The Stormcrow Cycle [Slow-burn Slice-of-Life Tragic Fantasy Romance]

Chapter Forty-seven: A Grand Dinner, Part I

15/02/2023: Sneakily changed the title to "A Grand Dinner, Part I" because I couldn't come up with a better name for the next chapter, ahahaha. 

Ommph! This update is much later than I'd planned, but uh...technically still this week? XD XD XD

Sorry, life is back to being crazy-busy. It seems like I just have to accept it at this point, ahahah...T_T

As per usual with these late chapters, I'm not 100% happy with this. You'll probably see me futzing with it until the next update, which will NOT be tomorrow (Sunday, February 12, 2023). It will be on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, thereby conveniently skipping Valentine's Day and going directly to Discounted-Chocolates Day! =D

Please feel free to leave comments on this one with any helpful critiques or insights. Currently I've got (mild spoilerish comment below)...

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...One more chapter of Kyros (wrapping up the banquet stuff), and then we revisit some, uh, "old friends" to see what crazy things they've been up to, and THEN we go into the last arc of Act II, which might--egads!--take us past the walls of Kyros! Exciting! You'll never guess how Act II ends! MWAHAAHAHAH!

As some forewarning, I'm not sure how intensely I'm going to futz with this chapter, but if there are any big changes I'll be sure to summarize them in the author's notes for the next chapter. =)

See you all on Wednesday! =) 

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Dita could read.

Well, of course she could. Even the hawker women at the agora could read.

But it still killed Ba'an's mood to realize a servant who worked at a storehouse was better educated than she in Dolkoi'ri letters.

Nene and Calloe cooed over the flowers. "Oh, that's so thoughtful of kyrios, isn't it?"

These ones were a pale pink, and Ba'an suspected he had taken them from Gaios' garden—they looked more than a little familiar. Dita folded the note and tucked it back into the basket.

Lukios had sent them for her hair; he had noticed that the ones from that morning had already wilted. Ba'an concurred with his judgement: drooping flowers did not create the right atmosphere for a celebratory dinner, and though Lukios had not said so—his note had been all sweetness and sunshine—they would only emphasize Ba'an's strangeness.

Ba'an picked one up, touching the soft, lush petals. They felt utterly luxurious, and Ba'an had never seen such large petals on a flower before. Such strains did not grow in the wild; these had been bred for beauty, not utility. She brought one up to her nose and breathed in.

The scent was soft, too. Soft, delicate, and light, but with something sensual beneath; it was a two-note scent, with the second being something only a lover would notice. A man would have to come much, much closer than appropriate to ever detect it, and Ba'an's skin tingled at the thought as memories of their first night in Kyros swam through her mind: Lukios' eyes, dark with desire as they fixed on her; his hands, his mouth, the press of him against her as she urged him closer, closer...

Clearing her throat, she put the flower back into the basket, willing herself to calm.

The girls set to weaving Ba'an's damp, sweet-smelling hair, and Ba'an was secretly happy to have acquiesced; she could not have done half the things they had done in the time allotted alone. Even the braiding went faster, and unlike Aika, these girls were serious: they never stopped working as they chattered, and no one poked through her things to comment on how nice they were.