Ostvel agreed, sighing. “But I expect I’ll give in soon. She’s persuasive, is my Cami—and I get persuaded nightly.”
Rohan blinked at this casual reference to their intimate life. Chay and Tobin had never made any secret that they expressed their love for each other frequently in bed, but they were married people, not just betrothed.
“I’m not faradhi-trained,” Ostvel went on. “But that makes me even luckier that she chose me, my lord. Sunrunners know what’s what when it comes to that sort of thing.”
“So I’ve been told,” Rohan murmured.
“Lust she could have had with a dozen other men, but for her, love comes only with me,” Ostvel said with shy pride. “And it’s no timid, frightened girl I find waiting for me, either.” He laughed. “That’s what makes her so damned persuasive!”
Rohan chuckled. “It doesn’t seem so terrible a problem, you know!”
“That’s the beauty of a woman, my lord. The predicaments they land you in are always the most exquisite ones.”
“Of all the predicaments waiting for me at the Rialla, the women will provide the most interesting ones—although I’d hardly call them ‘exquisite,’ ” Rohan admitted.
Ostvel’s smile vanished. “Just so, my lord,” he said colorlessly. “If you’ll excuse me, I should be seeing to the baggage train. They’re falling a little behind.” He gave a brief nod and wheeled his horse around.
Rohan regretted the loss of easy warmth with a man he was sure could become a good friend in time. But having begun the charade, he had to keep on with it.
On the eighth day they crossed the Faolain—by bridge, to the profound relief of the faradh’im. They bore the teasing of their less vulnerable companions with good grace, caring for nothing so long as they were allowed to ride over the bridge instead of rafting the river. Rohan called a halt early that day and had Ostvel set up the tents for the first time on the journey. Carpets and furnishings were not brought out, for it was only necessary to find out what sort of arrangements would work best at the Rialla.
The size of the encampment proved formidable. Rohan’s tent was the largest, a silken thing of blue, silver, and gold that Zehava had ordered for this Rialla. The pavilion would be useless in the Desert itself, where shelters had to blend into the colors of the sand. But Rohan had to admire the proportions of it as he wandered around inside, finding that his father had provided for a private area as well as a public one. Rohan and Ostvel toured the encampment, plotting out the exact location of each tent at Waes, and despaired of arranging things to the convenience and satisfaction of all until Camigwen arrived and had all settled in the time it took her to draw a map in the dirt.
Rohan kept the pair with him for a time, asking questions about the horses, the food, and the furniture. Although interested in their answers, he was more concerned with observing them. Cami was brisk and decisive, remembered every detail, and kept a mental inventory of everything. She was in her element, and Rohan knew she was the very person to free Sioned of the running of Stronghold. Ostvel was her match in logistics when it came to the horses and guards. Rohan resolved to put his proposal to them once the Rialla was over—though at the moment it was nearly impossible to believe that in another ten or twelve days, all this would be finished and Sioned would be his.
He wandered slowly among the tents after they left him, thinking about the future. If only it could all be over now, and he and Sioned could ride back to Stronghold in perfect understanding, handfasted and sure of each other. Plans that had seemed so clever and exciting now only irked him. He kicked at a tent stake, telling himself he was testing its security in the ground. But he had never been very good at lying to himself.
“Well, nephew,” Andrade said at his side, startling him. “Your little entertainment will begin soon. I’m looking forward to it.”
By the early evening light she looked tired, her bright hair dusty and the lines of her face dragging downward. “I hope you sleep better tonight, beneath a tent,” he said, concerned for her.
“I’ll not sleep well until you and Sioned—” She broke off with a shrug. “But I suppose that will have to wait until you’re through scheming.”