ISKERA
I look down at the friendship bracelet circling my wrist. It is a simple, charming thing—braided cords of deep crimson and forest green, held together by a small, polished silver charm in the shape of a crescent moon.
But as much as I acknowledge and appreciate the sentiment behind it, the new status it represents, I am still reeling from the fact that I just conquered two nobles at once. One hand for each.
Calista is still shell-shocked. She hasn't uttered a single word since we scrambled back into the car and started the journey home.
She isn't alone in that silence though; the people in the market are likely still standing there, frozen in time. And I know they will spread the news soon enough, just as I know how gossip works—it will spread through the regions like wildfire, both the raw truth and the distorted versions of it.
I wonder if this is good PR for Vane.
Does it affect our deal? Does it pull me into his good graces or shove me further out?
