes on? Good gods, she looked dazzling. I’ve never seen anyone prettier.”
Now this was news for Dardanos. “Bathed…? She’s out of the wagon?”
“Well, yes. Cotiso told his other slave to give her a bath and─”
Dardanos had already left in a hurry; Sinna called after him, “Where are you going?”
“To see Cotiso.”
“Can I come?”
“Watch the damn trees.”
The men kept themselves busy joking and talking about their business over dinner.
Maria worked politely, chopping the roast beef and refilling everyone’s dishes and drinks, while Corina went awfully silent and almost never took her eyes off Alina, who had kept her face down the whole time and hadn’t moved a muscle.
“Here. You have to eat something.” Maria passed a loaf of bread and Alina took it quietly.
Alina stared at the loaf in her hands for a long time and finally muttered when the chatter went down, “They told me─”