Spin the Dawn(31)

My sketchbook suddenly appeared in Edan’s hand, and he flipped through page after page of my drawings of Emperor Khanujin. Designs for his wardrobe, to be precise, but I’d taken care to draw his face on each.

I jumped to my feet, horrified. “That’s mine! Where did you— Give that back!”

“Drawing portraits of His Majesty in your spare time?” Edan said airily. “It doesn’t surprise me. Every girl in A’landi is besotted with our boy king.”

My face burning, I snatched my sketchbook from him. “Boy king?” I huffed. “He’s older than you.”

“He looks older than me,” Edan corrected. “And as you’ve said, looks are often deceiving.”

I shoved my sketchbook into my pocket. “I’m not besotted with him.”

Edan chuckled at me. “Impersonating a man doesn’t make you one. I know very well you aren’t immune to the emperor’s charms.”

“You make Emperor Khanujin sound like he’s cast an enchantment,” I countered. “If he has, shouldn’t he work on charming Lady Sarnai?”

I expected a snide retort from the Lord Enchanter, but Edan admitted, “Her resistance to him is strange. Everyone usually loves the emperor, at least when I’m around.”

What an odd thing to say.

He shrugged a shoulder. “Perhaps Lady Sarnai has charms of her own.”

I hesitated. “I heard you were unhappy about the falcons she shot.”

Edan cocked an eyebrow. “So you’ve been talking about me?” he asked, then laughed at my discomfort. “You’ll have to work on your habit of blushing, Master Tamarin.”

“I wasn’t talking about you,” I said defensively. “Lady Sarnai brought it up.”

“What else have you learned about me?”

“Nothing. Except that you enjoy tormenting me.”

“I’m helping you.”

“I didn’t ask for your help.”

“Not even with your little infatuation for Emperor Khanujin?” Edan’s eyes flickered, this time green as the leaves behind him. “Given how little love Lady Sarnai has for him, maybe he’ll take on some concubines.” He gave me a sly, sidelong glance. “I could put you at the top of the list if you’d like.”

I flashed him my fiercest scowl. “I’m going to be the imperial tailor.”

“Master Huan served His Majesty’s father for thirty years. Do you think you can stay here for as long without revealing what you really are?”

I swallowed. Truthfully, I hadn’t thought about it, but I couldn’t tell Edan that. “Yes.”

“Then you are very na?ve.”

“Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do?” I huffed. “I’ve managed perfectly so far.”

“You haven’t been here long,” Edan reminded me. “And,” he added smugly, “you’ve had help. If not for me, you’d be in a carriage on the way home by now. Or locked up in the dungeons.”

I harrumphed, but the words made me press my brush to the jacket harder than I meant to.

“I suppose if you stayed on, I could help with your disguise,” Edan mused. “I’m already helping you as it is.”

“What exactly do you get out of this?”

Edan found a coin in his pocket and tossed it with one hand. “Minister Lorsa and I made a bet.” He tilted his head back. “The winner gets a pig.”

My brush sagged, drawing a line I hadn’t meant to. “You’re betting my future over a pig?”

“Pigs are smarter than people give them credit for! Where I grew up, we almost worshipped them.” He sounded so serious I couldn’t tell if he was joking. “Besides, I don’t like Lorsa much. It would be fun to see him lose a pig.” He smiled. “With that in mind, I suggest you move your jacket away from the window. There’s a storm coming.”

I looked up. “I see no rain clouds.”

“If nothing else, you can trust an enchanter to tell the weather accurately.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

Edan made a face. “At the very least, move the jacket away from all that incense by Yindi’s station. You don’t want your work to smell like a prayer ritual.”

“You’re a sacrilegious one,” I muttered. “What does it matter? Lady Sarnai never wears anything we make her.”

“She’s trying to amuse herself.”

“The way you amuse yourself betting pigs on my future?”

“Not quite. Though I’d win faster if you called upon those special scissors of yours.”

I wrung my brush free of water. “I’ve buried them.”

“Buried them?” He grinned, tossing the coin one last time. “How many times have I told you not to lie to an enchanter, Maia Tamarin?”

“Master Tamarin. And I don’t need them.”

“You’re used to being underestimated, so you want to prove yourself. Don’t let that be your crutch. Accept help when you need it.”

“I will. Now would you please go?”

He bowed, his black hair netting the sunlight as he bent. “As you wish, Master Tamarin.” He winked at me. “As you wish.”