I'm Not Gonna Sugarcoat It

“Oh, you may keep your ‘sorry’ for now. It’s been less than two days. So you didn’t tell me everything about you all at once – my feelings are not hurt.” She was still wearing that heirloom ring, a little bit loose on her finger. Well, there was bound to be an earth mage in the family that could adjust the fit.

“Give it a few months and I suppose I could become quite cross, if you like. Even for lies of omission.” His brows lifted in mild surprise as she went on, accepting his terms without a flinch. There were some qualifiers, of course, but … Whoever these people she kept mentioning were, they were clearly very dear. Or else Lyric’s tolerance for putting herself in danger for others was unusually high. Both seemed likely at this juncture.

“You are so strange.” Tiberius chuckled. Most ladies he knew would have taken great offense at the subject of children being broached so early in a courtship – even if such an agenda was never far from anyone’s mind in bloodline-obsessed Tevinter. Well, fine. This was all out of order to begin with.

“Very well. We have an agreement, Miss Nicollier.” He took her hand and placed it over his heart. He was too exhausted for any grander gestures. Unexpectedly, he found he liked it there.

@Lyric Oatshield