LITMIR.BIZ

      Bram signed the last letter he needed to finish and leaned back in his chair, stretching his fingers to loosen them up. That’s when he saw Ghleanna sitting in the chair across from him.

      “Hello. Is dinner ready?”

      One corner of her mouth quirked up on one side, but she didn’t answer.

      “What?”

      “Four hours.”

      “Four hours what? Four hours until dinner?”

      “Four hours until the suns come up.”

      “What?” Bram pushed his chair back and strode to the window. He looked outside and winced, realizing when he’d first sat down it had still been light out. Now it was pitch black. Even the moon was gone.

      “I got up for some water and realized you were still in here. How are you going to travel all day without any sleep?”

      “I’ll be fine,” he promised.

      “We’ve eaten. My brothers argued over who’d get to bathe in that big tub first.” She grinned. “I won that.”

      “Another head-butt?”

      “There’s no shame in the head-butt. If it works it works. They all went to bed hours ago. Charles said you shouldn’t be much longer . . . I think Charles lied to me.”

      “It’s not his fault. He always reminds me of the time and I just get . . . lost.”

      “That’s all right. I find it endearing.”

      “You do? Most females have found it rude and intolerable.”

      “Stuck up, prissy asses, if you ask me.”

      Bram laughed. “I’ve never heard ‘stuck up prissy asses’ before.”

      “Because I just came up with it. Look, it’s not like you’re at the pub, feeling up the bargirls. You’re doing important work.”

      “You think what I do is important?”

      “Definitely. Because when your precious truces and alliances are broken, war breaks out.” Her grin was wide, showing all her teeth. “And then my important work begins.” She stood and walked over to him. “We need you peacemakers. Without you, there’d be no reason for war, now would there?”